1) The willfulness and selfishness which are inherent in the nature of man are
best demonstrated when he shows absolute disregard for the sanctity of
animal life. The theme is the arrogance and conceit of those in power, such as
the king who shows wanton cruelty towards the tiger population. The king
neglects his duties towards his subjects and willfully indulges himself in his
personal pursuits. He is neither interested in serving his people and working
for their welfare nor concerned about harming animal life.
2) Maharaja’s minions were subservient and sycophantic. Most of them were
scared of Maharaja and tried to keep him in good humor by obeying his
orders. They did not dare to disobey him as his displeasure could mean loss of
their jobs or even loss of their lives. The astrologer was afraid of predicting his
death .However Maharaja Thad asked him to speak without any fear. Dewan
who should have advised the king not to kill the tigers did not dare to go
against his wishes and aided his marriage to a princess whose father’s kingdom
possessed a large number of tigers.
3) The tiger king was neither a good father, nor a good husband and nor a good
human being. His selfishness did not let him do his duties to his son, wife and
the people responsibly. He was only obsessed about his own safety. He
sacrificed everything for killing tigers. He did not give time to his son, wife and
people until he had killed all the hundred tigers.
4) By hearing the prediction made by the astrologers that the kings death was by
a tiger he did not shudder with fear instead he said that let the tigers beware
showing his brave and courageous part.
5) The ending of the story "The Tiger King" makes its readers acquitted with the
moral of the story. In the end, all the pride and presence of power also do not
help the King in escaping death. Another thing which gets highlighted is that
death is inevitable. Death has to come one day. There is no power in the world
which can help any person to escape the evils of death. The King wanted to
show his powers over the inevitable death.
6) The Maharaja was very much anxious and kill the hundredth tiger because it
was predicted by the astrologer that he should be more careful from the
hundredth tiger as he would die because of the tiger. To falsify the prediction,
the Maharaja was keenly ambitious to kill the hundredth tiger.
7) The Maharaja offered to organize a boar hunt, a mouse hunt or a mosquito
hunt for the high- ranking British officer. He offered to organize any hunt other
than a tiger hunt. This reveals that the officer was a man who was a meek man
who, the Maharaja felt, would be satisfied with any sort of hunt.
8) The Maharaja had successfully killed ninety-nine tigers but struggled hard to
find the hundredth tiger. Once there came a news of a tiger being spotted at a
hillside village but it turned out to be untrue. This infuriated the Maharaja who
ordered the dewan to double the land tax in order to punish the villagers for
the false news
9) The Tiger King was in danger of losing his kingdom when he annoyed a senior
British Officer by refusing him permission to not only hunt a tiger in
Pratibandapuram but also rejected the officer's request of being
photographed with a tiger killed by him.
10) The chief-astrologer had forewarned the king that a tiger would be
responsible for his death and he should be particularly beware of the
hundredth tiger. After killing the hundredth tiger the king was relaxed and
became careless. He did not know that the hundredth tiger had actually
survived because the bullet had missed its mark. Finally it was a tiger who was
responsible for the king’s death even though it was a toy-tiger which he had
bought as a birthday gift for his son. The carved toy tiger had a rough surface
with sharp wooden splinters. One of these sharp splinters pierced the king’s
right hand and caused a deadly infection that spread all over his arm. Three
surgeons tried their level best but they could not save the king and so the
astrologer’s prediction did indeed come true. Despite the fact that the king
took every measure to avoid the circumstance of his death the hundredth tiger
took its final revenge upon the king as predicted by the astrologer.