Tears of a Tiger

In one final example of not Recognizing a Mental Health Crisis, Andy’s friends initially see nothing unusual about his latest absence from school, as this has become a recent pattern. In this moment, Draper shows the dangers of complacency; because Andy’s behavioral patterns have become widely accepted, no one recognizes the moment when the situation has escalated to the point that something is irretrievably wrong. While his friends talk about his absence as an annoyance, Andy is at that moment preparing to take his own life, and thus, Draper portrays the sharp rift that often lies between perception and reality. Prior chapters explore this concept as well; for example, Andy’s spiraling sense of despair throughout Chapter 34 highlights the painful fact that everyone’s various perceptions of Andy do not align with the rising anguish of his own internal reality. The consequences of this discrepancy between perception and reality are now on full display.

Draper also explores the contrast between perception and reality through the belated arrival of the grief counselors at Hazelwood High. The grief counselors symbolize performative assistance, for although they are ostensibly committed to assisting the students through a difficult time, their intervention is inexcusably late. As Tyrone points out, had they been available sooner, they might have helped Andy himself rather than needing to help the other students to recover from the shock of his suicide. Faced with this harsh truth, the grief counselors do not know how to respond, for there is simply no answer they can give that can mitigate the irony of this fact. The scene therefore critiques the accessibility of assistance in the real world and challenges readers to question what resources they have access to in their own lives.

In the final chapters of the novel, Draper explores how mental illnesses that result in death by suicide impact the people left behind. Through the reactions of her various characters, she explores a wide range of emotions that people may experience when a loved one dies by suicide: anger, confusion, shock, and sadness. It is important to note that of all the characters, Monty responds very differently than any of Andy’s peers. Although Monty is grief-stricken at his brother’s death, he also expresses his continued love for Andy. Instead of being bitter, Monty keeps Andy’s memory alive through the lessons he learned. The spirit of the tiger has now passed to Monty; Monty can choose to continue the cycle of depression, or he can choose to break the cycle and set himself free. This book does not explicitly explore the aftermath of Monty’s choice, but in the final lines of the novel, Monty remembers that tigers—the people whom others perceive as strong—are allowed to cry, to feel sadness, and to be human. Despite Andy’s untimely demise, Draper’s final message is therefore one of hope, for with Monty’s reaction to his brother’s death, she implies that it is possible to break the cycle of grief, move forward, and live well.