Student Question
What type of trainer was Captain in A Tiger for Malgudi?
Quick answer:
In A Tiger for Malgudi, Captain is depicted as a brutal and domineering trainer, using cruel methods such as physical abuse and starvation to control Raja, the tiger. He is primarily driven by his desire for power and profit, even trying to exploit Raja's involvement in a film. Despite his harsh treatment of the animals, he refuses to allow any physical harm to them that could impact his future earnings. His cruelty eventually leads to his death at Raja's hands.
The Captain is a cruel trainer who abuses the animals.
He uses a whip and a chair to train the tiger to do tricks. He's usually a dominant man who maintains his grip on the circus with an iron grip. The tiger is surprised when they go to be filmed and the film crew is able to dominate the Captain. He's submissive to them but continues to beat the tiger, forcing him to do tricks he finds painful.
The Captain is a cruel man in general. For example, he laughs at a man with a disability who tries to flee from the tiger when the man doesn't realize they're in separate cages.
The one thing the Captain does well is that he refuses to let the film people remove the tiger's teeth or injure him. He threatens massive compensation if they do. This is likely more for the sake of his future profits that come from the tiger, however.
Eventually, the tiger breaks free and murders the Captain. If the man had treated him with kindness, perhaps he could have been spared such a vicious fate.
In A Tiger for Malgudi, what kind of trainer was Captain?
The Captain is the primary antagonist in A Tiger for Malgudi. He is portrayed as brutal and domineering in his treatment of Raja. Because the Captain’s primary concern is making money, he does not hesitate to exploit the tiger to his advantage. Along with money, however, it seems that he values the power and control that he exerts over an animal that is fully capable of killing human beings as well as smaller prey. He uses a variety of harsh tactics to gain control over Raja, such as withholding food and applying electric shocks. The Captain attempts to capitalize on the filmmakers’ use of the tiger, but in doing so he unwittingly exposes his own weaknesses, of which Raja had previously been unaware. The Captain’s harsh treatment is finally met with Raja’s fatal attacks.
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