Here is a summary of the chapter “The Tiger King” and answers to your questions, drawing directly from the provided sources:
Summary of “The Tiger King”#
“The Tiger King” by Kalki tells the satirical story of His Highness Jamedar-General, Khiledar-Major, Sata Vyaghra Samhari, Maharajadhiraja Visva Bhuvana Samrat, Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, more commonly known as the Tiger King. Right from his birth, a matter of vital importance was disclosed by astrologers: that he would one day have to die. In a great miracle, the ten-day-old infant prince astonished everyone by speaking, asking the astrologers to reveal the manner of his death. The chief astrologer predicted that his death would come from a tiger, as he was born in the hour of the Bull, which is an enemy of the Tiger. The infant prince responded with a terrifying growl, proclaiming, “Let tigers beware!”.
As Crown Prince Jung Jung Bahadur grew up, he was educated and raised in a manner typical for Indian princes of the time, consuming English culture. When he turned twenty and assumed control of his state, Pratibandapuram, he remembered the astrologer’s prediction. To defy his fate, he embarked on an ambitious tiger hunt, believing he could kill tigers in self-defence, even though the saying applies to cows. He was thrilled after killing his first tiger and challenged the astrologer, who warned him to be “very careful with the hundredth tiger”. The astrologer even vowed to abandon astrology and become an insurance agent if the hundredth tiger were also killed.
From that day, the Maharaja banned tiger hunting in Pratibandapuram by anyone other than himself, threatening confiscation of wealth and property for any violation. He vowed to address other state matters only after killing a hundred tigers. Despite facing dangers, fighting tigers with his bare hands and winning each time, his mission encountered a hurdle: the tiger population became extinct in his state. To continue his hunt, he risked losing his throne by refusing a high-ranking British officer permission to hunt a tiger, eventually placating the officer’s wife with expensive diamond rings worth three lakh rupees to retain his kingdom.
After killing seventy tigers, with no more tigers in Pratibandapuram, the Maharaja decided to get married to a girl from a royal family in a state with a large tiger population. Each time he visited his father-in-law, he killed five or six tigers, eventually accumulating ninety-nine tiger skins. His anxiety peaked with only one tiger remaining. With no tigers even in his father-in-law’s kingdom, the dewan, fearing the Maharaja’s escalating rage and increasing taxes, brought an old tiger from the People’s Park in Madras and hid it. This tiger was then released into the forest for the Maharaja to hunt. The Maharaja shot the tiger and was elated, believing he had fulfilled his vow. However, the bullet had only caused the tiger to faint, and it was actually killed by one of the hunters to avoid the Maharaja’s displeasure.
A few days later, the Maharaja celebrated his son’s third birthday. He bought a wooden tiger from a toy shop as a gift. The toy, carved by an unskilled carpenter, had tiny slivers of wood that pricked the Maharaja’s right hand. The sliver caused an infection that flared and developed into a suppurating sore, spreading over his arm. Despite an operation by three famous surgeons from Madras, the Maharaja died. In this ironic twist, the story concludes that the hundredth tiger, a wooden one, took its final revenge upon the Tiger King.
Answers to Questions:#
What is the general attitude of human beings towards wild animals? This question is presented as a “Before you read” prompt. The source does not provide a direct answer about the general attitude of human beings towards wild animals, but the story itself depicts the Maharaja’s callous and self-serving attitude towards tigers, viewing them solely as a means to defy a prophecy and fulfil his ambition. He bans their hunting by others and ruthlessly pursues their eradication for his own ends. 🐯🚫
Who is the Tiger King? Why does he get that name? The Tiger King is the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram, identified by a long string of titles including “His Highness Jamedar-General, Khiledar-Major, Sata Vyaghra Samhari, Maharajadhiraja Visva Bhuvana Samrat, Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, M.A.D., A.C.T.C., or C.R.C.K.”. He gets the name “Tiger King” because of the prophecy made at his birth that his death would come from a tiger, and his subsequent lifelong obsession with killing one hundred tigers to disprove this prophecy. 👑🐅
What did the royal infant grow up to be? The royal infant, Jung Jung Bahadur, grew up to be the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram. He was brought up by an English nanny, tutored by an Englishman, drank English cow’s milk, and saw only English films. Upon coming of age at twenty, he took control of the State. He became known for his single-minded dedication to killing tigers, becoming the Tiger King. 👶➡️👑
What will the Maharaja do to find the required number of tigers to kill? To find the required number of tigers to kill and reach his tally of a hundred, the Maharaja undertook several actions:
- Initially, he hunted all the tigers in his own state of Pratibandapuram, until they became extinct there.
- When no tigers remained in his kingdom, he decided to marry a girl from a royal family in a state that possessed a large tiger population.
- During his visits to his father-in-law’s kingdom, he would kill five or six tigers each time.
- When even his father-in-law’s kingdom ran out of tigers, the dewan (chief minister) secretly arranged for an old tiger to be brought from the People’s Park in Madras and released it in the Maharaja’s own state for him to hunt as his hundredth tiger. 🏞️🦁👰
How will the Maharaja prepare himself for the hundredth tiger which was supposed to decide his fate? The Maharaja’s anxiety reached a “fever pitch” with just one tiger left to achieve his goal. He was very careful, remembering the astrologer’s warning about the hundredth tiger being a “savage beast”. When a tiger was reportedly found in a hillside village, he immediately announced a three-year exemption from all taxes for that village and set out on the hunt at once. He was equally determined and refused to leave the forest until the tiger was found, even though it wasn’t easily located. His mounting fury led him to threaten officers’ jobs and order the dewan to double the land tax, ensuring intense pressure to find the tiger. The dewan, to alleviate this pressure and prevent discontent, secretly procured an old tiger himself and released it for the Maharaja to shoot. 🎯🌳
What will now happen to the astrologer? Do you think the prophecy was indisputably disproved? The sources do not explicitly state what happened to the astrologer after the Maharaja’s death. When the astrologer made the prediction, he had vowed that if the hundredth tiger was also killed, he would “tear up all my books on astrology, set fire to them, and… cut off my tuft, crop my hair short and become an insurance agent”.
