THE TIGER KING

Justification of the Title

1. “The Tiger King” is a very appropriate title for the story for several reasons.
2. First of all, the king is crazy about tiger hunting so much that he marries a princess
whose father’s kingdom has a sizeable tiger population. He kills one hundred tigers just to
fulfil his vow.
3. Secondly, the king with all his frenzy, anger and ruthlessness is as ferocious as a tiger.
Thirdly, he dies of a silver prick received from a wooden toy tiger. Finally, the prediction
that a tiger would cause the king’s death also comes true.
4. Since the story revolves round the king and the hundred tigers that he kills, it could not
be better titled than “The Tiger King”.

Satire

1. Satire is a way using humour to show that someone is foolish, weak or bad.
2. Satire employs irony, sarcasm, and ridicule etc. in exposing and criticizing follies
and vices in men.
3. The story is a living satire on the vanity of the people in power.
4. The story satirizes the corrupting influence of power. Just because the Tiger King
had power, he felt he could beat his subjects and even defeat fate. He neglected
his responsibility as a ruler. He neglected the welfare of his subjects, his family,
increased and reduced taxes at will and sacked his officers. They feared him or
else he would have learnt the truth.
5. Treatment of tigers is satirical
6. Kalki is also criticizing the King’s men and subjects who pander to his whims out of
fear or like the shopkeeper manipulate and fool him.
7. He banned hunting by anyone except him and even got married to kill more tigers.
8. His arrogance has been shown by the title adorning his name.
9. When his status was threatened, he bribed the British officer’s wife with diamond
rings.
10. He arbitrarily punished his officer’s and doubling the land tax on the farmers.
11. He did not care for the people’s plight at all.
12. He vowed to attend all other matters only after killing 100 tigers.
 13. Declared that the property of the person who even hurt a tiger would be
confiscated
14. Announced 3 years tax exemption for the villagers.

Conceit

1. Conceit : too much pride in your own worth or goodness.

2. When the Maharaja of Pratibandhpuram was told that he would be killed by a tiger, he
could never imagine the twist in fate where a toy tiger could be fatal. Because of his conceit,
he was unprepared for such surprises flung by life at him.
3. Maharaja killed all the tigers of his state to prove the prophecy of the astrologers as
speculative , but the author of the story has broken his conceit ironically with the
introduction of the drama of a small splinter killing such a powerful and a vain Maharaja’s
finger infection causing his death…… is an example of dramatic irony.

Dramatic irony

1. Dramatic irony is a literary device whereby the words and actions of the character
of a work of literature have an opposite meaning for the reader.
2. The dramatic irony in the story is sharp when the Tiger King alone is unaware that
his bullet had not killed the hundredth tiger.
3. ‘The Tiger King’ is replete with irony that reveals the follies of autocratic and wilful
rulers who flout all laws and bend them to suit their selfish interests.
4. The other characters and the readers anticipate his doom as he celebrates his
triumph over his destiny. We realize how misplaced the King’s pride at killing the
first tiger was. The astrologers had prophesied, “You may kill ninety nine tigers like
this, but your death will be brought on by the hundredth tiger.” The King wanted
to prove the astrologer wrong and to save his life. Ironically, to avert death he
actually invites it.
5. The lofty titles used to introduce the Tiger King, suggesting an invincible ferocity
are indeed ironic for he is finally killed by a cheap, crudely made wooden toy tiger
which became the tool of Nature’s revenge. He had killed a hundred tigers in vain
and must be punished for it. Irony is indeed sharp when the surgeons announce
the operation successful and declare the king dead.
6. The prince growled, “Let tigers beware…” but in fact, the Maharaja himself had to
be cautious.
7. The large scale hunting of tigers as an act of self defence, but in fact it was a grave
callousness on his part.
8. Even after killing the 99 tigers, he had to be beware of the 100
 9. The tiger collapsed form the shock and did not die. It was killed by the hunters.
10. The king killed 99 tigers in vain, while his death was caused by a wooden tiger.
11. Contrary to the ferocious tiger, the 100 tiger was old and ambled into the
Maharaja’s presence and stood there humbly and finally fainted from the shock of
bullet.

