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🌈 The Tiger King – Class 12 English (Vistas Chapter 2)

📖 About the Author

• Kalki Krishnamurthy (1899–1954) – Renowned Indian writer, journalist, and Tamil novelist.
• Famous for historical fiction and short stories, blending satire, realism, and humor.
• Themes often include power, human folly, greed, and justice.
• Style is simple, humorous, and satirical, making social commentary accessible.

📜 Summary of the Chapter

(Point-wise, colourful notes for clarity)

1️⃣ Introduction to the Tiger King

• The story revolves around a king obsessed with killing tigers.
• He is authoritarian, cruel, and arrogant, ruling with absolute power.

2️⃣ The King’s Obsession

• The king prides himself on hunting and killing tigers, seeing it as a mark of bravery and dominance.
• He boasts of his trophies and conquests, displaying vanity and ego.

3️⃣ Fear and Tyranny

• His obsession with tigers extends to controlling his subjects and courtiers.
• The king is feared by his people, who respect him out of fear rather than loyalty.

4️⃣ Irony and Satire

• Kalki highlights the absurdity of the king’s obsession, showing that bravery can turn into foolishness.
• Despite his strength, the king becomes a victim of irony and his own hubris.

5️⃣ The King’s Death and Moral

• The king is ultimately killed by a tiger, the very creature he had been obsessed with hunting.
• The story ends with poetic justice, showing that excessive pride and obsession lead to downfall.

🎭 Themes

1. Obsession and Pride – The king’s obsession with hunting leads to his downfall.
2. Irony and Satire – Human folly is highlighted through the king’s arrogance.
3. Poetic Justice – Actions driven by greed or cruelty result in consequences.
4. Power and Tyranny – Absolute power can corrupt and isolate a ruler.
5. Human vs. Nature – Nature ultimately triumphs over human arrogance.

✨ Important Lines & Explanation

1. “The king was a tiger hunter who never missed his aim.”
   👉 Establishes the king’s skill, obsession, and pride in hunting.
2. “He ruled his subjects with fear, not love.”
   👉 Highlights tyranny and authoritarianism, showing lack of compassion.
3. “At last, the king met a tiger that he could not kill.”
   👉 Symbolizes poetic justice; nature overpowers human arrogance.

🎨 Figures of Speech / Literary Devices

• Irony → The king, expert tiger hunter, is eventually killed by a tiger.
• Satire → Critiques vanity, obsession, and misuse of power.
• Symbolism → Tigers symbolize nature, power, and inevitable justice.
• Tone → Humorous, satirical, cautionary.
• Foreshadowing → King’s obsession hints at his eventual downfall.

📚 NCERT Questions & Answers

🔹 Short Answer (30–40 words)

Q1. What is the central idea of “The Tiger King”?
👉 The story explores obsession, pride, and the misuse of power. It shows that arrogance and tyranny can lead to downfall, emphasizing poetic justice and human vulnerability.

Q2. How does Kalki use satire in the story?
👉 Kalki humorously critiques the king’s arrogance, obsession with hunting, and authoritarian rule. The exaggerated pride highlights human folly and teaches moral lessons through irony.

Q3. What lesson do we learn from the king’s death?
👉 The king’s death shows that excessive pride, obsession, and cruelty have consequences. It emphasizes poetic justice—human arrogance cannot triumph over nature or fate.

🔹 Long Answer (120–150 words)

Q. Discuss the role of obsession and pride in “The Tiger King.”
👉 In “The Tiger King,” Kalki Krishnamurthy portrays a king whose life is dominated by obsession with hunting tigers. This obsession fuels his vanity and arrogance, making him fearsome yet foolish. He rules his kingdom with authority, but his subjects respect him out of fear, not admiration. The king’s pride blinds him to consequences, leading him to underestimate nature’s power. Kalki employs satire and irony to expose human folly, showing that excessive pride can have fatal outcomes. Ultimately, the king is killed by a tiger, symbolizing poetic justice and the triumph of natural order over human arrogance. The story conveys that obsession, tyranny, and ego, however mighty, are vulnerable to nature’s law, offering readers a humorous yet thought-provoking reflection on power and morality.

📝 Extra Questions for Practice

1. Describe the king’s character in the story.
2. How does the king’s obsession affect his life and kingdom?
3. Explain the role of irony in the story.
4. What is poetic justice, and how is it shown here?
5. Discuss the story’s theme of human vs. nature.
6. How does Kalki use humor to critique tyranny?
7. What lessons does the story convey about power?
8. Describe the role of fear in the king’s rule.
9. How does the author use symbolism in the story?
10. Why is the king ultimately defeated despite his strength?

🌸 Conclusion

“The Tiger King” is a satirical and cautionary tale about obsession, pride, and human folly. Kalki Krishnamurthy uses humor, irony, and poetic justice to convey moral lessons. The story highlights the limitations of human power, the inevitability of nature’s law, and the consequences of arrogance, making it an engaging, instructive tale for students and readers alike.