Regarding whether the prophecy was indisputably disproved:
- In a literal sense, the prophecy that death would come from the hundredth tiger was not disproved in terms of the outcome, but the specific details were ironically twisted. The Maharaja believed he had killed the hundredth tiger, which was actually killed by a hunter after he missed. So, the live hundredth tiger did not directly cause his death.
- However, the Maharaja ultimately died from an infection caused by a sliver from a wooden toy tiger. This means that “death comes from the Tiger” was indeed fulfilled, but in a completely unforeseen and ironic manner, by a toy. So, while the immediate circumstance of the 100th live tiger did not lead to his death, the spirit of the prophecy was fulfilled by a tiger nonetheless. Therefore, the prophecy was not indisputably disproved; instead, it was fulfilled in a surprising and satirical way. 🔮😅
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? This is a “Reading with Insight” prompt. The source itself does not provide an answer to this question, but based on the story, the author employs dramatic irony through several key elements:
- The Prophecy vs. The Maharaja’s Actions: The audience knows from the beginning that the Maharaja’s death will come from a tiger, and the astrologer warns him about the hundredth tiger. The Maharaja’s relentless pursuit of tigers, driven by his arrogance and belief that he can defeat destiny by killing them all, creates dramatic irony. He thinks he is escaping his fate by killing tigers, while the audience knows that his actions are inadvertently leading him closer to it.
- The “Hundredth Tiger”: The most potent example of dramatic irony is the Maharaja’s belief that he has killed the hundredth tiger (the live one), when in reality, he missed, and a hunter killed it. He celebrates his victory, unaware that his vow was not truly fulfilled by his hand and that his actual demise will come from a seemingly innocuous source – a wooden toy tiger – a twist only the audience is privy to.
- The Astrologer’s Vow: The astrologer’s dramatic vow to abandon his profession if the hundredth tiger was killed by the Maharaja highlights the Maharaja’s false sense of triumph. The audience knows the astrologer’s prediction is upheld, albeit through an ironic medium, making the Maharaja’s confidence dramatically ironic.
- The Maharaja’s Self-Preservation vs. Fate: The Maharaja’s extreme measures, such as risking his kingdom for the hunt and marrying for tigers, underscore his obsession. The dramatic irony lies in the fact that despite all these grand, tyrannical efforts to control his fate, he succumbs to something trivial and unexpected, proving the ultimate power of destiny over human conceit. 🎭🤫
What is the author’s indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the willfulness of human beings? This is a “Reading with Insight” prompt. The source itself does not provide a direct answer to this question. However, the story strongly implies the author’s indirect comment through the following:
- Senseless Slaughter: The Maharaja’s relentless hunting of tigers is depicted as arbitrary and ego-driven, not for sustenance or ecological balance, but solely to defy a prophecy and satisfy his tyrannical will. This highlights the destructive nature of human willfulness when unchecked by empathy or reason.
- Extinction: The tigers in Pratibandapuram become extinct, with a satirical note questioning if they practiced birth control or committed ‘harakiri’. This is a grim, albeit humorous, comment on the real-world consequences of unchecked human exploitation of wildlife, leading to local extinctions.
- Irony of Fate: The ultimate irony of the Maharaja being killed by a wooden tiger, after slaughtering ninety-nine real ones, serves as a metaphorical retribution for his cruelty. It suggests that nature, or fate, has its own way of responding to humanity’s wilfulness, often in unexpected ways, thus critiquing the notion that humans can dominate nature with impunity.
- The “Tiger King” Title: The very title of “Tiger King” is ironic; a king who should protect his domain, instead drives a species to extinction within it. This underscores the absurdity and destructiveness of human arrogance towards the animal kingdom. 🐅❌
How would you describe the behaviour 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? Do we find a similarity in today’s political order? This is a “Reading with Insight” prompt. The sources suggest the Maharaja’s minions are primarily driven by fear rather than sincere loyalty.
- Obedience due to fear: The dewan, for instance, shudders at the sight of the Maharaja’s gun and immediately denies being a tiger when questioned, indicating his fear of the king’s unpredictable anger. When the Maharaja’s rage escalates due to the missing tiger, “Many officers lost their jobs”, prompting the dewan to take drastic measures like doubling the land tax, and eventually procuring a tiger himself, to avoid catastrophic consequences for the state and himself.
- Manipulation and Deception: The hunters, after the Maharaja misses the hundredth tiger, decide to kill it themselves because they “could lose their jobs” if the Maharaja knew he had missed his target. They prioritize their own safety and the Maharaja’s delusion over truth, revealing a lack of sincere regard.
- Sacrifice of personal ethics/safety: The dewan and his aged wife are forced to drag a tiger at midnight to the forest, enduring significant physical strain and risk, purely to appease the Maharaja.
- No information on “today’s political order”: The sources do not provide information or a discussion on similarities with “today’s political order”. However, the depiction of subjects obeying a powerful, unpredictable ruler out of self-preservation is a common satirical theme. 😨🤫
Can you relate instances of game-hunting among the rich and the powerful in the present times that illustrate the callousness of human beings towards wildlife? This is a “Reading with Insight” prompt. The provided sources do not contain any information or examples of game-hunting in present times to answer this question. The story itself is set in a past context and is a fictional satire. 🌍🚫🐅