Class Notes of Fiction 2: Mrs. Packletide's Tiger
Class 10th English
Topics:
- Summary
- Important Questions
- Character Sketch
Summary
Mrs. Packletide, the main character of the story, once traveled in an airplane with Loona Bimberton, who talked of nothing else but the self-procured tiger skin. Mrs. Packletide got jealous and decided at that moment to kill a tiger and gift a tiger-claw brooch to Loona on her next birthday. For this, she even offered one thousand rupees to the villagers to arrange the shooting of a tiger, without much risk or exertion. The villagers were excited at the prospect of one thousand rupees and were ready to help her. The great night arrived when the killing was to be done. Mrs. Packletide, along with a paid companion, Miss Mebbin, crouched on a platform constructed specially for this on a tree. A goat was fastened as a bait for the tiger and everyone started waiting for the tiger. They had to wait for sometime and then they heard the footsteps of the tiger. Mrs. Packletide shot using her rifle and the tiger was dead. Everyone rejoiced over the killing when they came down from the tree. Miss Mebbin drew Mrs. Packletide’s attention towards the bullet wound on the goat and not the tiger. Actually, the bullet from the rifle hit the goat which died instantly whereas the tiger being an old one, just succumbed to heart failure at the mere sound of a bullet. Anyhow, Mrs. Packletide was everywhere on the pages of the weekly and she sent the tiger-claw brooch to Loona Bimberton also. As for Miss Mebbin, she never forgot about the bullet-injury on the goat for which Mrs. Packletide had to do something so that she didn’t give her away. She had to buy a weekend cottage near Darking in which Louisa Mebbin lived happily.
Important Questions
Q. Who arranged for the tiger shooting and Why?
A. Mrs. Packletide arranged for the tiger shooting because she wanted to show off he exploits and make Loona Bimberton jealous of her achievements. It was the only way in which she could counter all the publicity achieved by Loona Bimberton.
Q. How was Mrs. Packletide was able to achieve her heart's desire?
A. Mrs. Packletide offered an amount of 1,000 to the villagers to help her in shooting a tiger safely. they managed a very old and weak tiger whose hunting was absolutely safe. She also got a paid companion named Louisa Mebbin, who helped her in shooting the tiger.
Q. Why did Mrs. Packletide give up big-game shooting?
A. Mrs. Packletide had a very sad and bitter experience of shooting. She had to pay a huge amount to the villagers as well as Miss Mebbin. She realized that her vanity was responsible for her loss and suffering.
Q. "Louisa Mebbin had a protective elder sister attitude towards money in general." How?
A. Lousia Mebbin scolded Mrs. Packletide for giving a huge amount of money to the villagers. She asked Mrs. Packletide not to pay the price of the goat if it was not touched by the tiger. But all her pretentions were for the sake of her personal motive to get a huge amount from Mrs. Packletide.
Q. Who was Miss Mebbin? What was her relationship with Mrs. Packletide?
A. Miss Mebbin was the paid companion of Mrs. Packletide. Actually, she had not any blood relation with Mrs. Packletide. She adopted an elder sister attitude (protecting) towards money irrespective of which currency that money belonged to or who was its owner.
Q. How did Miss Lousia Mebbin blackmail Mrs. Packletide?
A. Miss Louisa Mebbin was the eyewitness of the shooting. She knew that Mrs. Packletide had killed the goat and the tiger had died of heart attack. So, she asked Mrs. Packletide to buy a cottage for her if she wanted her not to disclose the fact.
Q. Describe how the shooting was arranged and the role the villagers played in the same.
A. The villagers played a very significant role in arranging the shooting. the offer of a thousand rupees stimulated them. They posted children At night and day on the outskirts of the forest. They wanted to keep The tiger in the same forest. to keep the old tiger alive, many cheap goats were left in the forest. Mothers were asked not to disturb the restful sleep of the tiger by singing. A persistent bleating goat was tied near the platform constructed by the villagers for the shooting purpose. After the shooting, the village started a chorus of triumph by thumping tom-toms. They also convinced at the fiction that the bullet of Mrs. Packletide had killed the tiger. The triumph and rejoicing of the villagers the killing of even this old tiger could not have been possible. Thus, the role of the villagers in killing the tiger can't be underestimated.
Q. How did miss Mebbin exploit Mrs. Packletide?
A. Miss Mebbin won the faith of Mrs. Packletide by adopting a protective elder-sister attitude money. After becoming the eyewitness of the fact of shooting she blackmailed Mrs. Packletide into buying a cottage for her if she wanted her not to disclose the fact. Mrs. Packletide had to buy the cottage to keep Miss Mebbin mum.
Q. Depict the instance of humor in the Chapter," Mrs. Packletide's Tiger".
A. Instances of humor can be enumerated as follows -
Q. Who arranged for the tiger shooting and Why?
A. Mrs. Packletide arranged for the tiger shooting because she wanted to show off he exploits and make Loona Bimberton jealous of her achievements. It was the only way in which she could counter all the publicity achieved by Loona Bimberton.
Q. How was Mrs. Packletide was able to achieve her heart's desire?
A. Mrs. Packletide offered an amount of 1,000 to the villagers to help her in shooting a tiger safely. they managed a very old and weak tiger whose hunting was absolutely safe. She also got a paid companion named Louisa Mebbin, who helped her in shooting the tiger.
