Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Though Bengal Tiger is more specifically focused on its specific characters, it takes place against the backdrop of the Iraq War and the war is central to the piece. What message or view about the war is Joseph trying to make through the play? What is the play’s stance on the war?

Analyze Joseph’s decision to depict the play’s deceased characters as ghosts who roam around Baghdad. What does this illuminate about the war or Joseph’s depiction of religion? Why have the Tiger, Kev, and Uday all been chosen to remain in Baghdad, haunting those left behind?

Compare the Tiger in the play with the American soldiers and consider how their storylines intertwine. Are they facing the same moral reckoning about their deaths, or is each instance unique to their individual situation? How do they differ in dealing with their mortality?

Analyze Kev’s description of the “psycho problem” that he, the Tiger, and Tom share, and the conversation they have about it in Scene 8 (53). What do they mean by their existence now being “refracted” (54)? How have the events in Scene 1 collectively impacted the three of them?

Examine Tom and Kev as characters. How are they similar, and how are they different? What broader point about the American presence in Iraq is Joseph making through them and their behavior?

Bengal Tiger is considered a “surreal” play, as shown through aspects like its use of ghosts, a human-like Tiger, the woman who says she’s made of sand, and sometimes blended settings. How is this surrealism useful to the message Joseph is trying to communicate? What do surreal elements accomplish that more literal realism cannot?

A central theme of the piece is religion and the existence and role of God. Analyze the play’s examination of religion. Does Joseph offer an ultimate message about God and religion, or is the discussion ultimately unresolved?

Track Musa’s character arc, as he goes from the spirited translator trying to learn the word “bitch” to shooting Tom and becoming overwhelmed by guilt. How does Musa change over the course of the piece, and why? What gets revealed about war and human nature through his character arc?