The Tiger King's quest for tigers was full of hurdles and challenges. Justify the statement.
for 6 marks
Answers
A.1:- The story "The Tiger King" is a supreme example of dramatic irony. The`character acts in a way grossly inappropriate to the actual circumstances or expects the opposite of what fate holds in store for him'. Kalki has used a very dexterous use of dramatic irony in the story. After killing the first tiger the King flaunts its dead body before astrologer to show that he is more powerful than the tiger. However, the astrologer warns the king that he should be "careful with the hundredth tiger". The king chooses to prove the astrologer wrong once again and makes frantic efforts to kill hundred tigers. Thus, having shot at the old tiger, the Tiger king believes he has killed the hundredth tiger. But the reader as well as the king's officers and minions soon come to know that the emaciated tiger does not get killed but only faints. The king gets happy of killing the tiger but in actual ignorant of this ironical fate the prediction proves to be right and mere sliver on wooden tiger's body causes his dramatic death. Quite ironically the hundredth tiger kills the king instead and astrologer's predictions stands vindicated.
Q.2:- How would you describe the behavior of the Maharaja's minions towards him? Do you find them truly sincere towards him or are they driven by fear when they obey him?
A.2:- The ruling Indian class during the British regime was often ruthless, atrocious, eccentric, whimsical and conceited. They were idiots and refused to see reason. The Tiger king is the someone. The king feels happy when he is informed about the presence of tiger that would have completed his mission killing the hundredth tiger. He immediately announces a three year exemption from all the taxes for the villagers, but when the tiger is not traced for a few days he thinks of doubling the taxes with immediate effect. Under such circumstances how can one expect the minions and officers to be sincere to the king?. In this chapter also the officers obey the king not because he is the supreme authority but because of the cowardice and fear of the king, would dismiss them. For example, the dewan in order to save his own life brings an old tiger for the king to hunt and fulfill his vow. Likewise hunters choose not to inform him of the survival of hundredth tiger in order to not get dismiss from the job.
Q.3:- How was the Tiger King brought up?
A.3:- As a child the Tiger king was brought up by an English nanny and tutored in English by an Englishman. He was given the milk of an English cow. Like many other Indian crown prince's he watched only English movies.
Q.4:- Do you find any element of irony in the statement "It was celebration time for all the tigers inhabiting Pratibandapuram"?
A.4:- The above given statement is purely ironical because there was ban on killing the tiger except Maharaja. A proclamation was issued that if anyone dared to even fling a stone at a tiger, his entire wealth and properties would be confiscated but Maharaja systematically wiped out tiger.
Q.5:- Explain "It seemed easier to find Tiger's milk than a live tiger" .
A.5:- The given statement is used in hyperbole to suggest in a comical way. Milking a tiger is next to impossible for the beast would kill anyone who dares to do so. Thus the expression is used for a work or situation that is impossible.
Q.6:- How did the Maharaja feel on killing the hundredth tiger? How did he decide to celebrate it?
A.6:- The Maharaja was full of on having killing the hundredth tiger because his vow had been fulfilled. By killing the hundredth tiger, he thought the prophecy about his death had been disproved. On his command, the dead body of the hundredth tiger was taken in a ground procession through the town and buried. A tomb was erected over it.
Q.7:- How did the Maharaja manage to save his throne?
A.7:- The Maharaja had annoyed the visiting senior British officer over the issue of tiger hunting and "stood in danger of losing his kingdom itself". So the Maharaja and the dewan decided to pacify the officer through bribe by sending gifts of expensive diamond rings to the "Duraisani", the wife of the British officer. Contrary to the king's expectation the lady kept all the rings and sent him a note of thanks thus making Maharaja poorer by three Lakh rupees but saving his throne.
When the king was ten days old, an astrologer had predicted that since, the king had been born in the hour of the bull hence, he would meet his end at the hands of a tiger. Not only this, he also predicted that the king might kill ninety nine tigers but he must be cautious with the hundredth one because it was to be the real cause of the king's death. The ten days old baby challenges the astrologer and vowed to kill a hundred tigers and defeat death. To achieve his target without any hassles, the tiger king banned the hunting of tigers in the State of Pratibandapuram by anybody else except him, irrespective of the status of the person. A British officer had once expressed his desire to kill a tiger and snap a picture along with it but the tiger king refused to oblige him and thus, put his kingdom into great danger. However, he averted the danger by impressing the officer's wife by sending samples of 50 expensive diamond rings. Though he had expected that she would choose one or two out of the lot, the Duraisani accepted all of them. The gift cost the king 3 lakh rupees but he was able to safeguard his kingdom. The Maharaja vowed that he would attend to all other state matters only after killing the hundred tigers. The King of Pratibandapuram decided to marry because his province had ran out of tigers and he needed to kill thirty tigers more, in order to prove the astrologers wrong and defeat death. The king did not seem to have paid much attention to his wife, his marriage had been an alliance formed to fulfil his objective of killing a hundred tigers and that is what he devoted his attention to. He married, not out of love, but to have more tigers to kill by forming an alliance with a neighbouring kingdom which had a considerable tiger population. When he had killed ninety nine tigers and he was just a tiger away from defeating death and proving the astrologer wrong, all the provinces under his jurisdiction had lost their entire tiger population. He then summoned his Deewan and told him to get him a tiger from anywhere possible otherwise, he would loose his job and property. The Deewan obeyed and got the king a tiger from a zoo and left it in the jungle so that the king could hunt it down. The king fired a bullet at it and being extremely fragile, the tiger fainted at the loud noise of the bullet, which had gone past it without actually hitting it. The king went away satisfied but the Deewan noticed that the tiger was alive and fearing that he would loose his job if the king came to know about it, he shot the tiger himself. In a way, the king had not killed the hundredth tiger but since, he did not know about it he gave up hunting after that. Later, when his son had turned three years old, he got his son a tiger made of wood. It was crafted by an unskilled craftsman. A tiny silver rough wooden surface pierced through the king's right hand leading to an infection. Eventually, the cause of the death of the king was a tiger, though not a real one.