Humour/ wit

1. Wit is an ability to say or write things that are clever and usually funny
2. Humour shows the weakness or bad qualities of a person.
3. The grandeur associated with a king’s life proves a mockery. The news of the king’s
ailment invited not one, but three surgeons. They got so tied up in technicalities that they
declared the operation successful even though the king died
4. Maharaja’s name
5. “Hero of heroes, warrior of warriors and champion of champion” reverberates with``
pomposity & hyperbolic words
6. The instance of the Stuka bomber
7. The incoherent blabbering by the Dewan and the Chief Astrologer
8. His arrogance and conceit in Oh wise prophet…. It was I who spoke. Let tigers beware”
9. His arranging for a mouse hunt, mosquito hunt for the British officers are highly
humorous.
10. His sending the gifts of diamond rings to British officer’s wife beat his pride hollow.
11. Tigers practice birth control or commit hara-kiri (suicide in Japanese way)
12. The dewans fear that if land taxes are doubled, the state shall fall in prey to the Indian
National Congress.
13. The death of the king due to wooden tiger proves the prophecy all right.
14. The operation is successful, The Maharaja is dead…
15. His arrogance & conceits in ‘O’ wise prophets
16. The Dewan procuring an old tiger from people’s park and its stubborn refusal to get off
the car and the description of its waiting in humble supplication to be shot
17. The shopkeeper quoting three hundred rupees for a cheap two annas and a quarter toy
tiger
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. What is the significance of child ‘s utterance “Let tigers beware’?

Astrologers warned that the child will die one day and the death would come form the tiger as
tiger and bull are enemies and the child was born in the hour of the bull.

2. Was there any justification in the killing of so many tigers by the Maharaj?

It was not a feasible idea to kill so many tigers neglecting the other duties that the king had.
Instead he could have focused his energy on his own kingdom as he was countable to the people
he ruled. If the death really had to come from the hundredth tiger, he should have waited for it
rather than fastening up the process by hunting down tigers one after another.

3. What id the state astrologer say he would do ‘if the hundredth tiger were also killed?

The king challenged the astrologer. The astrologer viewed, that if he went wrong, he would tear
all astrology books and set them on fire. He would cut his tuft, crop his hair short and become
an insurance agent.

4. Why did the Dewan and the Maharaja decide to send gifts of expensive diamond rings to the
duraisani?

Maharaja prevented a British officer from fulfilling his desire and thus he stood in danger of
losing his kingdom itself. The Maharajha and the dewan decided to send expensive diamond
rings as gifts to the duraisani. The Maharajha was happy that though he had lost 3 lakh of rupees
he had managed to retain his kingdom 5

5. Why did the Maharaja’s tiger killing missing come to a sudden standstill?.

The Maharaja managed to kill seventy tigers in ten years but the tiger population became
extinct in the forests of Pratibandapuram. This brought Maharaja’s tiger killing missing to a
stand still.
6. How did the Maharaja feel on killing the hundredth tiger? How did he decide to celebrate it?

The Maharaja was overcome with elation. He ordered the tiger to be brought to the capital in
grand procession and then left for the kingdom in his car proud of the fact that he had fulfilled
his view.

7. Why did the king to go to a shopping centre in Pratibandapuram? What did he buy there?

The king went to the shopping center in Pratibandapuram to buy a special gift for his son’s third
birthday. He bought a wooden tiger from a toyshop and gifted to his son.

8. How did the Tiger King meet his end? What is ironical about his death?

The wooden tiger had been carved by an unskilled carpenter. Tiny slivers of wood stood up like
quills over it. One of those slivers pierced the Maharaja’s right hand and later he died due to the
infection. The king who had killed so many tigers, in the end was killed buy a wooden tiger.

9. How did the Maharaja kill the hundredth tiger?

On the orders of the Maharaja, the dewan had brought a tiger which was kept hidden in his
house . The tiger came and stood in front of the Maharaja. It seemed as if he had surrendered
himself to the Maharaja. The Maharaja took careful aim at the beast and shot him dead. But
later, after the maharaja left, it was realized that the bullet had missed the target.

10.  Why do you think, the author goes into detailed identification of the Tiger King through a
variety of titles ? Does he really mean to humour him ?

Kalki, the author of the story , has no intention of praising the king. In fact, immediately after
addressing him with a variety of titles, he brings an anticlimax by telling his readers that his
name is shortened to “ Tiger King “ .

