Question 1.
Why do people hunt? Complete the web chart giving various reasons for the same
:
Answer:
Question 2.
Read these lines and guess
the answers to the questions given below :
It was Mrs. Packletide’s pleasure and intention that she should shoot a
tiger … The compelling motive … was the fact that Loona Bimberton had recently
… personally procured tiger-skin and a heavy harvest of Press photographs
could successfully counter that sort of thing.
(a) Why did Mrs. Packletide want to kill a tiger?
Answer:
Mrs. Packletide wanted to kill
a tiger for pleasure and to compete with her friend Loona Bimberton who had
procured a tiger-skin and gained great popularity.
(b) What does it tell you about her?
Answer:
She wanted to shoot a tiger as she was jealous of her friend and wanted
to gain popularity.
(c) What is the tone of the storywriter?
Answer:
The tone of the story writer is
humorous.
(d) Do you think she was successful in her mission?
Answer:
Yes she was successful in her mission.
(e) What do you think the story is all about?
Answer:
The story is about hunting a tiger for pleasure and popularity.
Question 3.
Answer the following
questions in your own words :
(a) Why did Mrs. Packletide wish to kill a tiger?
Answer:
Mrs. Packletide wished to kill
a tiger because her friend had procured a tiger-skin so she was jealous and
wanted popularity for herself.
(b) What made her decide to give a party in Loona Bimberton’s honour? What did
she intend to give Loona on her birthday?
Answer:
She decided to give a party in
Loona Bimberton’s honour for she wanted to show her a tiger skin rug and feel
proud. She intended to give a tiger-claw brooch to Loona on her birthday.
(c) How was the tiger shooting arranged ? What kind of a tiger was chosen for
the purpose?
Answer:
Mrs. Packletide offered a thousand rupees to the villagers to help to shoot
a tiger. A platform was constructed in a comfortable and convenient place in a
tree where Mrs. Packletide sat with her rifle and her paid companion Miss
Mebbin. An old and feeble tiger was chosen for the purpose.
(d) In what way did the villagers help Mrs. Packletide shoot the tiger?
Answer:
The villagers arranged for an
old tiger, children were told to head the tiger back in the local jungle,
cheaper kind of goats were-left to keep him satisfied. Mothers were made to
keep their babies quiet so as not to disturb the animal.
(e) Who was Miss Mebbin ? Was she really devoted to Mrs. Packletide ? How did
she behave during the tiger shooting?
Answer:
Miss Mebbin was Mrs.
Packletide’s paid companion. No she was not really devoted to Mrs. Packletide.
She made fun of the shooting and said that it would be useless to pay for the
tiger if he didn’t touch the goat.
(f) Mrs. Packletide was a good shot. Discuss.
Answer:
Mrs. Packletide shot at the
tiger. The tawny beast sprang to one side and rolled over dead. Miss Mebbin
drew attention that the goat had been killed by the bullet, while there was no
trace of a bullet wound on the tiger’s body. The wrong animal had been killed
and the tiger died due to heart failure caused by the sudden sound of the
rifle.
(g) What comment did Miss Mebbin make after Mrs. Packletide had fired the shot
? Why did Miss Mebbin make this comment ? How did Mrs. Packletide react to
this comment?
Answer:
Miss Mebbin said “How amused everyone would be if they knew what really
happened”. She made this comment to make fun of Mrs. Packletides shooting.
Mrs. Packletide said that no one will believe it. As soon as the tiger died,
the villagers came shouting excitedly for they were happy to get their money.
(h) How did the villagers react to the tiger’s death?
Answer:
The villagers shouted happily.
How the tiger was killed did not matter to them. They were only excited to get
? 1000.
(i) Do you think Mrs. Packletide was able to achieve her heart’s desire ? Give
reasons for your answer.
Answer:
Yes, Mrs. Packletide was able to achieve her hearts desire. She got
popularity. Her pictured fame reached from the pages of Texas Weekly Snapshot
to the illustrated Monday supplement of the Novoe Vremya.
