Mrs.

Packletides Tiger
Q1- Why did Mrs. Packletide want to kill a tiger? Ans- Mrs. Packletide wished to shoot a tiger and get her pictures published. This was to show off in front of Loona Bimberton who had recently obtained a tiger-skin and couldnt stop boasting about it. Q2- What does the story tell you about Mrs. Packletide? Ans- Mrs. Packletide is full of vanity. She is a selfish person who seems to be jealous at other peoples success. Q3- How was Mrs. Packletide an exception in her world? Ans- Mrs. Packletide was always in a struggle to defeat her society rivals such as Mrs. Loona Bimberton. She risked anything to achieve this. Her ways to bag fame in the society too were exceptional. She thought of hunting a tiger that is unusual even in these days. Her world was one in which women like Loona Bimberton attempted to gain fame by exceptional ways but she remained extremely exceptional by hunting a tiger. Q4- What made her decide to give a party in Loona Bimberton's honour? What did she intend to give Loona on her birthday? Ans- Mrs.Packletide decided that once she shot a tiger, she would invite Loona Bimberton for a luncheon party. At the party she would display the newly-acquired tiger skin. The party would be an appropriate time to show off the tiger skin and talk about her tiger-shooting experience to Loona Bimberton. She intended to give a tigerclaw brooch to Loona Bimberton on her birthday. Q5- How was the tiger shooting arranged? What kind of a tiger was chosen for the purpose? Ans- Mrs.Packletide offered a thousand rupees to villagers for arranging an opportunity to shoot a tiger without much risk or exertion. An old tiger that had given up hunting and confined himself to eating domestic animal was chosen for this purpose. Q6- In what way did the villagers help Mrs. Packletide shoot the tiger? Ans- The villagers were very excited at the prospect of earning a thousand rupees. They posted children at the outskirt of the jungle to keep a watch on the tiger in case he wanders off to new hunting grounds. Goats were scattered to keep him satisfied and to prevent him from straying. Mothers with babies walked quietly through the jungle so as to not to disturb its sleep. The villagers were only worried about the tiger that should not die of old age before the day of shoot.

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Q7- Who was Miss Mebbin? Was she really devoted to Mrs. Packletide? How did she behave during the tiger shooting? Ans- Miss Mebbin was a paid companion. Mrs. Packletide had acquired her so that she could witness the shooting of the tiger. She was very materialistic. She didnt want to do more than she was paid for. In fact she also instigated Mrs. Packletide not to pay for the goat if the tiger did not eat it. She was not at all devoted to Mrs. Packletide. She was there only for the money. Q9- What comment did Miss Mebbin make after Mrs Packletide had fired the shot? Why did Miss Mebbin make this comment? How did Mrs Packletide react to this comment? Ans- Miss Mebbin brought to everybodys notice that Mrs.Packletide had not killed the tiger but the goat. The tiger died because of a heart-failure caused by the sound of the gun shot. Miss Mebbin intended to blackmail Mrs. Packletide with this piece of information. She wanted to take more money from her. Mrs. Packletide was very annoyed at this disclosure. However, she told herself that Miss Mebbin was only a paid companion who would keep the secret to herself if given more money. Q10- How did the villagers react to the tiger's death? Ans- The villagers were only bothered for their thousand rupees. They did not pay any heed to Miss Mebbins revelation that Mrs. Packletide had not killed a tiger but a goat. They readily believed that Mrs. Packletide had shot the beast lest they lose their money. Q11- Do you think Mrs. Packletide was able to achieve her heart's desire? Give reasons for your answer. Ans- At the very beginning of the story it is made clear that Mrs. Packletide had made up her mind to shoot a tiger and get her pictures published in newspapers to show off to Loona Bimberton. She managed to shoot an animal, the goat. The tiger died of heart-failure. She, however, got her pictures with the dead tiger published in the newspapers. She also gifted a tiger-claw brooch to Loona Bimberton. She also hosted a luncheon party for Loona Bimberton which the latter declined to attend. Thus Mrs. Packletide achieved what her heart desired. Q12- How did Miss Mebbin manage to get her week-end cottage? Why did she plant so many tiger lilies in her garden? Ans- Louisa Mebbin blackmailed Mrs. Packletide into buying her the weekend cottage or else she would have told Loona Bimberton that it was not the tiger but a mere goat that Mrs. Packletide had shot. The tiger lilies would always remind of how she had procured the cottage.

