CBSE Class 12 English HOTs The Tiger King Set 03

Question. What is the general attitude of human beings towards wild animals?
Answer: The general attitude of human beings towards wild animals is that of fear because of their ferociousness and tendency to harm humans. But some people exploit them by caging or hunting them for the sadistic pleasure they derive from their 'feats', or kill them to earn money from their body parts and skins. Yet, there are people who understand the importance of sustaining ecological balance, preserving the beauty of nature and they believe in every creature's right to exist. They spread awareness about the importance of wildlife and the necessity of saving it from extinction.

Question. Who is the Tiger King? Why does he get that name? or How did the Tiger King acquire his name? 
Answer: The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram was often referred to as the Tiger King. He got this name because, when he was born, a prophecy was made that his death would come from a tiger. He killed ninety-nine tigers. Ironically, his death occurred due to a wooden toy tiger.

Question. What did the royal infant grow up to be?
Answer: The royal infant grew up to be crown Prince Jung Bahadur. He grew taller and stronger day by day. Like other princes of India, he grew up in a totally English atmosphere. He drank the milk of an English cow, was brought up by an English nanny, tutored in English by an Englishman and saw nothing but English films. He grew up and became just like an Englishman in his ways.

Question. What will the Maharaja do to find the required number of tigers to kill? or Why did the Maharaja decide to get married? or Which problem did the Maharaja face when he had killed seventy tigers? How did he solve it? All India 2017 or What was the reason for the Tiger King's sudden decision to marry? 
Answer: After killing seventy tigers, there were no more tigers left in his kingdom. To get the remaining number of tigers to kill, the Maharaja asked his dewan to find a suitable girl for him to marry who would be from a royal family belonging to a state with a large tiger population. As Pratibandapuram had no more tigers left, a state ruled by his future father-in-law should provide him an opportunity to kill more tigers and fulfil his aim of killing a hundred tigers.

Question. How will the Maharaja prepare himself for the hundredth tiger which was supposed to decide his fate?
Answer: The Maharaja's anxiety reached a fever pitch when there remained just one tiger to achieve the tally of a hundred. However, this last tiger was hard to be found as, by this time, the tigers were exhausted even in his father-in-law's kingdom. Soon there were reports of a tiger near a hillside village in his own state. The king set out on the hunt at once. He also exempted the villagers from paying taxes for three years as a reward.

Question. What will now happen to the astrologer? Do you think the prophecy was indisputably disproved?
Answer: The king has died, so no harm will come to the astrologer, as there is nobody to question him. However, his prophecy was not indisputably disproved, as the Maharaja was not able to actually kill a hundred tigers.

Question. 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: Dramatic irony is a literary device whereby the words and actions of the characters of a work of literature have an opposite meaning for the reader than they do for the characters. The author effectively uses the tool of dramatic irony in the story. For instance, after killing the first tiger, the Tiger King displays it ostentatiously in front of the astrologer. But the astrologer warns him to be 'very careful with the hundredth tiger'.
Having shot at the hundredth tiger, the king believes that it is dead. But the tiger has only fainted from the shock of the bullet flying past it. The irony comes into play when the king buys a wooden toy tiger for his son and gets injured from the slivers of wood. He dies due to an infection from the wooden sliver, as he has been doomed to death.

Question. What is the author's indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the wilfulness of human beings?
Answer: The author wants to tell his readers that killing innocent animals for fulfilling one's whims and fancies is morally wrong. The Tiger King goes on a hunting spree and interferes with the course of nature by indulging in the heinous slaughter of tigers.
It is ironic that fate has other plans for a conceited man like him. The Tiger King does not honour the right to live of other beings. Fate pays him in the same coin by awarding him death through a wooden toy tiger. The author wants to drive home the point that all of us are subject to death. Death is common to all and all beings have the right to life; we are nobody to take away other's lives. The Tiger King breaks the divine law and so is severely punished by the divine power for his misdeeds.

Question. 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?
Answer: Conceited, ruthless, cruel and driven by whims and fancies, the Maharaja belongs to the typical ruling class in India. Devoid of any logic or reasoning powers, the Maharaja is happy when he comes to know about the presence of the hundredth tiger near a village. Although the dewan is an adviser to the Maharaja, he knows that going against him can have disastrous consequences. So, the dewan arranges the Tiger King's marriage to a princess whose kingdom has a sizeable tiger population. When the hundredth tiger cannot be found, the dewan plants a tiger for the Maharaja to shoot, just to save himself.
When the king misses his mark, his minions kill the emaciated tiger themselves to save their jobs. None of them want to incur his wrath by going against him. Undoubtedly, it is fear of the authority of the king that makes the minions work for the king.
The situation in the present times is the same. Everybody has their own axe to grind. Lies, injustice and greed reign supreme.

