Genre
Drama
Language
English and Arabic
Setting and Context
Baghdad - 2003
Narrator and Point of View
Tiger Narrates. POV is that of Kev and Musa
Tone and Mood
Serious, dramatic, dark comedy
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist is Kev. Antagonists are Tom and the Tiger.
Major Conflict
Tom has lost his arm and has come back to Baghdad to enlist Kev to help him retrieve Uday Hussein's gold gun.
Climax
Kev has been haunted by the ghost of the tiger he killed, and in order to stop it from following him he cuts off his arm as a sacrifice, but the wound takes his life. The play ends with the ghost of the tiger talking to Musa about the reality of the world.
Foreshadowing
The tiger mentions how he once got in trouble for accidentally mauling someone once years before. This foreshadows the tiger taking off Tom's arm.
Understatement
It is understated that Kev will take his arm off in hopes of getting rid of the ghost of the tiger.
Allusions
The play is an allusion the reality of the ghosts that people are followed by caused by the horror and death of war.
Imagery
The death of the tiger, and him seeing himself for the first time.
The gold that Tom and Kev are after are in the form of a gun and a toilet seat, something valuable created to be an instrument of death, and a piece of a toilet
Paradox
Kev gets the golden gun, but paradoxically cannot take it away from Musa as she is haunted by Uday Hussein who owned the gun in life. He believes it is an omen to keep it with her so that she will no longer be haunted by his ghost.
Parallelism
Kev's cutting off his arm parallels Tom's arm being mauled by the tiger earlier in the play.
Personification
The tiger is personified by the actor playing the character throughout the play.
Use of Dramatic Devices
The use of an actor with no makeup or prosthetic to become the tiger - simply the actor playing the beast.
