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?
Ans: The tiger is wretched in its cage. His power is confined behind the bars. He was locked in a small cage where he is devoid of freedom. He feels unhappy, frustrated, restless, and angry.

Q2: What message does the poet want to convey through the poem—Tiger in the Zoo’?
Ans: 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.

Q3: How does the poet contrast the tiger in the cage with a tiger in the forest?
Ans: The poet says that the caged tiger is imprisoned. He is not free. He is angry. On the other hand, the tiger in the jungle is free. He walks in the tall grass and hunts the deer that pass near the water hole.

Q4:  How does the tiger terrify the villagers?
Ans: The tiger prowls around the houses of the villagers. He terrifies them by snarling at them. Their houses are situated near the jungle. He terrifies the villagers by baring his fangs and showing his long claws.

Q5: How does the tiger walk in the cage?
Ans: The tiger walks in the cage in a proud manner. He walks quietly. But his eyes show that he is very angry at having been imprisoned in a cage. But he can’t do anything for his freedom.

Q6: He hears the last voice at night, The patrolling cars, Who hears the last voice and of what?
Ans: The tiger hears the last voice Le, the sound of the patrolling cars at night. He is imprisoned in a cage at the zoo. The patrolling cars are making a round of the zoo to see that everything is alright.

Q7: What message do you get from this poem?
Ans: From this poem, we come to know that animals like to live freely in the forest. The animals do not want to live in the zoo. Their life is pitiable in it.

Q8: Is it safe to allow tigers to live in their natural habitat these days?
Ans: Although it is ideal for tigers to live in the wild, today, it will mean certain death for them. Fast-diminishing jungles and the danger posed by poachers have pushed tigers to the brink of extinction, making their natural home unsafe.

Q9: How does the tiger feel in the zoo?
Ans: 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: Why do you think the tiger looks at the stars? 
Ans: The tiger feels very helpless in the cage. He stares with hope at the brilliant stars shining in the sky. He hopes for the day when he will be able to run free in the wild. The brilliant stars, thus, provide him with some comfort.