Question. 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?
Answer: In recent times wildlife laws have been strictly enforced. No leverage is being given even to people with influence. A few Indian film stars were in the news for killing a black buck in Rajasthan during the shooting of a film there. The black buck is an endangered species and is covered under the wildlife act.
Another instance is of a former Test cricket captain who killed an antelope. Antelopes are a rare species protected under the wildlife act. Despite strict regulations enforced by the government to safeguard wildlife, such incidents keep on happening. It is also obvious that there are many more cases involving the rich and powerful killing animals for sport than are publicised. These instances illustrate peoples' insensitivity and their lack of concern and compassion towards wildlife, and also bear testimony to their conceited and eccentric ways of deriving pleasure by killing and destruction.

Question. We need a new system for the age of ecology - a system which is embedded in the care of all people and also in the care of the Earth and all life upon it. Discuss.
Answer: Being the finest creation of God, man, on the basis of his intelligence, has dominated all other forms of life on Earth. In a bid to satisfy his innumerable needs, man has altered the symbiotic relationship between him and nature. Man's needs have changed into greed now. It is said, "The Earth has enough for man's need but not enough to satisfy his greed". This has led to a dismal scenario in which we have to face problems like global warming, melting of polar ice-caps, receding glaciers, soil erosion, pollution, depleting forest cover and extinction of several species of flora and fauna.
It is important that at this critical juncture, we need a revolution to save our planet and its ecological heritage. We need to put immediate checks on industrial activities, increase the forest cover and let our Earth remain 'green'.

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS 

Question. What gave the astrologers the greatest surprise of their life while they were studying the horoscope of the ten-day old prince? 
Answer: When the astrologers were studying the horoscope of the prince, the infant prince suddenly began to speak clearly and wisely. This miracle, of the ten-day old prince speaking, gave the astrologers the greatest surprise of their life.

Question. What made the chief astrologer place his finger on his nose? 
Answer: When the baby Maharaja was only ten days old, he opened his lips in speech and raised intelligent questions to the chief astrologer. He asked him about the manner of his death. This made the chief astrologer place his finger on his nose in wonder.

Question. What warning did the astrologer give the Tiger King when he killed the first tiger? Did the predictions of the astrologer come to be true? 
Answer: When the Maharaja killed the first tiger, the astrologer warned him again. He told him to be very cautious with the hundredth tiger. Yes, his prediction came true. The Maharaja was not able to kill the hundredth tiger.

Question. Why did the Maharaja ban tiger hunting in the state? 
Answer: When he killed his first tiger, the astrologer informed him that he would have to kill a hundred tigers to escape the prophecy. So, the Maharaja banned tiger hunting in the state so that he could kill the required number of tigers.

Question. What led the Maharaja to start out on the tiger hunt?
Answer: When the Maharaja was born, a prophecy was made that the reason of his death would be a tiger. The Maharaja wanted to prove the prediction wrong. After he killed the first tiger, the astrologer told him that he would have to kill a hundred tigers as the prophecy was that the hundredth tiger would cause his death. So, the Maharaja started out on a tiger hunt to save his life.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS 

Question. Describe the efforts made by the Tiger King to achieve his target of killing a hundred tigers. 
Answer: The Tiger King spent a significant time and made numerous efforts to fulfil his target of killing a hundred tigers. He stayed in the forest for many days. He fired many of his officers for not getting him tigers to kill. The Tiger King even married a girl from another kingdom which had a large tiger population, when the tiger population become extinct in his own kingdom.
The Tiger King also banned tiger hunting in his state, and did not permit a high-ranking British officer who visited Pratibandapuram to shoot tigers, as he feared that other British officers would turn up for similar expeditions. Later, he realised the danger to his throne and had to spend a sum of three lakh rupees to impress the British officer's wife and discourage him from killing tigers. All these efforts were made to fulfil his target of killing a hundred tigers.

Question. The astrologer's prediction about the death of the Tiger King came to be true. Do you agree with this statement? 
Answer: The astrologer had predicted that no harm would come to the Tiger King till he killed ninety-nine tigers. He had to be wary of the hundredth tiger. This statement of the astrologer forced the king to go on a tiger killing spree.
Tiger killing was banned in the state for everyone else and the king even married in a bid to kill the hundredth tiger. However, in spite of all his efforts to avert the danger, the Tiger King was killed due to an injury by the hundredth tiger, which was a crude wooden toy tiger bought for his son to play with.
A sliver of wood protruding from the toy pierced his right hand. The wound developed an infection and soon it spread all over the arm. The best surgeons failed to save the king and thus the astrologer's prediction about the death of the Tiger King proved to be correct.

