Irony and Satire in ‘The Tiger King’

‘The Tiger King’ is replete with irony that reveals the follies of autocratic and willful rulers who flout all laws and bend them to suit their selfish interests.  The dramatic irony in the story is sharp when the Tiger King alone is unaware that his bullet had not killed the hundredth tiger. The other characters and the readers anticipate his doom as he celebrates his triumph over his destiny. We realize how misplaced the King’s pride at killing the first tiger was. The astrologers had prophesied, “You may kill ninety nine tigers like this, but your death will be brought on by the hundredth tiger.” The King wanted to prove the astrologer wrong and to save his life. Ironically, to avert death he actually invites it. The lofty titles used to introduce the Tiger King, suggesting an invincible ferocity are indeed ironic for he is finally killed by a cheap, crudely made wooden toy tiger which became the tool of Nature’s revenge. He had killed a hundred tigers in vain and must be punished for it. Irony is indeed sharp when the surgeons announce the operation successful and declare the king dead. 

Instances of satire

Satire employs irony, sarcasm, ridicule, etc. in exposing and criticising follies and vices in men. The story uses humour to criticize self-seeking Kings who willfully exploit both nature and their subjects for sefish interests.

·         When the Maharaja of Pratibandhpuram was told that he would be killed by a tiger, he could never imagine the twist in fate where a toy tiger could be fatal. Because of his conceit, he was unprepared for such surprises flung by life at him.

·         The grandeur associated with a king’s life proves a mockery. The news of the king’s ailment invited not one, but three surgeons. They got so tied up in technicalities that they declared the operation successful even though the king died.

·         The story also satirizes the corrupting influence of power. Just because the Tiger King had power, he felt he could browbeat his subjects and even defeat fate. He neglected his responsibility as a ruler.  He  neglected the welfare of his subjects, his family, increased and reduced taxes at will and sacked his officers. They feared him or else he would have learnt the truth.

·         When we see the king gloating over his bravery after killing the hundredth old, weak tiger, we notice that Kalki is satirizing the notions of cowardice and bravery. There is no heroism in fighting an unequal battle. The King’s cowardice was obvious when he justifies that one may kill even a cow in self defense.

·         Kalki is also criticizing the King’s men and subjects who pander to his whims out of fear or like the shopkeeper manipulate and fool him.

Light humour in the Tiger King

·         The instance of the Stuka bomber

·         The king’s offer of mouse hunt etc

·         The incoherent blabbering by the Dewan and the Chief Astrologer

·         The Dewan procuring an old tiger from people’s park and its stubborn refusal to get off the car and the description of its waiting in humble supplication to be shot.

·         The shopkeeper quoting three hundred rupees for a cheap two annas and a quarter  toy tiger

SHORT QUESTION & ANSWERS (pts.)

What happened when the tiger fell in a crumpled heap?

The maharaja was overcome with elation. He proclaimed that he had killed the 100th tiger and fulfilled the vow; he ordered the tiger to be brought to the capital in grand procession and walked away. 

What dangers did the tiger king face in his quest for killing the hundred tigers?

By refusing a British official to hunt in his kingdom he faced the danger of losing his throne;  fought tigers with his bare hands.

Mention any two unforeseen hurdles the tiger king encountered in the fulfilment of his mission. How did he overcome them?

The tiger population in Pratibandapuram had become extinct so he got married to the daughter of the neighboring kingdom with the largest tiger population;  his refusing permission to a high ranking British officer  to hunt tigers in Pratibandhpuram or even be photographed with a dead tiger  put his kingdom at stake, but he pacified the Durai by sending some fifty expensive diamond rings to his wife for which he emptied the royal treasury.

Why was the chief astrologer struck with wonder when he heard the royal infant speak?

 A ten day old infant could speak legibly; he even asked intelligent questions – therefore awestruck

What was ironical about the wooden tiger?

What he considered the most befitting gift for his son cost merely two annas and a quarter. Unlike the majestic tigers the king fought with his bare hands, it was a crude toy made by an unskilled craftsman, with tiny slivers sticking out of it A sliver from this wooden tiger pierced the King’s hand, which led to an infection that killed the king.

What was the prediction by the astrologers?

-grow up to be a great king- ’champion of champions’  but will one day die. When the ten day infant insisted on knowing the reason for his death they hesitatingly added that the prince would be killed by a tiger as he was born under the hour of the bull and the bull and tiger were enemies.

How did he acquire the name ’The Tiger King’?

His whole life revolved round tigers- when the astrologers had predicted that he would be killed by a tiger, the ten-day old infant prince thundered, ’Let tigers beware’ . When he took over as the king he made it his mission to kill 100 tigers and challenge his destiny. He killed 70 tigers depleting all the tigers in Pratibandhpuram, killed the others in his father in law’s kingdom but was finally killed by a toy tiger.

