In reflection
on poetry that has impacted me, I looked way back to a television show I
watched as a junior in high school, The Mentalist. In this
television show the Protagonist, Patrick Jane, is on the hunt for the serial
killer known as Red John who killed his wife and daughter. He enlists as a consultant
for the California Bureau of Investigation as he seeks at all cost to chase
down this murderer. In his search (spoiler) he discovers an undercover illegal
association among the justice system of California known as the Blake
Association. Red John being the leader of this association has created the name
of the association from the poem “The Tyger” by William Blake. As the series
continues Jane runs into many in this association that feed him a single clue,
the words, “Tyger, Tyger.” On one occasion while tied up with ropes Jane meets
a masked Red John face to mask and Red John recites for him the first stanza of
the poem.
Tyger Tyger,
burning bright,
In the forests
of the night;
What Immortal
hand or eye,
Could frame thy
fearful symmetry?
Upon reflection
of this poem as a clue for Jane and his team, they discuss the meaning of the
poem; that of opposites, light and darkness, life and death, the lamb and the
tiger. In the show, this theme and symbolism makes sense as Red John fits the
portrayal of the tiger while Jane fills that of the lamb. This made
for an exciting series and gave a Ying/Yang stifle that I still enjoy
watching. However, as I have reflected on this poem and analyzed it, its
meaning has changed and developed in a different atmosphere for my own life.