Question. "In this manner the hundredth tiger took its final revenge upon the Tiger King." Comment on this statement with reference to the story.
Answer: The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram tried to kill a hundred tigers just to disprove the prophecy made by the astrologers. At the time of his birth, they had predicted that the manner of his death would be connected to a tiger. This made the king go on a tiger killing spree. He was jubilant at killing the hundredth tiger. He never realised that in actuality he had not killed it; it had merely fainted. The king had missed his shot and a hunter later on killed the tiger.
After 'killing' the hundredth tiger, the king turned his attention towards his three-year old son. On the occasion of his birthday, he gifted him a wooden tiger.
While he was playing with the son and the crudely carved toy tiger, a tiny sliver of wood pierced his right hand. The infection spread over his whole arm. He died due to the infection. Thus, the hundredth tiger vindicated the death of all the tigers and proved the prediction right.

Question. The astrologers predict, "The child will grow up to become the warrior of warriors, hero of heroes, champion of champions....". In contrast to the above statement, the Tiger King's death is an anticlimax. Comment.
Answer: When the Tiger King was born, the astrologers predicted that the Tiger King would be valiant and courageous but "the child born under this star will one day have to meet its death." When the Tiger King grew up and got to know of this prophecy, he set out on a tiger hunt. From that day onwards, the tigers in the kingdom were under threat from the king himself. Just to disprove the prophecy and to prove himself powerful, the Maharaja started his ruthless slaughter of tigers.
The irony was that the Maharaja, who had bravely fought and killed ninety-nine tigers, lost his life because of a wooden inanimate tiger which he had brought as a birthday present for his son. A small splinter of wood from the crude toy injured hint and infected his entire arm, which led to his untimely death. Thus, the hundredth tiger avenged the death of all the other tigers.
It was, undoubtedly, a trick of fate and the cruelty of the Maharaja that led to such an anticlimax.

Question. Giving a bribe is an evil practice. How did the Tiger King bribe the British officer to save his kingdom? How do you view this act of his? 
Answer: The Tiger King conferred with the dewan and they decided to gift some diamond rings to the British officer's wife, so that the king may not lose his kingdom. Although they sent the lady 50 rings to choose one or two from them, she kept all the rings for herself. Thus the bribe was effective and his kingdom was saved, though at a high cost. However, the king's action was an evil practice and morally wrong. But then, even the killing of so many tigers was also morally wrong, besides disturbing the ecology of the region. Even the action of the Tiger King in marrying the daughter of a king having a kingdom with a large tiger population made a mockery of the institution of marriage. Thus the Tiger King took many evil actions just to prove the prophecy wrong, but he still failed to do so, dying in the process.

Question. "In this manner the hundredth tiger took its final revenge upon the Tiger King." Comment on this statement with reference to the story.
Answer: The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram tried to kill a hundred tigers just to disprove the prophecy made by the astrologers. At the time of his birth, they had predicted that the manner of his death would be connected to a tiger. This made the king go on a tiger killing spree. He was jubilant at killing the hundredth tiger. He never realised that in actuality he had not killed it; it had merely fainted. The king had missed his shot and a hunter later on killed the tiger.
After 'killing' the hundredth tiger, the king turned his attention towards his three-year old son. On the occasion of his birthday, he gifted him a wooden tiger.
While he was playing with the son and the crudely carved toy tiger, a tiny sliver of wood pierced his right hand. The infection spread over his whole arm. He died due to the infection. Thus, the hundredth tiger vindicated the death of all the tigers and proved the prediction right.

Question. The astrologers predict, "The child will grow up to become the warrior of warriors, hero of heroes, champion of champions....". In contrast to the above statement, the Tiger King's death is an anticlimax. Comment.
Answer: When the Tiger King was born, the astrologers predicted that the Tiger King would be valiant and courageous but "the child born under this star will one day have to meet its death." When the Tiger King grew up and got to know of this prophecy, he set out on a tiger hunt. From that day onwards, the tigers in the kingdom were under threat from the king himself. Just to disprove the prophecy and to prove himself powerful, the Maharaja started his ruthless slaughter of tigers.
The irony was that the Maharaja, who had bravely fought and killed ninety-nine tigers, lost his life because of a wooden inanimate tiger which he had brought as a birthday present for his son. A small splinter of wood from the crude toy injured hint and infected his entire arm, which led to his untimely death. Thus, the hundredth tiger avenged the death of all the other tigers.
It was, undoubtedly, a trick of fate and the cruelty of the Maharaja that led to such an anticlimax.