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Question
Discuss the following question in detail and write the answer in your notebook:
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.
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Solution
This is a humorous story. Through the three female characters in the narrative, the author has attempted to parody society. Because her friend Loona Bimberton had acquired a tiger-skin and press photos, Mrs. Packletide's competitive and envious temperament drove her to engage in game killing. Without taking any chances, Mrs. Packletide even offered a thousand rupees for the game. She then proudly faced the cameras, claiming to have killed the beast, but in reality, the loud rifle sound had caused the tiger to die of heart failure.
Mrs. Packletide recruited Miss Mebbin, who was avaricious and had a protective attitude towards money, to go to the game with her. She also mocked Mrs. Packletide by stating, "You should get it cheaper if it's an old tiger." Mrs. Packletide had been blackmailed by Louisa Mebbin into purchasing a lovely cottage in exchange for keeping the fact that the wrong animal had been murdered a secret. The author ridicules Mebbin for naming her cottage "Les Fauves."
Loona Bimberton has been portrayed as a cunning individual with a vindictive streak. For weeks, she had avoided to look at the illustrated paper because it featured photographs of Mrs. Packletide with her hunted tiger, despite her boasts about the tiger-skin. As she composed the letter of gratitude for the tiger claw bracelet, her feelings appeared to be suppressed. The author has attempted to ridicule three ladies who each made an effort to get notoriety.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
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?
b) What does it tell you about her?
c) What is the tone of the storywriter?
d) Do you think she was successful in her mission?
e) What do you think the story is all about?
Answer the following question in your own words :
What made her decide to give a party in Loona Bimberton's honour? What did she
intend to give Loona on her birthday?
Answer the following question in your own words :
How was the tiger shooting arranged? What kind of a tiger was chosen for the
purpose?
Answer the following question in your own words:
Who was Miss Mebbin? Was she really devoted to Mrs. Packletide? How did she behave during the tiger shooting?
Answer the following question in your own words:
How did the villagers react to the tiger’s death?
Answer the following question in your own words :
How did Miss Mebbin manage to get her week-end cottage? Why did she plant so
many tiger lilies in her garden?
Discuss the following question in detail and write the answer in your notebook:
Do you think the tiger shooting organized by the villagers was a serious affair?
Give reasons for your answer.
Discuss the following question in detail and write the answer in your notebook:
Aperson 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.
Discuss the following question in detail and write the answer in your notebook:
How does the writer create humour in this story?
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
| Character | Extract from the story | What this tells us about the character |
|
Mrs. Packletide |
(i) The compelling motive for her sudden deviation towards the footsteps of Nimrod was the fact that Loona Bimberton had recently been carried eleven miles in an aeroplane by an Algerian aviator, and talked of nothing else; only a personally procured tiger-skin and a heavy harvest of Press photographs could successfully counter that sort of thing | Competitive |
| (ii) Mrs. Packletide had offered a thousand rupees for the opportunity of shooting a tiger without over-much risk or exertion, |
||
| (iii) Mrs. Packletide faced the cameras with a light heart, and her pictured fame reached from the pages of the Texas Weekly Snapshot to the illustrated Monday supplement of the Novoe Vremya. |
||
| Louisa Mebbin | (i) "If it's an old tiger I think you ought to get it cheaper. A thousand rupees is a lot of money." | |
| (ii) Louisa Mebbin adopted a protective elder-sister attitude towards money in general, irrespective of nationality or denomination |
||
| (iii) "How amused every one would be if they knew what really happened," said Louisa Mebbin a few days after the ball. |
||
| (iv) Louisa Mebbin's pretty week-end cottage, christened by her "Les Fauves," and gay in summer-time with its garden borders of tiger-lilies, is the wonder and admiration of her friends |
||
| Loona Bimberton | (i) 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 |
|
| (ii) There are limits beyond which repressed emotions become dangerous. |
Rewrite the one in ordinary prose so that the meaning is retained.
It was Mrs. Packletide's pleasure and intention that she should shoot a tiger.
....................................................................................
Rewrite the one in ordinary prose so that the meaning is retained.
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.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Rewrite the one in ordinary prose so that the meaning is retained.
Louisa Mebbin adopted a protective elder-sister attitude towards money in
general, irrespective of nationality or denomination.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Rewrite the one in ordinary prose so that the meaning is retained.
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 the question given below:
The Maasai tribe in Africa hunt lions because
Answer the question given below:
The hunting of lionesses is discouraged because
Answer the question given below:
The Maasai warriors chase a lion with rattle bells to
Answer the following question:
Why does the author say that Louisa Mebbin had a "protective elder sister" attitude towards money?