The Enemy

 By Pearl S. Buck

‘The Enemy’, a story set in Japan at the time of Second World War raises high moral questions about ethics in the times of war. What is more important-a man’s primary responsibility as a human being or an overriding, irrational hatred of humans from enemy country?

Dr. Sadao Hoki, faced conflict of interests between loyalty to his country and devotion to his profession when an unconscious, dying American POW was washed ashore in front of his house.  Japan was at war with America and harbouring an enemy would be treason. His rational mind told him to throw the man back into the sea but his conscience and high medical ethics make him instinctively seek the man’s wound, staunch the bleeding, bring him into the house and operate on him. He leaves no stone unturned to nurse him back to health but he clearly intended to hand him over to the army once he was healed. As a Japanese Sadao had no desire to save an enemy’s life but as a doctor he ignores servants’ defiance and the risk to his reputation and family.

His upbringing had been staunchly Japanese but he had received medical education abroad and knew well the principles of humanitarianism. Though aware of Japanese brutality, he as a good patriot reported the matter to the General and accepted his suggestion of private assassins killing and disposing the enemy. But, when the General forgot, he helped the man to escape and thus saved his life again.    The story shows how ideals of humanity and innate goodness triumph over narrow patriotism.

_____________________

What was the general’s plan of relieving Sadao of his dilemma?

Send private assassins any night; asked him to leave the outer partition of the white man’s room open to the garden. They would make no noise; knew the trick of inward bleeding; would even dispose of the body.

What were the rumours about general Takima? On the other hand what did the newspapers say?

-Rumours about the suffering of prisoners of war; however newspapers reported that Japanese armies were welcomed gladly with cries of joy wherever they went.

Why were the servants critical of Sadao?

-Sadao too proud of his skill to save life that he saves any life; what will be the fate of the children if their father is condemned as a traitor; feared they would be cursed by gun and the sea for saving a man they had wounded

 How was the general in the palm of Sadao’s hand?

-had forgotten to send assassins to Sadao’s house. He was anxious not to give Sadao the impression that it was not a dereliction of duty or lack of patriotism on his part - just his absorption with his illness.

Why had Sadao not been sent with the troops?

He was perfecting a discovery that would render wounds entirely clean; the old general might need an operation anytime and he did not trust anybody else.

How did Sadao feel rewarded?

There was no prick of light in the dusk; the prisoner had escaped in a Korean fishing boat. Their own life could go back to normal

What did Sadao conclude after examining the wound of the unconscious soldier?

On the right side of his lower back, Sadao saw a gun wound; the flesh was blackened with gunpowder; blood flowed freshly at his touch. Sometime, not many days ago the man had been shot and had not been tended; the rock had struck the wound and reopened.

Why makes Hanna sympathetic to her husband in the face of open defiance from the domestic staff?

Hanna did not like Americans but she was a traditional Japanese wife who would always stand by her husband. She understood his duty as a doctor. An educated, tender hearted woman, she realised  that the enemy was just a wounded helpless young boy. Thus Yumi’s stubborn refusal to wash the man angered her and she faced servants open defiance with dignity and herself served the sick man.     

An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

Stephen Spender

In "An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum” Spender questions the value of education imparted to slum children. The government is supposed to provide equal opportunity for education, but the classroom in the slum offers little hope for change or progress for the poor students.  This poem does not explicitly name any country, location, race, or citizenship, it responds to injustice in the global context.

The first stanza contains vivid descriptions of the slum children. They are 'far far' away metaphorically from the mainstream of life, freedom, adventure and a bold future ('gusty waves'). They are like 'rootless weeds' (insecure, unwanted, neglected) caught in the backwaters of life unlike the children from the privileged children who are vibrant and exuberant.

Their emaciated, undernourished bodies are in need of attention. They are pale and have unkempt hair. The tall girl seems hopeless, sick and tired,( weighed down by poverty and hopelessness) the thin, hungry looking boy looks like a rat, the 'stunted, unlucky heir / of twisted bones' has inherited his father's disease ( reciting- repeated generation after generation). A sweet young lad sits in the 'dim class' (- metaphor for their bleak lives) distracted and  dreams of escaping away from depressing environment.