(j) How did Miss Mebbin manage to get her week-end cottage 1 Why did she plant
so many tiger lilies in her garden?
Answer:
Miss Mebbin tried to blackmail
Mrs. Packletide by not letting out the secret if she would get a week-end
cottage instead. She planted many tiger-lilies in her garden to remind Mrs.
Packletide about the big game shooting.
(k) “The incidental expenses are so heavy”, she confides to inquiring friends.
Who is the speaker ? What is she referring to here?
Answer:
The speaker is Mrs. Packletide. She is referring to the game of
hunting.
Question 4.
Discuss the following
questions in detail and write the answers in your notebooks :
(a) Do you think the tiger shooting organized by the villagers was a serious
affair ? Give f reasons for your answer.
Answer:
The tiger shooting organised by
the villagers was a serious affair because Mrs. Packletide had offered a
thousand rupees for the opportunity of shooting a tiger without taking much
risk. A neighbouring village was chosen for the game killing. The idea of
earning a thousand rupees had egged on the villagers. They had posted their
children at the borders of the local jungle to head the tiger back to the
village so that it may not go to some fresh hunting grounds.
Mrs. Packletide was compelled to do this as the idea of her friend Loona Bimberton boasting of her personally procuring a tiger-skin and popularity of the press photographs could not be digested. Mrs. Packletides movements and motives were largely governed by the dislike of ‘ Loona Bimberton.
Cheaper kind of goats were left about in a great number to keep the tiger satisfied. All precautions were taken so as not to drive the tiger away. A platform was constructed in a conveniently placed tree. Mis. Packletide even paid her companion Miss Mebbin to accompany her to the shoot. For the villagers it seemed to be a serious affair for as soon as the rifle flashed and the beast rolled over dead, a crowd of excited natives came to the place shouting happily and carried the news to the village. They were anxious for their thousand rupees. Mrs. Packletide faced the cameras with a light and a happy heart.
(b) Do you think the writer is trying to make fun of the main characters in
the story i.e. Mrs. Packletide, Miss Mebbin and Loona Bimberton ? Pick out
instances from the story that point to this fact.
Answer:
This story is full of humour.
The writer has tried to make fun of the society through the characters of the
three women in the story. The competitive and jealous nature of Mrs.
Packletide motivated her to game killing because her friend Loona Bimberton
had procured a tiger-skin and procured press photographs. Mrs. Packletide had
even offered a thousand rupees for this game without taking any risk and faced
the cameras happily showing that she had killed that beast but the fact was
the tiger had died of heart failure due to the loud sound of the
rifle. ‘
Miss Mebbin was hired by Mrs. Packletide to accompany her to the game, she had a protective attitude towards money and was greedy. She even made fun of Mrs. Packletide by saying “If it is an old tiger you ought to get it cheaper”. Louisa Mebbin had blackmailed Mrs. Packletide into buying her a pretty cottage for not letting out the secret that the wrong animal had been killed. The writer makes fun of Mebbin that she had named her cottage as “Les Fauves”.
Loona Bimberton has been presented as a shrewd person with a spiteful nature. She had boasted about the tiger-skin but had refused to look at the illustrated paper for weeks for it contained the pictures of Mrs. Packletide with her hunted tiger. Her emotions seemed to be repressed as she wrote the letter of thanks for the gift of a tiger claw-brooch. The writer has tried to make fun of three women who tried in their own way to get popularity.
(c) A person who is vain is full of self importance and can only think of
himself / herself and can go to great lengths to prove his / her superiority.
Do you think Mrs. Packletide is vain ? Give reasons in support of your
answer.
