Twelve-year-old Rob is the protagonist of The Tiger Rising. Although Rob lost his mother, Caroline, to cancer six months ago, Rob has compartmentalized his grief. Rob locks up painful memories and feelings in an imaginary suitcase: anything that would make him cry, hope, or remember gets pushed down into his suitcase. Rob is the “best not-crier in the world” (6). He is also a “not-talker” and a “not-wisher.” Rob suffers from a strange, itchy rash on his legs that he knows is not contagious. He’s had it for “about six months”—since his mother died. The rash is Rob’s body’s way of expressing the emotions locked in his mind.

Rob is quiet, polite, and self-effacing. He respectfully addresses all adults, regardless of social status, as either “sir” or “ma’am” (35). Rob physically resembles his mother, with her “cobwebby blonde” hair (33). He also resembles her in personality: Both appreciate art and beauty. Before her death, Caroline teaches Rob to whittle, telling him he has a natural ability. Both are sensitive: They are saddened when Rob’s father needlessly shoots a little bird. Caroline tells Rob that “we see the world the same” (87).

Rob and his father move from Jacksonville to Lister, Florida immediately after Caroline’s death, “to get on with things” (59), but Rob’s life is static.