Chapter 2 The Tiger King Solutions
Question - 1 : - What is the general attitude of humans towards wild animals ?
Answer - 1 : -
Learning apart a few ecologically conscious human beings, the general attitude of humans towards wild animals is callous and cruel. They are kind and being poached though it was illegal to do so in almostly all the civilized countries. But still we read quite often in the newspapers that may persons are caught selling skin and other parts of the body these wild animals like tiger, lions, panthers, elephants like. I think there are much more people involved in this illegal activity than a few who are caught. That is why the population of wild animals is deteriorating to a great extent. I think very stringent laws should be made to punish such persons otherwise there is likely to be the danger of virtual extinction of some rare species of wild animals.
Question - 2 : - Who is the Tiger King ? Why does he get that name ?
Answer - 2 : -
The Tiger King is the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur. The chief astrologer had predicted that his death would come from the tiger. He explained that since the prince was born in the hour of the Bull and the Bull and the Tiger are enemies, so his death would be caused by a Tiger. This is how he got the name of the Tiger King.
Question - 3 : - What did the royal infant grow up to be ?
Answer - 3 : -
The royal infant Jung Jung Bahadur grew taller and stronger day by day. He drank the milk of an English cow, was brought up by an English nanny and was tutored in English by an Englishman. He would see English films only. When he came of age at twenty, the state, which had been with the Court of Wards until then, came into his hand. He became the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram.
Question - 4 : - What will the Maharaja do to find the required number of tigers to kill?.
Answer - 4 : -
Maharaja’s tiger hunt continued to be successful. Within ten years he was able to -kill seventy tigers. But the tiger population had become extinct in the forests of Pratibandapuram. But still there were thirty more tigers to be killed. So the Maharaja told his Diwan that he wanted to marry in a royal family of a state with a large tiger population. The Diwan found the right girl from a state which possessed a large number of tigers. The Maharaja would kill five or six tigers each time he visited his father-in-law. Thus, he was able to kill ninety-nine tigers.
Question - 5 : - How will the Maharaja prepare himself for the hundredth tiger which was supposed to decide his fate ?
Answer - 5 : -
The Maharaja had killed ninety-nine tigers. There remained just one tiger to achieve the Maharaja tally of a hundred tigers. Tigers were no more there in his father-in¬law’s kingdom. It became impossible to locate tigers anywhere. If he could kill just one more tiger, he would have no fears left. The villagers from a hillside village informed the Maharaja that their sheeps were disappearing, which is possibly because of a tiger. He set out on the hunt at once.
But the tiger was not easily found. The Maharaja refused to leave the forest until the tiger was found. As the tiger was not found, his anger and obstinacy rose to new heights. Then the Diwan got arranged a tiger from the people’s park in Madras. He dropped the tiger in his car to the forest where he was hunting. On the following day, the same tiger wandered into the Maharaja’s present. The Maharaja fired at the tiger, who fell down on the ground. He ordered that the tiger be brought to the capital in grand procession. After the Maharaja left in his car, the men found that the tiger was not dead as the Maharaja had misfired. So one of the hunters killed the tiger.
Question - 6 : - What will now happen to the astrologer ? Do you think the prophecy was indisputably disproved ?
Answer - 6 : -
On the occasion of the Maharaja’s son’s third birthday, he wished to give his son some special gift. After searching everywhere, finally he spotted a wooden tiger in a toyshop and decided that it was the perfect gift. On that day, father and son played with that little wooden tiger. Its surface was rough and tiny silvers of wood stood up all over it. One of these silvers pierced the Maharaja’s right hand. In four days the infection developed into a pus generating sour which spread all over his arm. Three famous surgeons were called from Madras. They performed the operation, but the Maharaja died during the operation. Thus the prophecy of the chief astrologer proved true though it was a wooden tiger, yet he died of the hundredth tiger. The hundredth real tiger was not killed by him.
Question - 7 : - The story is a satire on the conceit of those in power. How does the author employ the literary device of dramatic irony in the story .?
Answer - 7 : -
The story ‘The Tiger King’ is about a vain and proud king of a small state. He is authoritative and haughty. He is Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram. When he is told that his death will be caused by a tiger, he says, ‘Let Tigers beware!” He has excessive pride in himself. When he kills the first tiger, he sends for the state astrologer and shows him the dead tiger.