12. How did the tiger king acquire his name? (2009)

The Tiger King was Maharaja of Pratibandapuram. He came to be known as tiger king as at his
birth it was predicted by the royal astrologer that he would be killed by a tiger .And to disprove
this prediction he started killing the tigers indiscriminately and killed 99 tigers.. Moreover , he
was ferocious like a tiger.

13. What do you understand by “threat of a Stuka bomber”?

Stuka Bomber was a German ground attack aircraft which was known for its high accuracy in
hitting its target and terrorizing sound it emitted.
 Through the reference of Stuka Bomber , the author wants to convey that he intends to tell why
Maharaja of Pratibandapuram came to be known as Tiger King and nothing ,not even horrifying
Stuka Bomber could compel him to digress from the topic.

14  What was the miracle that took place in the royal palace?

When the Maharaja was a 10 day old infant, he spoke and asked intelligent questions about his
death. After knowing that he would be killed by a tiger he uttered saying “Let tigers beware.”

15.  What predictions did the astrologers make at the birth of the tiger king?

The astrologers predicted that the newly born prince will grow up to become the hero of
heroes, brave of the bravest and a great warrior. He also predicted that the baby was born in
the hour of the bull. The bull and tiger were enemies. Therefore, he would die because of
the tiger.

16.  What led Maharaja to set on tiger hunt?

17.  What justification did the tiger king give before he started out on tiger hunt?

Believes in the saying ‘You may kill a cow in self defense’

Had no objection in killing tigers in self defense

18.  What did the State astrologer say he would do ‘if the hundredth tiger were also killed’?

The State astrologer was so sure of his prediction that he announced that he would cut off his
ceremonial tuft, crop his hair short and become an insurance agent in case the king was able to
kill the 100th tiger, too. He was sure that the Maharaja’s death would be caused by the
100th tiger.

19. What did the high-ranking British officer wish to do? Was his wish fulfilled?

The high-ranking British officer wanted to kill a tiger. When he was denied the permission for
hunting, he sent a word to the king that he would be happy if he was allowed to get
photographed with the dead body of a tiger killed by the king. However, his wish remained
unfulfilled.
20.  What did the British officer’s secretary tell the Maharaja? Why did the Maharaja refuse
permission?

21.  How did the Maharaja manage to save his throne?

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
placate and pacify the officer through bribe by sending gifts of expensive diamond rings to the
‘duraisani”, the wife of the British officer. Thus he managed to save his throne.

23.  How did the ‘duraisani’ behave on receiving the gifts?

Some fifty samples of expensive diamond rings were sent to the duraisani and it was expected
that she would select one or two and return the rest. But the lady proved to be greedy as she
retained all of them and merely sent a letter of thanks.

24. What unforeseen hurdle brought the tiger hunt to a standstill?

Within ten years Maharaja’s tiger hunting had resulted in the killing of

seventy tigers. However his tiger killing mission came to a sudden standstill because the tiger
population became extinct in the forest of Pratibandapuram.

25  Why did the Maharaja suddenly decide to marry? Whom did he wish to marry?

The Maharaja suddenly decided to marry because firstly, he was of marriageable age and
secondly, he wanted to kill thirty more tigers in his father-in-law’s state in order to complete the
tally of hundred tigers .For this reason he wished to marry a girl in the royal family of a state
with a large tiger population.

27  Why did Maharaja order the dewan to double the tax?

The Maharaja called the dewan and ordered him to immediately double the tax of the villagers
who had informed him of a tiger in the forest because despite his best efforts he was unable to
locate the beast. This infuriated the Maharaja.

28. Why did the Dewan decide to give up his own tiger to be killed by the Maharaja?

The dewan had hidden in his house an old tiger which had been brought from the People’s Park
in Madras . He feared that if the Maharaja did not get a tiger to hunt, the result would be
catastrophic and he would lose his job.

29  What was Dewan’s tiger like? How did he take it into the forest?

 weak, senile
 Dewan arranged the tiger from The People’s Park
 at midnight dragged the tiger and shoved him into the car, went to the forest, hauled the
beast out of the car, and pushed him to the ground near Maharaja’s camp

30  How the 100th tiger was finally found & killed?

 The Dewan took the 100th tiger which he had brought from people’s park in Madras. The tiger
wondered into Maharaja’s presence. The king shot it but it was not killed; the hunters killed to
escape from king’s anger.