Q. Why did Mrs. Packletide give up big-game shooting?
A. Mrs. Packletide had a very sad and bitter experience of shooting. She had to pay a huge amount to the villagers as well as Miss Mebbin. She realized that her vanity was responsible for her loss and suffering.
Q. "Louisa Mebbin had a protective elder sister attitude towards money in general." How?
A. Lousia Mebbin scolded Mrs. Packletide for giving a huge amount of money to the villagers. She asked Mrs. Packletide not to pay the price of the goat if it was not touched by the tiger. But all her pretentions were for the sake of her personal motive to get a huge amount from Mrs. Packletide.
Q. Who was Miss Mebbin? What was her relationship with Mrs. Packletide?
A. Miss Mebbin was the paid companion of Mrs. Packletide. Actually, she had not any blood relation with Mrs. Packletide. She adopted an elder sister attitude (protecting) towards money irrespective of which currency that money belonged to or who was its owner.
Q. How did Miss Lousia Mebbin blackmail Mrs. Packletide?
A. Miss Louisa Mebbin was the eyewitness of the shooting. She knew that Mrs. Packletide had killed the goat and the tiger had died of heart attack. So, she asked Mrs. Packletide to buy a cottage for her if she wanted her not to disclose the fact.
Q. Describe how the shooting was arranged and the role the villagers played in the same.
A. The villagers played a very significant role in arranging the shooting. the offer of a thousand rupees stimulated them. They posted children At night and day on the outskirts of the forest. They wanted to keep The tiger in the same forest. to keep the old tiger alive, many cheap goats were left in the forest. Mothers were asked not to disturb the restful sleep of the tiger by singing. A persistent bleating goat was tied near the platform constructed by the villagers for the shooting purpose. After the shooting, the village started a chorus of triumph by thumping tom-toms. They also convinced at the fiction that the bullet of Mrs. Packletide had killed the tiger. The triumph and rejoicing of the villagers the killing of even this old tiger could not have been possible. Thus, the role of the villagers in killing the tiger can't be underestimated.
Q. How did miss Mebbin exploit Mrs. Packletide?
A. Miss Mebbin won the faith of Mrs. Packletide by adopting a protective elder-sister attitude money. After becoming the eyewitness of the fact of shooting she blackmailed Mrs. Packletide into buying a cottage for her if she wanted her not to disclose the fact. Mrs. Packletide had to buy the cottage to keep Miss Mebbin mum.
Q. Depict the instance of humor in the Chapter," Mrs. Packletide's Tiger".
A. Instances of humor can be enumerated as follows -
- Mrs. Packletide wanted the tiger skin spread before her eyes and also wanted the people including Loona Bimbertor to talk about it.
- Mothers were asked not to disturb the tiger by singing.
- Miss Mebbin protected her monetary interests everywhere and in every way.
- The tiger was not killed by Mrs. Packletide. Actually, it died of heart attack.
Q. How did the villagers react to the tiger's death?
A. A crowd of excited natives gathered on the scene. They started shouting that Mrs. Packletide had killed the tiger. A thumping of tom-toms took up the chorus of triumph. They pretended that they did not know that the tiger had died of heart attack.
Character Sketch
- Mrs. Packletide - Mrs. Packletide was a vain individual whose main aim in life was to outshine her rival Loona Bimberton. Being very wealthy, Mrs. Packletide was able to carry out many of her whimsical endeavors like shooting a tiger to outdo Loona Bimberton's fear of flying with an Algerian Aviator. She was also incredibly lazy as she paid the villagers to set a trap for the tiger so that she can shoot it without putting herself in harm's way. Apart from being shallow and lazy, she was also vet silly not only because she squandered away her wealth to realize her spiteful and ridiculous pursuits, but also she got manipulated into paying a large amount of money to Miss Mebbin who had intentions to blackmail her.
- Loona Bimberton - Loona Bimberton isn't very different from Mrs. Packletide when it comes to beginning vain. Loona had recently flown eleven miles with an Algerian Aviator which cause a lot of annoyance to Mrs. Packletide. She, in turn, staged a heroic feat of shooting a tiger. In the beginning, we are lead to believe that it is Mrs. Packletide who is ridiculous and shallow, but towards the end of the story, we are acquainted with Loona Bimberton's vanity as well. She declines the invitation to the luncheon which Mrs. Packletide had thrown in her "honor" and refused to look at the single newspaper for weeks for the fear of reading about her rival's feats. Thus, in conclusion, one can say that Loona Bimberton, like her rival, is a shallow and an envious individual.
- Louisa Mebbin - Miss Louisa Mebbin was the so-called companion of Mrs. Packletide who can be best described as opportunistic and money-minded. As an accomplished penny pincher, she advised Mrs. Packletide that the thousand rupees she paid for an old tiger were too much. The author sarcastically Describes her stinginess by saying she has an "elder-sister attitude towards money in general". She also has a keen eye. Only she noticed that victim of Mrs. Packletide's bullet was the goat which was kept as bait and her intended victim, the tiger, had, in fact, died of heart attack. She used this piece of information to blackmail Mrs. Packletide and successfully extorted a weekend cottage from her.
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