The Tiger King Class 12 question answers: Ncert Solutions for Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 2 The Tiger King
| Textbook | Ncert |
| Class | Class 12 |
| Subject | English |
| Chapter | Chapter 2 |
| Chapter Name | The Tiger King ncert solutions |
| Category | Ncert Solutions |
| Medium | English |
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The Tiger King Read and Find Out question answer
Question 1: Who is the Tiger King? Why does he get that name?
Answer 1: The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram was called the Tiger King. At the time of his birth the astrologers declared that the prince would have to die one day. The ten-day-old prince asked the astrologers to reveal the manner of his death. The wise men were baffled at this miracle.
The chief astrologer said that his death would come from a tiger. The young prince growled and uttered terrifying words: ‘Let tigers beware!’ He decided to kill one hundred tigers. He, thus, got the name ‘Tiger King’.
Question 2: What did the royal infant grow up to be?
Answer 2: The royal infant grew up to be the king of Pratibandapuram who was obsessed with the idea of killing one hundred tigers. He wanted to do so to disprove the prophecy which said that his death would come from the hundredth tiger. This made him kill all tigers of Pratibandapuram. He even married for the sake of this ambition. He came to be known as the Tiger King.
Question 3: What will the Maharaja do to find the required number of tigers to kill?
Answer 3: Within ten years the Maharaja was able to kill seventy tigers. Then the tiger population became extinct in the forests of Pratibandapuram. One day the Maharaja sent for the dewan and asked him if he was aware of the fact that thirty tigers still remained to be shot down by his gun. The dewan shuddered with fear. The Maharaja told him that he had decided to get married.
He asked the dewan to draw up statistics of tiger populations in different native states. Then he was to investigate if there was a girl he could marry in the royal family of a state with a large tiger population. This plan was put into practice. The dewan found the right girl from a state which possessed a large number of tigers. The Maharaja killed five or six tigers each time he visited his father-in-law. Thus, he was able to find the required number of tigers to kill. He shot ninety-nine tigers.
Question 4: How will the Maharaja prepare himself for the hundredth tiger which was supposed to decide his fate?
Answer 4: The Maharaja wanted to be extremely careful while dealing with the hundredth tiger which was supposed to be the reason for his death. On encountering the hundredth one, he took a careful aim at the tiger and shot it. When it fell in a crumpled heap, he was overcome with joy and left the place hastily.
Question 5: What will now happen to the astrologer? Do you think the prophecy was indisputably disproved?
Answer 5: The astrologer dies before the king of Pratibandapuram gets an opportunity to kill one hundred tigers. Disproving his prophecy seems to be the sole reason for the king’s existence. Except for killing hundred tigers, everything else takes a back-seat for the king.
The prophecy cannot to be indisputably disproved as the king was ultimately killed by a tiger, though neither by a real one nor by the hundredth one.
Looking at the weak, old and almost lifeless tiger that was the hundredth one, no one would have thought that it would escape the king’s bullet by fainting at the shock of the bullet whizzing past. It was the “tiny little wooden tiger” from the toy shop that caused the death of Tiger King.
The Tiger King Reading with Insight question answer
Question 1: 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 1: The story is a poignant satire on the abuse of power by the people in powerful positions. The Maharaja, fearing the prophecy that he would meet his death from the hundredth tiger, launched a feverish hunt in the name of “self-defence”.The state banned tiger hunting by anyone except the Maharaja.
He declared that the property of the person, who dared to hunt a tiger, would be confiscated. The king was all set to realise his ambition. He vowed to attend to other matters only after killing of a hundred tigers. In the process, he came close to losing his throne when he refused permission to a high-ranking British officer to hunt tigers in his state.
Question 2: What is the author’s indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the willfulness of human beings?
Answer 2: For centuries innocent animals have been subjected to the wilfulness of human beings. Man has been killing animals for sport, meat or organs of body. The author does not make any direct comment about it in the story. Man advances strange logic to defend even his unlawful and cruel acts. The Maharaja quotes an old saying, “You may kill even a cow in self-defence”.
Hence, he finds no objection to kill tigers in self-defence. It reveals not only the callousness of human beings towards wildlife but their disregard for maintaining ecological balance. The extinction of tiger species in Pratibandapuram state and the state ruled by the Maharaja’s father-in-law amply illustrates the result of man’s cruelty towards wild animals. An old tiger has to be brought from the People’s Park in Madras to satisfy the king’s whim to kill one hundred tigers.
Question 3: 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 3: The Maharaja’s minions obey them only because of fear. Yes, the similarity can be observed in today’s political world as well. But, I believe this is something that will happen forever. Every individual working under powerful authorities is influenced by their power and position and ends up doing whatever they are asked to do. Obviously, fear is the driving force. But, this is not something that is limited to the law and order of today’s day and age. It is going to continue forever.
Question 4: 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 4: Even in the present time, one can see that game-hunting is as popular as it was in the past among rich and powerful people across the world. India banned and condemned poaching, hunting, and selling animal body parts across the country. But these laws are not executed properly, so hunters and poachers hunt illegally, and trade animal parts across the border to get crores of cash.
As a consequence, many species have become extinct, and others are endangered. Strict penalties and punishment must be set on the offenders of the laws passed to preserve wildlife. We must join hands to protect those animals and also should spread awareness of crimes inflicted on helpless animals.
Question 5: . 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 5: Modem age is the age of ecology. A new consciousness has arisen among human beings. Animals and birds are as much part of nature as human beings. The destruction or haphazard killing of one species may not only lead to its extinction, but it will adversely affect the ecological balance. Those animals which serve as food for the wild animals will increase in large number, if the beasts of prey are wiped out.
Each species, howsoever fierce, deadly, ferocious or poisonous has its own role in the scheme of things. We must devise a new system. It must focus on the care of all living beings on the Earth as well as the Earth itself and all life—vegetative or animal living on it. Steps have to be taken to preserve ecological balance in nature and prevent environmental pollution. Unpolluted air, water and food can make all living beings healthy and enable them to enjoy longer fives.