Answer:
Mrs. Packletide is a vain. It was not because of her pleasure that she
should shoot a tiger nor the lust came upon her. But her friend Loona
Bimberton boasted about getting a tiger skin and facing the cameras had made
Mrs. Packletide envious of her friend. The urge to face the camera herself
forced her to offer a thousand rupees for the chance of shooting a tiger
without much effort. She was competitive in nature which made her arrange for
the shoot. She had already arranged a lunch in honour of Loona Bimberton and
even planned to give her a tiger claw-brooch. She wanted to show her
superiority by herself shooting a tiger so that she should also face the
camera. She tried to go to any lengths to prove this. She arranged for a paid
companion to accompany her for the shooting. All possible efforts were made to
make it a success. Even though the wrong animal was killed she faced the
camera boldly with the dead tiger to prove her courage.
(d) Sometimes writers highlight certain negative aspects in society or human
beings by making fun of it. This is called satire. In your groups discuss
whether you would classify this story as a satire. Give reasons to support
your answer.
Answer:
The writer has used satire in the story. He has made fun of the characters
in the story to bring out the satire. Mrs. Packletide is a shrewd and
competitive person, she becomes jealous of her friend when she comes to know
that Loona Bimberton has got a tiger-skin and faced the press and procured
photographs. She too out of her pride arranges to shoot a tiger. She goes to
the length of offering money to the villagers. An old tiger is lured by
cheaper goats.
The writer uses satire to make fun of the society that would do anything in order to become famous as portrayed by Mrs. Packletide. The other side of the greedy society is reflected by Miss Mebbin. She is a greedy lady who blackmails Mrs. Packletide to buy her a cottage so that she would not give away the secret of the wrong animal being killed. The villagers represent another group of the society who are also greedy for money. For them money mattered more than the animal that was shot, whether it was the goat or a tiger.
(e) How does the writer create humour in this story ?
Answer:
The story is full of humour.
Mrs. Packletide arranges for the shooting. The funniest part is that a weak
tiger is arranged and cheaper goats are left to lure him. Mrs. Packletide is
not a good shooter but a platform is constructed in a tree and she sits there
with a rifle a thumb- nail pack of patience cards. The funniest part is as
soon as the tiger caught sight of the goat it lay flat on the earth, seemingly
less from a desire to take advantage of and attack its prey.
The rifle is shot with a loud bang and the great beast springs to one side and then rolls over dead. Miss Mebbin makes fun of Mrs. Packletide by bringing out the fact that the wrong animal had been killed. The bullet had hit the goat but the tiger had a heart failure because of the loud noise of the rifle. The villagers shouted happily for they were only anxious for their thousand rupees and gladly connived at the fiction that she had shot the tiger. Mrs. Packletide faced the cameras happily and her pictured feme reached the pages of Texas Weekly Snapshot.
Question 5.
Choose extracts from the
story that illustrate the character of the people listed in the table given
below. There are some words given to help you. You may add words of your own.
One has been done as an example :
vain jealous competitive shrewd manipulative stingy materialistic spiteful
Answer:
Mrs. Packletide
(i) Competitive
(ii) Shrewd
(iii) Proud
Louisa Mebbin
(i) Materialistic
(ii) Greedy
(iii) Humorous
(iv) Satirical
Loona Bimberton
(i) Spiteful
(ii) Jealous
Question 6.
There are many amusing lines
in the story. Here are a few of them. Rewrite each one in ordinary prose so
that the meaning is retained. One has been done for you as an example:
(a) It was Mrs. Packletide’s pleasure and intention that she should shoot a
tiger.
Mrs. Packletide wanted to shoot a tiger
(b) Mrs. Packletide had already
arranged in her mind the lunch she would give at her house in Curzon Street,
ostensibly in Loona Bimberton’s honour, with a tiger-skin rug occupying most
of the foreground and all of the conversation.
(c) Mothers carrying their babies home through the jungle after the day’s
work in the fields hushed their singing lest they might curtail the restful
sleep of the venerable herd-robber.
(d)
Louisa Mebbin adopted a protective elder-sister attitude towards money in
general, irrespective of nationality or denomination.
