The Tiger King, a Critical Analysis of the use of Irony

The Tiger King is meant to be a satirical comment on the foibles and weakness of the bureaucracy that rules the nation. What Kalki is trying to do is to expose the hollowness and false pride of those in power. To make this happen, the author employs the literary devices of dramatic, situational and verbal irony. The first example of situational irony takes place when the Tiger King takes careful aim at the old tiger and pulls the trigger. The situation is ironical because the firing of the gun did not result in the tiger's death. The irony is that the bullet missed its mark and that the tiger had fallen down out of shock on hearing the loud report of the gun. Looking at the situation, the tiger king comments, " I have killed the hundredth tiger. My vow has been fulfilled." The tiger falls down and the Tiger King thinks he has finally shot dead his hundredth tiger! That is dramatic irony as well all verbal irony.  It is dramatic irony because the Tiger King doesn't know that his bullet had missed the target, though the reader gets to know about this towards the end of the page. The incident proves that the Tiger King might not, after all, be a perfect marksman! He has his weakness and is not invulnerable. The hunters notice this and then quietly dispose of the tiger without informing the king lest they should lose their jobs.

Some more examples of dramatic irony include the Tiger King's warning to the tigers, "Let tigers beware!" What he doesn't know is that it is he, himself who should beware of tigers, the hundredth tiger in fact, because he doesn't know that the hundredth tiger, wooden though it might be would end in his death. Another example of dramatic irony can be found in the statement that, 'From that day onwards it was celebration time for all the tigers inhabiting Pratibandapuram.' This is after 'The State banned tiger hunting by anyone except the Maharaja.' It is dramatic irony because the tigers don't realise that from henceforth their lives were in danger because of the Maharaja himself. They celebrate not knowing that they are going to be killed one by one!

One example of situational as well as verbal irony lies in the surgeons' announcement about the success of the operation! The manner of the Tiger King's death is ironical enough. A splinter from a poorly made wooden tiger pricks his hand and it develops into a suppurating sore. Three famous surgeons from Madras are called and they decide to operate on him. When they come out of the operating theatre, they announce, "The operation was successful. The Maharaja is dead." The manner in which the hundredth tiger took its revenge is ironical enough! The statement made by the surgeons, what they say after the operation is an example of verbal irony indicating that the operation was meant to end the Maharaja's life! Was the state involved in some conspiracy to kill the Tiger King? The manner in which the Tiger King ends up dead at the end of the lesson can also be seen as situational irony. The surgery that was meant to heal him ends up killing him. The surgery was ironically meant to heal the state of Pratibandapuram by ridding it of a King who was obsessed with tiger hunting, a King who was somewhat immature.

The above-mentioned examples of irony constitute an indirect comment on the consequence of killing innocent animals just for the sake of fulfilling one's desires. Not even powerful people have the right to kill wild animals. The Tiger King is aware of this fact and so he uses "self-defence," as an excuse to kill his first few tigers. Subjecting innocent animals to pain and suffering can have serious consequences as is reflected in the manner of the Maharaja's death. He was felled to death not by a mighty tiger, but by a wooden splinter! This is an anticlimax to the whole story and the hidden message is that one should beware of harming wildlife lest one might incur divine punishment!

Important extract-based questions

From that day onwards it was celebration time for all the tigers inhabiting Pratibandapuram.
The state banned tiger hunting by anyone except the Maharaja.


1. Why was tiger hunting banned in Pratibandpuram?

2 Why was it celebration time for the tigers of Pratibandapuram?

3. What is the contradiction in the sentence, 'The state banned tiger hunting by anyone except the  Maharaja".

4. Why was the celebration ironical?

A Paraphrase of Aunt Jennifer's Tigers

The poem Aunt Jennifer's Tigers must have come as surprise to the acquaintances of Adrienne Rich because of the rather strong feminist current that runs through the poem. It is certainly an intense poem with a not so happy theme of the constraints faced by Aunt Jennifer in marriage. 