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Q13- "The incidental expenses are so heavy," she confides to inquiring friends. Who is the speaker? What is she referring to here? Ans- Mrs. Packletide is the speaker. The lines are said in response to questions regarding why she did not hunt anymore. Mrs. Packletide is referred to the expenses that she incurred when she hunted for the first time, she paid the villagers, paid Louisa Mebbin and even had to buy her a cottage. Q14- Do you think the tiger shooting organized by the villagers was a serious affair? Give reasons for your answer. Ans-The tiger shooting organised by the villagers was a serious affair. They were very keen to earn their thousand rupees. They posted children at the outskirts of the jungle to keep a watch on the tiger in case he wanders off to new hunting grounds. Goats were scattered to keep him satisfied and to prevent him from straying. Mothers with the babies walked quietly through the jungle so as to not to disturb its sleep. The villagers had only one worry that the tiger should not die of old age before the day of shoot. Q15- Do you think the writer is trying to make fun of the main characters in thestory i.e. Mrs. Packletide, Miss Mebbin and Loona Bimberton? Pick out instances from the story that point to this fact. Ans-Mrs. Packletides Tiger is a humourous story. The author makes fun of almost all the characters. He satirises Mrs.Packletides obsession with killing a tiger so as to show off in front of Loona Bimberton. He makes fun of Louisa Mebbins materialistic nature. She was very particular about how every penny was spent. He makes fun of Loona Bimberton who refused to attend Mrs. Packletides luncheon party because she was jealous of her achievements.

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Q 1 -Why were children posted on the outskirts of the jungle? Ans: There were chances that the tiger could have run away from the jungle where Mrs. Packletide had decided to hunt it down. If it ran away, then the villagers would miss their chance to assist Mrs. Packletide to hunt it and thereby their reward. To keep the tiger in the same forest, children were posted on the outskirts of the jungle. Q2- Why were cheaper kinds of goats left about with elaborate carelessness near the infirm tiger? Ans: The tiger that Mrs. Packletide decided to hunt was aged and infirm. It was not able to hunt anything that was bigger than a hare. To keep the tiger in the same jungle and to stop it from running away, goats that bleated at all times were left near the tiger to. Q3- Why is the goats bleat said to have been a gift? Ans: The goat's bleat was persistent. It was a gift that the goat possessed such a bleat because it could easily attract the tiger to the tree on which Mrs. Packletide was waiting to kill it. Q4- Why did mothers carrying their babies home through the jungle after the day's work in the fields hush their singing? Ans: The tiger that Mrs. Packletide chose to hunt was extremely aged and infirmed. Mothers carrying their babies back home were asked not to sing songs for their babies because it was believed that the tiger could be scared away if it heard them sing. Q5- Who was Miss Mebbin? Ans: Miss Lousa Mebbin was a shrewd woman. She used to assist people for money and traveled abroad with them for any amount of time. She pretended to be a wellwisher to anyone she assisted but in fact she exploited them in all possible ways. Q6- What was Mebbin thinking of when the tiger just appeared? Ans: When the tiger appeared, Mebbin was thinking about selling the leaftover of the tiger when it is killed by Mrs. packletide. She had come to the sad conclusion that there could be no profit out of selling the remnants of the dead tiger. Q7- What did the tiger do when it sighted the tethered goat? Why did it do so? Ans: The aged and infirmed tiger didn't attack the goat instantly when it sighted it tied to a tree. Instead, the tiger lay down as if to take a brief rest before eating the goat.

