By Marissa Moodenbaugh
Judy Blume’s Tiger Eyes is a novel that follows the Wexler family’s struggle to find normality after the sudden and brutal murder of father and husband Adam Wexler. The novel, narrated by fifteen year old Davey Wexler, details the emotional and physical challenges these family members undertake in the process of grieving and piecing the shattered pieces of their life back together. It is an emotionally packed story that depicts the importance and strength of familial bonds, especially during periods of trial and tribulation.
This novel begins at the outset of Davey’s father’s funeral. Adam, Davey’s father, had been a man of modest means. He had owned a small grocery store with an apartment above in which he, his wife and two children lived. In Davey’s mind, her father was a brilliant artist who dreamed of one day opening his own gallery. This dream was cut short, however, when Adam was fatally shot during a robbery of his store. While Davey and her father were quite close, this is not the only reason that she struggles with his sudden death. Davey was at the store the night of the murder. She had been outside with her boyfriend, Hugh, in the backyard when they heard shots. They ran into the store to find Adam bleeding profusely and pleading for help. Despite her efforts, Davey’s father died before ever reaching the hospital. Although she was there the night her father died, Davey refuses to reveal this secret to her family.
After the funeral each family member tries to find a means of coping with their grief. Jason, Davey’s younger brother, takes to wearing a Dracula cape. Davey’s mother, Gwen, struggles to be a mother and provider for her family, but feels herself slowing falling to pieces. In her grief, Davey attempts to shut the world out. She stays in bed for days at a time, refusing to eat or shower. Living in a perpetual state of fear, Davey also feels inclined to sleep with a bread knife to protect herself and the people she loves from another attack. When she begins high school a few short weeks later, she has difficulty applying herself and becomes prone to anxiety attacks which cause her to lose consciousness. Eventually Davey’s mother sees that not only are her children having a difficult time dealing with the loss of their father, but she herself is slipping. So to create a much needed change of pace, she arranges for them all to go and stay with her husband’s sister and brother-in-law in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Davey’s Aunt Bitsy and Uncle Walter have no children of their own so they are incredibly excited to have Davey and Jason staying with them. They take the Wexler’s sight- seeing, enroll the children in school, and set about helping them piece their lives back together. Bitsy and Walter especially try to create a healthy, stable living environment for the children. They encourage Davey to make friends at the high school and do outdoor activities like biking. Jason and Bitsy develop a close bond and shared love of baking. While Bitsy and Walter become closer to the children, Gwen becomes more reclusive and distant. This angers Davey because she feels like her mother is letting her aunt and uncle dictate the family. What she doesn’t understand is that her mother is going through an intense grieving and depressive phase.
Although this visit to Los Alamos was meant to be temporary, it soon becomes more permanent. Gwen, in her frail state, has become reliant on Walter and Bitsy and can’t face going home to Atlanta. In exploring her new home Davey meets a mystery man that calls himself Wolf. These two met rather coincidentally while Davey was hiking in the canyon near her aunt and uncle's home. Over time, these two establish a gradual, if not secretive friendship. Davey doesn’t know Wolf’s true identity and he knows her only as the name she gave him, Tiger. Despite their unwillingness to divulge their true identities, these two find solace and comfort in each other. For the first time Davey is able to open up about her father and his death. Wolf also shares secrets about his own life struggles.
While in the beginning Wolf is her only friend in Los Alamos, Davey quickly becomes friends with Jane, a well-off high school girl who struggles with alcoholic tendencies and parental pressures of perfection. It is through her friendship and volunteer work with Jane that Davey uncovers the identity of Wolf. His father is a patient in the hospital Davey volunteers for and over time the two have become friends. Wolf’s father is a terminal cancer patient and both Davey and Wolf console each other as he enters the final stages of his illness.
After the death of his father Wolf leaves, but promises Davey he will return. With Wolf gone Davey has to face the problems happening in her own life. Her aunt and uncle have taken over the Wexler family. Gwen no longer seems to have a voice of her own, but allows Walter and Bitsy to speak for her. Not only that, but Gwen has begun dating a new man upon Bitsy and Walter’s encouragement. Jason has embraced this new life and family system, but Davey refuses to do so. She rebels against her aunt, uncle, and mother and lashes out against her brother.
Eventually Davey’s mother asks her to see the counselor she has been seeing over the past months in Los Alamos. In therapy, Davey is finally able to vent her frustration, anger, and guilt concerning her father’s death. She reveals her secret that she was there the night he died. It is through her sessions with Miriam that Davey is able to partially come to terms with the loss of her dad and the changes in her family. Over the course of a girl’s night out dinner, Davey and her mom have a heart-to-heart talk about the future of the family. Gwen reveals her personal struggle and apologizes for her inability to comfort her daughter and be strong for her children when they needed her most. She reveals that she is not going to marry her boyfriend Ted, but instead is ready to return to Atlantic City if Davey and Jason are ready. Although Bitsy and Walter fight Gwen’s decision to leave because they had become so attached to the idea of having a family of their own, Davey, her mom, and her brother move back home. While they have no idea how exactly they will move ahead with life, the Wexler’s realize they simply need to move forward and string the pieces of their lives together as they go.
Overall, Tiger Eyes was an enjoyable read that dealt with issues of loss, grieving, change, and the strength of family bonds. By narrating the story from Davey’s perspective Bloom offers an interesting, if not highly emotional perspective of what struggles and changes the Wexler’s undergo. It would be an excellent read for high school students who are dealing with or have experienced intense personal loss and change. It is too bad that this novel is rarely if ever taught in schools anymore.