Question

Materialistic morals of high sophisticated society lead to hollowness and shallowness.what values do you learn from Mrs. Packletide's materialistic morals and vaingloriousness?

Answer 1

Wise men have rightly said, 'Pride hath a fall.' Similarly vanity, like pride is bound to meet frustration and dejection. Life is a glorious gift meant to be pursued for higher pursuits such as self-improvement, self-actualization, and serving the suffering humankind. Where is the time for vain materialistic pursuits in such a competitive world? But unfortunately a major portion of human beings indulge in materialistic pursuits. They waste their time, money, energies and other resources almost all their life later on to realize the futility of it. The best example that shows the misery of vain people is the character of Mrs Packletide in the story Mrs Packletide's tiger by Saki. We see how her vain ambition of outshining Loona Bimberton ends up in her shame, embarrassment, and financial loss. She is left with nothing but regret and remorse. The author has masterfully brought home the point that vain people like her don't get anything useful in their lives;  their vain endeavours bear no sweet fruit. On the contrary they have to bear loss on all fronts. Miss Mebbin's act of extorting a huge some of money at the end of the story must have given Mrs Packletide a lot of pain. It must have deprived of all the joy and peace she must be feeling after the tiger hunt. What an irony of circumstances!

From Mrs Packletide's embarrassment we learn that we should neither be jealous of others' success nor be vainglorious.