Bestiario

The themes surrounding this short story are trust and honestly, which is ultimately expressed through the code system that the family has established. The tiger shares the house with the family,allowing him to walk freely within the house. Hence, each member of the house must inform one another of where the tiger is in order to stay alive. Any violation of the code would be lethal.
Thehousehold of the house consists of Isabel, Nino (Isabel’s cousin), Aunt Rema (Isabel’s aunt), The Kid, Uncle Luis (Isabel’s uncle), and the tiger. All of the family members respect the code system, exceptfor The Kid who can be rude and arrogant. He constantly lies about the whereabouts of the tiger and by doing so he puts the life of others in danger. By doing so The Kid ultimately portrays the myth ofthe “survival of the fittest”. Ironically he is completing against his own family. As a result, Isabel invents the family’s freedom by rearranging their systematic household. As a result, theuniversal saying, “what goes around comes around” becomes a reality due to the fact that Isabel lied to The Kid about the tiger’s whereabouts. She mentioned that the tiger was in the library when in realityit was in The Kid’s study room. Thus, when The Kid went to his study room, he was attacked by the tiger being that The Kid had violated the code.
It is important to note how The Kid remainswithout a name throughout the story, because it foreshadows The Kid’s unimportance within the finally. Yet, he was vital within the context of the story being that The Kid was who practically controlled thefamily being that he was the only one lying about the tiger’s whereabouts. Everyone else was honest and assuming that The Kid would be honest as well, they trusted him. Furthermore, it is ironic howThe Kid went on violating the code assuming that no one would violate it. Yet, Isabel was quick to notice his actions as well as the daily routine of the house, which ultimately lead to The Kid’s...