Misconceptions

The poems I have chosen to analyze are “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” by William Blake. Blake’s opinions about humanity are quite special as well as his visions of Christ and Christianity because he believed in God but not in the church. After reading and comparing the two poems, initially I thought Blake was trying to identify good and evil. Then I saw it more as describing Jesus as the lamb and the devil as the tyger. The Lamb of God being a well-known alias of Jesus made that determination fairly easy. The tyger, not so much. Lastly, I thought of it as God creating good and evil and our path of life intertwining between the two. Is it possible that God created both good and evil for a reason? Blake also does a great job creating a misconception …show more content…
I believe that the reference to the tyger is merely a representation of the devil or evilness based on how tigers are perceived in society. Tigers are known to be very strong, untamed, fearless animals that prey on what it desires. These characteristics are those similar to the devil. In the New Living Translation of the bible, 1 Peter 5:8 says “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (Holy Bible, NLT) It is the devils job to prey on believers of Christ and trick them into sin. A job which he does so …show more content…
As we grow and learn different things through our experiences of life, we learn that we are vulnerable and that makes us capable of falling short of God’s will. These poems also give the idea that we need both good and evil for balance. It also proposes the question, why did God make both innocence and evil? Ultimately, the lamb representing the pureness and innocence of man and the tyger representing evil and temptations, goes to show how man’s sin can evolve from the purest form to what could be depicted as evil or the devilish way of