Moon Tiger

Claudia asks the young nurses in the hospital if they agree that “God is an unprincipled bastard” (54). This question spurs her memory of Lisa’s christening, something that Claudia did not agree to or condone.

An unspecified amount of time passes in the hospital. When Claudia next speaks, it is to ask Lisa, who is visiting, if she’s still a member of the church. Lisa responds that she goes to church during the holidays, but that she doesn’t believe in God. Claudia believes in God—no one else could make such a big mess of things.

Claudia asks what Lisa has been up to. As Lisa is responding, the narrative shifts to Lisa’s perspective. Lisa thinks about how she’s recently seen her lover, a person whom Claudia knows nothing about. Lisa muses that she’s always hidden things from her mother, which reflects that her mother is not omniscient.

The narration moves back to Claudia’s internal monologue. She considers the importance that religion—specifically the Christian God—has played in the history of the world. She recalls a rare occasion in her life: a time when she prayed. She was 31 and living as a journalist in Cairo. She prays for Tom (although the reader has not yet been introduced to Tom) because she hasn’t heard from him in a long time. She prays that he isn’t wounded or suffering.

Back in the hospital room, Lisa watches her mother’s fitful sleep. She doesn’t remember ever seeing Claudia sick before and finds it impossible to imagine a world after Claudia is dead. She wonders if she loves Claudia. Lisa reflects on how her mother’s presence makes her feel small; Lisa is a sharper and more competent person when not around Claudia.

Later, Claudia thinks to herself that it is odd to see her daughter as a middle-aged woman. Claudia contemplates Lisa’s Russian heritage (Jasper’s father is Russian) and mourns that the regal, wild nature of Russia isn’t evident in Lisa.

Claudia recalls a lunch outing with Jasper and Jasper’s father. Claudia and Jasper have a disagreement after lunch, which is presented from Jasper’s perspective. Jasper argues that each person is self-made, while Claudia argues for the influence of ancestry. After the fight, Claudia tells Jasper that, one day, she’s going to write a “pretentious” history of the world.

Looking back on her life, which spans most of the 20th century, Claudia reflects on what she calls “the century of war” (66). She considers the millions of deaths over the century, especially the huge numbers of deaths in Russia. She muses on the language that society uses to distance itself from the grimness of war, like the code names that were used to indicate war operations while she was in Cairo. She observes that language is used to both define and mask reality.

Claudia’s mind drifts to memories of Cairo. She reflects on how, when she has visited Cairo since the war, she sees the city in two layers: the modern city atop her memory of the city as it was in the 1940s. Both the modern reality and her memory feel equally present to her.

Claudia then turns her thoughts to Tom and how meeting him changed the course of her life. She refers to her time in Egypt with Tom as the “core” of her life.

Claudia recalls arriving in Egypt in 1940. She had fought hard to be there, pulling every string she could to get a job as a war correspondent despite her youth, her gender, and her inexperience. She remembers sending her dispatches to Gordon, who was also in the war, to prove that she was good at her job.

She then recounts a weekend trip that she took with Tom to Luxor. Riding the night train from Cairo, they admire the beautiful countryside. Tom is on leave from his duties at the front. Claudia recalls mundane details from the weekend, like the clothes she wore and the style of chair she sat in. She notes that the days have blurred together in her memory but that the sensory vividness of her recollections is sharp. She states that she never felt more alive than during that weekend in Luxor with Tom.

One night in Luxor, Claudia lies awake and watches the insect-repellent incense, called a Moon Tiger, burn down to ash. The incense is in the shape of a spiral, so it leaves a spiral of ash in its wake. She sees the burning tip of the incense as a red eye. Claudia and Tom tell each other that they love each other. They remark on the long odds and the luck that it took for them to find each other. Claudia asks Tom to tell her about his life and his childhood.