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Q8- Why did Miss Mebbin want the goat unhurt? Ans: Miss Mebbin always exhibited such an attitude in front of the people she served that they felt that she was their well-wisher. To give Mrs. Packletide a similar impression, she suggested that the goat not killed so as to save Mrs. Packletide's money. Q9- Why were the natives excited about the news of the tigers death? Ans: The natives had been offered an amount of rupees one thousand for helping Mrs. Packltide kill the tiger and because of this they were excited to hear the news of the tiger being shot. Q10- Who discovered that the tiger had died of a heart failure? Why did it annoy Mrs. Packletide? Why was it pardonable? Ans: Miss Louisa Mebbin discovered that the tiger had died of heart failure. This discovery annoyed Mrs. Packletide because she feared that people would soon come to know the truth about real hunting story if Louisa Mebbin opened her mouth. Her sudden annoyance is pardonable because she had all the reasons to feel annoyed about such an unpleasant and disturbing discovery which threatened her hard earned fame. Q11- Why were the villagers ready to connive at the fiction that the tiger had been shot dead? Ans: The villager were ready to connive at the fiction that the tiger had not been shot by Mrs. Packletide because they had been offered an amount of rupees one thousand for helping her to hunt the tiger and later to take the news out of the forest to Loona Bimberton and to the rest of people. Q12- Why did Loona Bimberton refuse to look at an illustrated paper for weeks? Ans: With the news of Mrs. Packletide shooting a tiger published in illustrated magazines Loona Bimberton received the biggest shock in her life. To avoid being reminded of Packletide's fame and victory over her, Mrs. Bimberton refused to look at any illustrated papers. Q13- Why did Mrs. Packletide face the press cameras with a light heart? Ans: While facing the press cameras, Mrs. Packletide had a light heart because she was worried about the possibility of Miss Louisa Mebbin's revealing the truth about the real tiger story to the public.

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Q14- How did Bimberton thank Mrs. Packletide for the tiger claw brooch? Ans: Mrs. Bimberton thanked Mrs. Packletide for the tiger claw brooch that the latter sent to her with a lot of repressed emotions. Q15- There are limits beyond which repressed emotions become dangerous. Explain with reference. Ans: It was with great difficult that Mrs. Loona Bimberton thanked her rival Packletide for the tiger claw brooch. Her helplessness and anger were beyond limits. If she went on repressing her emotions any further, Mrs. Loona would have burst her heart and gone insane. Q16- Was Miss Mebbin trying to give Mrs. Packletide away? How? Ans: Doubtlessly Miss Mebbin intended to betray Mrs. Packletide if the latter had refused to pay for the villa. By announcing to the public that she had been Mrs. Packletide' paid companion during the tiger hunt and that she had witnessed the tiger faking unhurt by the gun and that the tiger died of a heart failure, she could bring Packletide to a great disgrace. Q17- What happened to Mrs. Packletides tiger hunt? Ans: Mrs. Packletide was never heard in connection with another tiger hunt. What cost her for the tiger hunt with Louisa Mebbin was more than she could bear. The shock it gave her and the loss of a big amount of money to save her face drew her life out. Q18- Why did Miss Louisa Mebbin loudly comment in the local language that the tiger hadnt been hit by the bullet from Mrs. Packletides gun? Ans: Miss Louisa Mebbin had in her mind a plan to make Mrs. Packletide pay for a villa that she longed to buy. She could do that only if the neighborhood learnt that Mrs. Packletide's bullet had missed the tiger and that it had been a lie. Once the news of the tiger hunt spread out, she could easily threaten Mrs. Packletide to buy the villa for her. By declaring in the local language that the tiger hadn't been killed by the gun, Miss Mebbin was securing a large number of witnesses for her to stand against Mrs. Packletide.

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