Class 10 English Chapter 1 Question Answers - First Flight

Q1: What do you understand by `His strength behind bars’? 

What kind of a cage is he locked in? The tiger is wretched in its cage. ‘His strength behind bars’ means the tiger’s power is confined behind the bars of the cage at the zoo. He was locked in a small cage where he is devoid of freedom. He feels unhappy, frustrated, restless and angry. 

Q2: He should be snarling around houses
At the jungle’s edge,
Baring his white fangs, his claws,
Terrorising the village! 

(a) What does the poet try to suggest through these lines? 

The poet is trying to suggest that the tiger should be allowed to live in his natural habitat.

(b) How does the tiger scare the people? 

The tiger scares the people by growling at them and showing his teeth and claws.

(c) Why does ‘he’ snarl? 

 ‘He’ snarls to show his anger and helplessness

(d) How does ‘he’ show his presence?

 ‘He’ shows his presence by snarling, baring his white teeth and claws.

Q3: What does the poet convey through the poem? 

The poet tries to expose the miserable life led by the animals in the zoo. He compares the life of the tiger in the zoo with its life at a natural habitat. The animals have the right to freedom and should not be caged. They should be allowed to run free in the wild. 

Q4: How does the tiger feel in the cage?

The poet describes the feelings of the tiger in the zoo. He keeps on moving from one comer to another. “He stalks in his vivid stripes moving the few steps of his cage”. He is not happy. He expresses his silent anger.

Q5: The tiger in the poem ‘A Tiger in the Zoo’ has some obvious limitations, describe them in contrast to its natural habitat.

 The tiger in the zoo was confined to a small space. He was angry that he couldn’t be free to move, hunt and do what he pleased forced to be a showpiece; and the cage’s bars obstructed his view of the starry night. This was all unlike his natural habitat where he hunted fiercely and slept fitfully.

Q6: What is the theme of the poem?
Or
What message does the poet want to convey through the poem—Tiger in the Zoo’?

 The poet wants to convey that it is cruel to keep wild animals in small enclosures of the zoo, away from their natural habitat. They feel angry, helpless and unhappy and remember their life and environment in the forest.

Q7: Why do you think the tiger was stalking in the cage? What does it show?

 I think the tiger was feeling restless and uneasy in that small cage. He seems to be frustrated and helpless as he could not come out of the cage in the open and enjoy his freedom. He did not want to be a mere showpiece and a source of entertainment for human beings.

Q8: He hears the last voice at night,
The patrolling cars,
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars. 

(a) What kind of voices does the tiger hear? 

The tiger hears the voice coming from the patrolling cars at night.

(b) Where does the tiger look at in the night? 

The tiger looks at the brilliant stars shining in the sky at night.

(c) What do you mean by ‘patrolling’? 

‘Patrolling’ means going around an area at regular times to check that it is safe.

(d) What is the effect of the repeated use of the word ‘brilliant’? 

The repeated use of brilliant shows the contrast. The brilliant stars are free while the brilliant eyes are inside the cage.

Q9: Those who deny freedom to others, do not deserve it for themselves. Comment. 

The poet describes the feelings of the tiger in the zoo. He keeps on moving from one comer to another. “He stalks in his vivid stripes moving the few steps of his cage”. He is not happy. He expresses his silent anger.

Q10: Describe the movement of the tiger in the cage and in the wild.
Or
What difference do you find in the mood of a tiger when he is in a zoo and when he is in a forest?

 In the zoo, in his small cage and devoid of freedom, the tiger feels unhappy rather frustrated, restless and angry. In the forest, he enjoys moving majestically wherever he wants, terrorizes the villagers by displaying his sharp teeth and claws. He is happy in the forest, enjoying his liberty and surroundings, but not in the zoo.

Q11: How does the tiger prepare himself for hunting when he is in his natural habitat — the jungle

 The mighty tiger roams freely in his natural habitat – the wilds. He knows how to ambush his prey. He waits for his prey lurking unseen in the shadow of trees. He slides through the long grass quite unnoticed. He comes to the water hole where he can find his favourite prey – plump deer.

Q12:  “Freedom is a birth right. It is the most beautiful gift of god. It is valuable for all human beings as well as for creatures,” Discuss with reference to the poem “A Tiger in the Zoo.”. 

Freedom is the most beautiful gift of god. Freedom is a birthright, without freedom all is in vain. Since the man has come on his earth, he tries to enslave the weaker sections for his own selfishness. If a bird lives in a golden cage, it cannot become happy. It loves to fly freely in an open sky. In the same way, if ‘ a man lives in a prison and gets everything, he cannot feel happiness. But if a man lives freely, he will be happy even in poor conditions. In this poem, we find the descriptions of two tigers, one is in a cage and second in an open field/forest. There is a great contrast between their behaviours.

Q13: How does the tiger terrorise the villagers? Does he have any intention of killing them?

 Sometimes, the tiger roams around freely and comes near the edge of the jungle. He comes very near to the houses of the villagers which are situated on the outskirts of the jungle. Roaming there, he opens out his white sharp teeth and paws to terrorise the villagers. He has no intention of killing them as he never attacks until he is provoked to do so.

Q14: How does the tiger feel locked in the concrete cell of the zoo? Why does he ignore the visitors

 The tiger is basically an animal of the wilds. He is’ a denizen of the forest. Being locked in a concrete cell of the zoo, he feels quite helpless. His immense strength is of no use to him as he is put behind the bars. He only stalks the length of his cage. He ignores the visitors who came to see him after buying their tickets. He doesn’t want to present himself as an object of entertaining others.

Q15: What does the tiger do at night? What does he feel when he stares at the brilliant stars in the sky?

 The patrolling cars move around and the tiger hears their sound late at night. He is locked in a cage but stares at the brilliant stars shining in the vast and open sky. The vast open sky and the brilliant stars only intensify the feeling of helplessness that he feels inside the cage.