(e) Evidently the wrong animal had been hit, and the beast of prey had
succumbed to heart-failure, caused by the sudden report of the rifle,
accelerated by senile decay.
(f) As for
Loona Bimberton, she refused to look at an illustrated paper for weeks, and
her letter of thanks for the gift of a tiger-claw brooch was a model of
repressed emotions.
Answer:
(b) Mrs. Packletide had planned to give a lunch at her house in Curzon
Street in honour of Loona Bimberton showing everyone the tigers skin rug hat
she had.
(c) In order not to disturb the
tiger, mothers tried to keep their babies quiet.
(d) Louisa Mebbin cared a lot for money irrespective of anything.
(e) Mrs. Packletide hit the wrong animal and the tiger died of heart failure
because of the loud noise of the rifle.
(f) Loona Bimberton was jealous to see Mrs. Packletide with the dead tiger.
She unwillingly wrote a letter of thanks to her for the gift of a tiger-claw
brooch.
Question 7.
An oxymoron is a figure of
speech that combines normally-contradictory terms. The most common form of
oxymoron involves an adjective-noun combination of two words like—failed
success.
Writers often use an oxymoron to call attention to an apparent contradiction. For example, Wilfred Owen’s poem The Send-off refers to soldiers leaving for the front line, who “lined the train with faces grimly gay.” The oxymoron ‘grimly gay’ highlights the contradiction between how the soldiers feel and how they act: though they put on a brave face and act cheerful, they feel grim. Some examples of oxymorons are—dark sunshine, cold sun, living dead, dark light, almost exactly etc.
The story ‘Mrs. Packletide’s Tiger’ has a number of oxymorons. Can you
identify them and write them down in your notebooks?
Answer:
Oxymorons : morbid dread,
sympathetic hands, laud report, glad news, pardonably annoyed, disagreeably
pleasant, gladly connived.
Writing Task
Question 8.
(a) Years later Mrs.
Packletide writes her autobiography. As Mrs. Packletide, write about the tiger
episode with the help of the clues given below.
Answer:
My friend Loona procured a tiger skin and so she got all the honour at the
press. I was jealous of her and thought of getting a tiger skin myself. I
asked the villagers to make all the arrangements for killing a tiger and
agreed to pay them one thousand rupees. I forced my friend Mebbin to accompany
me for the hunt. We both sat on a platform placed in a tree. I pointed my gun
at the goat tied under the opposite tree. As soon as the tiger approached
clumsily, I shot at him. It sprang on one side and fell down dead. The
villagers shouted with joy. But Mebbin told me that instead of eating the
goat, the tiger had died due to the loud sound of the bullet. I had missed the
aim, Mebbin was cunning to blackmail me in buying her a summer cottage that
she so much desired for not letting out the secret of the hunt. I was able to
get the tiger skin but had to pay a huge price to outdo a rival.
(b) In groups of four construct the dialogues and enact the following situations from the story :
- Mrs. Packletide and the headman of the village/other villagers discussing the details of the tiger shooting.
- Miss Mebbin blackmailing Mrs. Packletide into gifting her a cottage.
- Loona Bimberton and a lady-friend discussing Mrs. Packletide’s hunting success.
Answer:
-
Mrs. Packletide : “I wish to shoot a tiger and I am sure this area is the
most suitable place.” The village headman: “We can help you in the hunting,
but it is not an easy job.” Mrs. Packletide “I will pay for the tiger”.
A villager: “we agree, but you will have to pay us one thousand rupees. We will surely arrange for a tiger and make all other arrangements.”
Mrs. Packletide: “I am ready to pay the amount.” -
Miss Mebbin: “If you want me not to let out the secret, that the wrong
animal was killed, then you have to buy me a summer cottage, which I so much
desire.”
Mrs. Packletide: “I’ am sure you would not let me down. I will pay for the cottage.” -
Loona Bimberton : “I cannot believe that Mrs. Packletide killed a tiger.” I
don’t want to see the weekly.
A lady friend: “But I’m sure she did shoot.”