In the second stanza the poet moves to on to describe the classroom. The walls are 'sour cream' in colour - decaying, dull and neglected - a dull, depressing environment, where children feel despondent and their dreams turn sour. The walls are filled with 'donations', which seem to taunt the children because they have no connection with the beautiful, 'cloudless' landscapes, the world of learning and creativity represented by Shakespeare or the civilized domes of cities symbolizing culture and progress, so far removed from the squalor of their fog-covered slums. The Picture showing the natural beauty of Tyrolese valley is unimaginable for children living on slag heaps of industrial slums. The map of the world seems to be generously complimenting the outside world. The children, however, see the world through their windows, their personal experience, - unclear, narrow, heavy and oppressive. This is ironical. The repetition of the phrase 'far far'  highlights that there is a wide gulf between the lives of slum children who are confined to fog-covered lanes sealed in with a lead sky (literal-a polluted, smog covered sky; metaphoric- which does not open up opportunities, instead weighs down blocking escape from the slum), with no opportunity to escape and the rosy pictures on the wall showing a world of rivers, cloudless sky, ships, sun- filled lands and love.

In the third stanza the poet questions the value of the donated pictures on the walls which raise aspirations and hopes and ironically have a negative impact on the children. The children are now compared to rodents that live in a 'cramped hole'. In desperation they are lured into crime to reach a world far removed from their own lives. Thus, they move from 'fog to endless night' - a metaphor for their dismal prospects. Their immediate environment is now a slag heap in industrial cities and 'foggy slum'. They are frail and delicate, wear skins through which the bones jut out. Their spectacles with mended glass distort their view of the world. Their life is as cheap and shattered like broken pieces of cheap glass. There is no gentleness or softness in their young lives. The poet deliberately evokes hard, sharp images- bones, steel, glass, bottle bits and stones to conjure picture of hardships in their lives. The poet is angered by the situation and calls for a more truthful and realistic picture of the world for the children or else he states, the slum children are doomed.

The final stanza brings in hope. It is an appeal to the government and concerned authorities 'governor, inspector, visitor’ to change the lives of the children by becoming their 'map' or their guide and to make education meaningful and relevant to the slum children. They should help these children break out of the catacombs (burial chambers)of industrial towns that have crippled their minds, bodies and spirit. It is only then that the windows through which the slum children observe the world will open out to reveal the outside world in all its wondrous beauty. Their tongues will metaphorically 'run naked' into their books as they explore knowledge first hand. They will enjoy full freedom and a golden future- run freely amidst nature (green fields and run azure on golden sands), taste, explore and experience  knowledge from books and nature and be creators of history and not merely its victims.(The poem ends with a burst of colour and light - a sharp contrast to the bleak and dim atmosphere of the classroom. ) The poet says that such education will empower them; they too would have equal opportunity, be enlightened, speak the language of the sun and be writers of their own history..

An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum (poetic devices/figures of speech)

Metaphors

a)            Gusty waves - the privileged children are compared to gusty waves-energetic, exuberant and forward moving

b)            Future’s  painted with a fog

c)            Sealed in with a lead sky

d)            stars of words

e)            from fog to endless night

f)             wear skins peeped through by bones

g)            let their tongues /Run naked into books…

h)            whose language is the sun

Simile –

•             Like rootless weeds;

•             Like bottle bits on stones – (their lives are as shattered as broken bits of scattered glass smashed on stones;)

•             these Windows that shut upon their lives like catacombs;

Imagery – weighed down: burdened with the weight of poverty and hopelessness

Pun – reciting:

a)  literal- the boy is reciting the lesson. Figurative – he is more prominently reciting his father’s disease i.e. repeating his father’s disease of twisted bones and deformity which has been passed down through generations

b)  sour cream: literal - the neglected walls have turns a dirty yellow .Figurative -  a dismal place where all dreams turn sour

lead sky- literal- sky polluted with industrial fumes. Figurative: A sky that does not open opportunities but weighs down heavily blocking all escape from the slums.

Symbol-

a) Squirrel’s game - fun outdoors to escape the dull classroom

b) civilized dome riding all cities- cities that show civilizational progress  and marvelous architecture

(ALSO PERSONIFICATION – riding all cities)

c) Open-handed map- (a map drawn arbitrarily by the people in power and the privileged)

c.1) map with slums as big as doom- the grim reality of the lives of slum children

d) fog- bleak and unclear

e) ships and sun- adventure and  beautiful lands offering opportunity

f) slag heaps- industrial waste, toxic filth and squalor

g) windows –windows of the slum classroom do not open out to opportunities and the wide world. They show only fog covered slums where they are confined.

If the children are not allowed to break open out of these slums the windows will close on them burying them in endless misery, hopelessness and doom them to a death-like existence.

h) Green fields, gold sand - nature and golden opportunities;

white and green leaves -  first- hand knowledge from pages of books and nature

run azure- experience the rich colours of nature

i) sun – symbol of enlightenment ; of equal blessing/ equality

Repetition-

 Break O break open till they break the town

Far, far