The first stanza describes the tigers that Aunt Jennifer has embroidered on a cloth screen. They are prancing, chivalric and unafraid. They are a symbolic representation of what Aunt Jennifer wants to be in life, they are a cry for help. The first hint that Aunt Jennifer is afraid of her husband is indicated in the lines, "They do not fear the men beneath the tree" an indication that this is about the excesses of a man. The words, "topaz denizens" and "world of green" are symbolic, with the former representing the beauty of a life lived without fear, and the latter representing a perfect world, a world where women have little to fear from men, and a world where there is greater freedom for women. The tigers on the cloth panel present a contrast to Aunt Jennifer herself.

Thus if the first stanza describes what Aunt wants in life, the second describes how matrimony has impacted her. Life has been so harsh that it has left her a mental wreck, making even the task of knitting a difficult task. The reference to "Uncle's Wedding Band" that "sits heavily" on her hand is an indication that the chores, duties, and responsibilities of marriage have been tough on her. The poet has described her physical and emotional break down when she describes, "Aunt Jennifer's fingers fluttering through her wool". 

The third and last stanza is, in fact, a set of two couplets. The first two lines describe how Aunt Jennifer will continue to be "ringed with the ordeals she was mastered by" (that is the problems of marriage) even after death. This is rather depressing, to know that death will not provide a release to her. There is a pun on the word, "ringed" it is as if she is a circus animal in a circus ring who has to do what is commanded by her trainer. The last two lines, however, end with a note of hope because they show the tigers that continue to prance even after she is dead. The tigers represent Aunt Jennifer's hope that will find life even after she is dead  because they "Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid."

To understand who the speaker is in the poem, one might turn to how the speaker refers to the principal figure in the poem as, "Aunt Jennifer". It is as if the speaker is a little girl, probably eleven or twelve years old, who is describing her aunt, so we need to look at the whole poem also from the point of view of a little girl who is impacted by what she sees.

The Poet has also used some very powerful symbols and images as metaphors for ideas and beliefs. The cloth panel with the tigers on it is a metaphor for art - art as a means for escaping from the vicissitudes and tribulations of life. The tigers represent freedom. Similarly, "a world of green" is a metaphor for the perfect world, a world where women don't "fear" men. In the same way, the "ivory needle" might be seen as a metaphor for the tasks, responsibilities and chores that a married woman has to undertake. Seen in the ideal sense, a wedding band is a symbol of marriage, a consensual surrendering of one's freedom in order to bond together in a joyous union. For Aunt Jennifer however, "Uncle's wedding band" is a symbol of imprisonment, slavery, and even bondage without any joy, or perhaps even respect for each other. "It sits heavily" upon her hand, in other words, marriage has been more of a burden, a deadweight rather than joyful bonding!

Some of the important themes explored by the poet in this poem include chauvinism in marriage, domestic violence (although we can't say definitely whether Aunt Jennifer's husband was physically violent with her), feminism, and art as an expression of hope.


The reference to context questions listed below will help the reader analyse the poem better:

1. Stanza 1: "Aunt Jennifer's...certainty."

  a) Where are Aunt Jennifer's tigers to be found?
  b) Explain the expression: " Bright topaz denizens".
  c) What does "world of green" represent?
  d) Who are "They" in the third line and whom do they not fear?
  e) What is the significance of the statement: " They pace in sleek chivalric certainty."

2. Stanza 2: " Aunt Jennifer's ...hand."

   a) Why are Aunt Jennifer's fingers "fluttering through her wool"?
   b) What does she find "hard to pull"? Why?
   c) What does "wedding band symbolise?
   d) Write Synonyms for, massive and fluttering and use them in sentences of your own.

3. Stanza 3:  "When Aunt is dead...Unafraid."

   a) How is the opening sentence of the stanza different from those of the first and the second?
   b) Identify the pun in the second line and explain its use.
   c) What was Aunt Jennifer terrified of after death? How is it a hyperbole?
   d) How do the first two lines of the stanza contrast with the last two lines?

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the central theme of the poem? Does it have any relevance to the present times?
2. How has matrimony affected Aunt Jennifer?
3. Although aunt Jennifer's husband is not there physically, yet his presence is felt. How would you
   describe him after reading the poem?
4. What is the message that the poet is trying to convey through the poem?
 



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https://rodrickwrites.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-critical-analysis-of-aunt-jenifers.html