Literature Reader Chapter 2 Mrs Packletide's Tiger

(a) they praised Packletide
(b) Mrs Packletide
(c) she was envious of Mrs Packletide

Louisa Mebbin exploited 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.
Miss Mebbin commented that the bullet had shot the goat not the tiger. The tiger had succumbed to heart failure caused by the sound of firing accelerated by senile decay. She made this comment to take advantage of the fact that the tiger was not killed by Mrs. Packletide.

Mrs. Packletide wanted to kill a tiger because she was envious of her neighbour Loona Bimberton, who had recently been carried 11 miles in an aeroplane by an Algerian aviator. She wanted to outshine her. She also wanted her pictures to appear in the press. 

It tells that she is jealous of others' fate. She is a self-centered person who wants fame. 

The tone of the storywriter is humorous, satirical and taunting. 

No, jealousy can't make someone succeed in life.

The story is about a woman who wants to surpass her neighbour and become famous among people by killing a tiger.

Mrs. Packletide wished to kill a tiger because she wanted to surpass her rival Loona Bimberton, who had been carried eleven miles in an aeroplane by an Algerian aviator. 

She wanted to shoot a tiger and give a party in her competitor, Loona Bimberton's honour. Where she will showcase the tiger skin and all the eyes will be on her instead of Loona Bimberton. Her envy made her decide this. She intended to give Loona a tiger-claw brooch on her birthday.

There was an old and weak tiger in the neighbouring village, who used to hunt domestic animals in the outskirts of the jungle. A platform was constructed by placing trees. Mrs. Packletide and her companion sat on the platform and a goat was tied to a tree, who was bleating loudly. When the tiger walked towards it, she fired a shot with her rifle.

The villagers helped her to set the platform. They helped to confine the tiger within the village. Children were posted day and night on the outskirts of the jungle to head the tiger back to the jungle. Goats were scattered here and there. Mothers were told not to sing lullabies loudly to their children so that the tiger's sleep wouldn't be disturbed.

Miss Mebbin was Mrs. Packletide's paid companion, who was a money minded, clever woman. She wasn't devoted to her. She behaved like an elder sister but for money in general. She drew her attention to the fact that the bullet had hit the goat and the tiger died of heart attack. 

She was brave and had made up her mind to hunt the tiger. But she missed it. In spite of all the arrangements, and the tiger's slow speed towards the goat, she missed her aim and the bullet hit the goat instead of the tiger. 

Miss Mebbin commented that Mrs. Packletide had shot the goat instead of the tiger. Bullet hit the goat and the tiger died of heart failure. She made this comment because she was greedy, clever and mean. Mrs. Packletide got annoyed at the discovery.  

The villagers were anxious for their thousand rupees. So they didn't pay attention to the fact that Mrs. Packletide had killed the goat instead of the tiger. And they gladly connived the fiction that she killed the beast.

Yes, she achieved her heart's desire to get fame over being a possessor of a dead tiger. While this was a connived fiction, she just wanted to outshine Loona Bimberton and prove she was no less. Her pictures appeared in the press and she gifted a tiger-claw brooch to Loona.

She blackmailed Mrs. Packletide by saying that she will reveal the truth that she didn't kill the tiger if she doesn't buy her the cottage she liked. She planted so many tiger-lilies to remind her clever move in acquiring the cottage.

The speaker is Mrs. Packletide. Here she is trying to say that the expenses of killing the tiger were so high as she had to pay to the villagers, her companion Miss Mebbin, even had to buy her a cottage.

No, the tiger shooting organised by the villagers was not a serious affair as they knew that the tiger was old and weak so it won't be very harmful. So they left cheaper goats and posted their children on the outskirts of the local jungle to keep the tiger in the jungle.

Yes, the writer is trying to make fun of the main characters in the story. Mrs. Packletide is a woman who is envious of Loona Bimberton and wants to surpass her. She kills the goat instead of the tiger and the tiger gets killed due to the heart attack. Loona Bimberton is a woman who boasts about herself and refuses to go to the party in her honour given by Mrs. Packletide. Miss Mebbin is clever, money minded and the one who makes a profit out of two jealous women. 

Yes, she is vain. In order to get fame, and prove her superiority over Loona Bimberton, she exceeds the limits of honesty and truthfulness. She pays a hefty amount to the villagers, to her companion and even buys her a cottage to keep her mouth shut. 

Yes, the story is a satire. There are people in the society who just want to surpass others. They just want to show off. They just want to get peoples' attention and do everything for their false pride. They don't try to discover themselves or know their actual requirements. 

The writer creates humour in the story by adding funny incidents and circumstances around Mrs. Packletide. For example, the arrangements were made, the tiger chosen was weak and old who walks slowly towards the victim but even all this, she misses her shot and the bullet hits the goat instead of the tiger and the tiger dies of heart attack. She often gets blackmailed and pays a hefty amount to get fame and beat her rival.

Mrs. Packletide had already thought about the party in Loona Bimberton's honour where she would showcase the tiger-skin and talk about the tiger hunt.

Mothers with babies returned from jungle to their homes in silence so that the tiger's sleep wouldn't be disturbed.

Louisa Mebbin acted like an elder-sister for the money.

The goat had been hit, and the tiger died of heart failure due to the sound of rifle shot and its old age. 

Loona Bimberton refused to look at the newspapers and the thanks letter for the tiger-claw brooch depressed her.

The following are some oxymorons from the story:
1) Disagreeably pleasant.
2) Pardonably annoyed.
3) Immeasurably nearer.