1、Mrs.Packletides TigerHector Hugh Munro Born in 1870 in Akyab,British Burma.Studied in Pencarwick School and then Bedford School in England.In 1893 he bacame a police officer in India and was posted to Burma.Returned to England in 1895.Killed by a German sniper in 1916 in France during WWI.Pen name i
2、s Saki.Considered as a master of short stories.Wrote witty,lighthearted stories to satirize the Edwardian society and culture.Famous pieces include“The Open Window”and“The Interlopers.”Loona Bimberton keeps talking about flying in an aeroplane.To beat Loonas pride,Mrs.Packletide invests 1,000 rupees
3、 for a tiger-shooting experience.A whole village helps to secure an old,aging tiger.On the day of the shooting,a goat is arranged to lure the tiger out.From a safe distance,Mrs.Packletide fires her shot.The tiger dies and the whole village is in joyous celebration.Louisa Mebbin,Mrs.Packletides paid
4、companion,notices the shot kills the goat and the old tiger dies of a heart failure.Mrs.Packletide hits the headline of newspapers.Above all,she gets her sweet revenge on Loona Bimberton.At the end of the story,Louisa Mebbin brings up again the topic of Mrs.Packletides accidentally killing the tiger
5、.To stop Louisa from spreading the news,Mrs.Packletide buys an expensive cottage for Louisa Mebbin.Dramatic Irony Mrs.Packletide going to the County Costume Ball in the character of Diana is a dramatic irony.Diana is the goddess of the hunt.Other people on the ball dont know the truth of the tiger s
6、hooting and all think Mrs.Packletide making up as a Diana is a fitting and appropriate thing and they all admire the tiger-skin.But the reader knows better.Situational Irony Mrs.Packletide earns fame by killing a tiger,which reaches her goal to make Loona Bimberton annoyed.However,at the end of the
7、story Miss Mebbin becomes the biggest winner.Such a perverse turn runs contrary to Mrs.Packletides prediction.It defeats the pride of Mrs.Packletide and reveals the authors view on Mrs.Packletides vanity.Setting:India.Event:the chief event revolving the hunt.Time:a still night,moonlit and cloudless.
8、Place:on a tree around a neighbouring village.The atmosphere created by the setting:funny and amusing.The hunt setting creates an adventurous and risky atmosphere,while the reader know that the tiger hunt is actually not risky at all.The contrast in exaggerated risk satirizes the vanity of Mrs.Packl
9、etide and money worship of the villagers.Mrs.Packletide:crazing to win over others.1)Shooting a tiger.2)Showing off her“great deed”to Loona Bimberton.3)To hide the truth of the tigers death and maintain her fame,she chooses to buy Louis Mebbin an expensive cottage.Loona Bimberton:showing off,pursuin
10、g pride and honor.1)Refusing to look at papers with Mrs.Packletides tiger shooting news.2)Declining Mrs.Packletides luncheon party.Louis Mebbin:mercenary,taking advantage of Mrs.Packletide.1)She considers a thousand rupees for an old tiger too much.2)Miss Mebbin is a paid companion,but she captilize
11、s on Mrs.Packletides weakness to gain a cottage for herself.Villagers:taking advantage of Mrs.Packletides vanity.1)making all-round preparation for the tiger shooting.2)the villagers,anxious for their thousand rupees,gladly accept the lie that Mrs.Packletide has shot the beast.Through the tiger hunt
12、ing story of Mrs.Packletide,the author satirizes peoples dishonesty,pride and vanity.It amuses the reader by raising the cost of fame-seeking.Keys to the Questions Higher class:Mrs.Packletide and Loona Bimberton 1)Loona Bimberton shows off her achievement.2)Mrs.Packletide spends lots of money for a
13、tiger shooting experience.Higher class competition for fame and admiration.Lower class:Louis Mebbin and the villagers 1)Louis Mebbin is a“a protective elder-sister attitude towards money”;She blackmails Mrs.Packletide.2)The villagers try their best to make the tiger shooting a triumph;keep the secre
14、t for Mrs.Packletide.Lower class loves to make money and does not care about truth.The villagers make all-round preparation for Mrs.Packletides adventure.It is quite amusing,because actually shooting a tiger is a very dangerous adventure,while under this situation “The one great anxiety was lest he
15、should die of old age before the date appointed for the memsahibs shoot.”The death of the tiger is amusing and funny.The tiger does not die of Mrs.Packletides shoot,but of its heart-failure.And the wrong animal has been hit-the goat is shot to death.The story satirizes the life of higher-class ladie
16、s to compete for others admiration.“Les Fauves”is French for“the wild beasts.”“Les Fauves”could refer to Mrs.Packletides tiger.Mebbin uses“Les Fauves”to show off.“Les Fauves”is a tool for Mebbin to satirize Mrs.Packletide.Dramatic Irony Mrs.Packletide going to the County Costume Ball in the characte
17、r of Diana is ironic.Diana is the goddess of the hunt.Other people on the ball dont know the truth of the tiger shooting and all think Mrs.Packletide making up as Diana is a fitting and appropriate thing and they all admire the tiger-skin.But the reader knows better.Situational Irony Mrs.Packletide
18、earns fame by killing a tiger,which reaches her goal to make Loona Bimberton annoyed.However,at the end of the story Miss Mebbin becomes the biggest winner.Such a perverse turn runs contrary to Packletides prediction.It defeats her pride and reveals the authors view on Mrs.Packletides vanity.The End