The Maharaja asked him, “What do you say now ?” But the astrologer warned him to be careful of the hundredth tiger. The Maharaja banned tiger hunting by anyone except him. He does not allow the British officer to hunt a tiger though he could have lost his throne. When there were no tiger left in the forests of his state, he married in the royal family of a state with a large tiger population. There were no tigers in his father in-law’s state, because he has been killing tigers there also. By that time he had killed ninety-nine tigers.
When he could not find the hundredth tiger, many officers lost their jobs because of his fury and obstinacy. He even ordered the Diwan to double the land tax. He misfired the hundredth tiger. But his men were afraid that if the Maharaja came to know that he had missed his target, they would lose their jobs. So they killed the tiger. Then there appears the dramatic irony or a dramatic situation opposite to what one expects in the story. Though the Maharaja killed ninety-nine tigers, yet he died because of a small wooden toy tiger. Thus we can say that the story is a satire on such persons in power who take excessive pride in themselves.
What is the author’s indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the willfulness of human beings ?
Answer - 8 : -
The story ‘The Tiger King’ is written by the author in a humorous, satirical and ironical manner. It is a story of the Maharaja of a small state Pratibandapuram. It is predicted by the Chief astrologer of the state his death will be caused by a tiger. He sent for the astrologer when he killed the first tiger. Then the astrologer told him that he should be extra careful from the hundredth tiger. The Maharaja then takes a vow not to do anything else till he kills the hundredth tiger.
And he goes on a hunting spree of the innocent tigers. But, on the other hand, this story is also the author’s indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the wilfulness of human beings. This is because the author presents the character of the Tiger King in a derogatory way. He just emerges as a person on whom we cannot trust nor we can justify his actions. So the author by showing the killing of tigers by the Maharaja, is indirectly commenting that one should not kill the tigers or such animals. After reading the whole story we feel that the Maharaja was cruel and selfish to kill so many tigers, who are not only innocent but they are essential for the ecological balance also.
Question - 9 : - How would you describe the behaviour of the Maharaja’s minions towards him ?
Answer - 9 : -
Do you find them truly sincere towards him or are they driven by fear when they obey him ? Do we find a similarity in today’s political order ?
Answer
Maharaja’s minions or obedient but unimportant followers were obviously his subordinates. They were supposed to do what the Maharaja wanted them to do. They could never dare to defy the Maharaja. I think the Diwan, the minister or others were not doing so because they were truly sincere towards him. On the other hand, they did so because they were driven by fear when they obey him. The astrologer also, despite knowing that his predictions were bound to be true, was afraid of the Maharaja. On many occasions the Diwan obeyed the Maharaja’s orders despite knowing that his demands were unreasonably unjustified.
The Diwan did not want that the land tax should be doubled, but he could not resist for fear of losing his job. The hunter killed the hundredth tiger when the Maharaja had missed the target. But he did not want to reveal this fact for fear of losing his job. Of course, we find a similarity of this in today’s political order. Today also the political leader’s subordinates or followers are also the yes men of them. They also dare not to defy them. They also prove to be blindly obedient or unimportant followers of the political leaders.
Can you relate instances of game-hunting among the rich and the powerful in the preseat times that illustrate the callousness of human beings towards wildlife ?
Answer - 10 : -
The protection of wildlife is considered to be a matter of top priority in our times. More and more countries are aware of the necessity of preservation of wildlife. Because of game-hunting already some of the species of animals are on the verge of extinction. That is why game-hunting for such kind of animals is banned by law. Though it is a punishable offence, yet still many rich and the powerful persons are found hunting rare species of animals.
Recently some film celebrities were found guilty of hunting chinkara, a rare species of deer, which is strictly banned by law. The case is going on in the courts of Rajasthan, where they committed this offence. This is just one of the many such instances we read in newspapers. Howsoever rich and powerful one might be, but no celebrity is above law. They have no right to show cruelty to animals. The people like Veerappan, who killed so many elephants, are found all over the world, who kill animals for their selfish material gains.