THE TIGER KING
BY KALKI
Prepared by
L. Das
POINTS TO REMEMBER
 It
is a story with a moral lesson.
 It narrates the story of the
Maharaja of Pratibandapuram in
an ironical and satirical style.
 Pride comes before a fall and
death is the great equalizer.
 Man should learn to respect life
and take care of all the creatures
of the Earth.
TITLE
Maharaja’s entire life revolved
around tiger hunting and tiger killing.
 He vowed to attend to matters of the
state only after killing a hundred
tigers.
 Married the lady whose estate had
the largest tiger population.
 Hunted the hundredth tiger with
great difficulty but did not actually
kill it himself.

TITLE (CONT.)
Bought a wooden tiger for his soncarved by an unskilled carpenter.
 Maharaja injured his hand.
 The infection flared up and caused
his death despite the best surgeons.
 Destiny took its final revenge on
‘The Tiger King’.
 The arrogance and power of man is
so small compared to destiny and
nature.

INTERPRETATIONS
Story is a fable with a moral. It
makes an appeal for the protection of
the tiger and for all flora and fauna.
 Man has ravaged nature for his own
selfish purposes. However nature has
a way of taking revenge.
 The author believes in the dictum’Live and let live’. Killing for pleasure
is a grave sin.

INTERPRETATION
‘The Tiger King’ is a warning to man
to stop his ruthless exploitation of
Nature which has caused the
extinction of innumerable wildlife
species.
 Story is more about the crime of
thoughtless killing of tigers and its
punishment rather than the power of
destiny.

CHARACTER OF TIGER KING
Comical and eccentric character who
behaves like an autocrat.
 His subjects including the senior
officers tremble with fear in front of
him.
 Moody and whimsical, he behaves in
an irrational way throughout.
 He resorts to bribery of the British
officer’s wife to save his kingdom.
