The leaders in the Friendly Forest also needed to define the values of their culture, limiting the tiger’s power lest he emerge as the unofficial leader of the community. In minimizing the severity of the threat (“probably just some misunderstanding”) and refusing to deal with the issue directly (under the guise of being reasonable), they not only left their community open to dreadful harm but also missed an opportunity to clearly define the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
