How does “A Tiger for Malgudi” explore the theme of the relationship between humans and animals?
Ans: The novel explores the complex and often fraught relationship between humans and animals, highlighting the cruelty and mistreatment that animals can face at the hands of humans. Through its personification of Raja, the novel validates the experiences and emotions of animals who are too often neglected by their captors,
promoting cultures of nonviolence between humans and animals. Tiger’s idyllic, natural life is brutally interrupted when hunters kill all of Raja’s cubs. By demonstrating Raja’s profound grief at the loss of his children, Narayan encourages the reader to think of tigers as creatures with emotions not so different from our own. Through the stark juxtaposition between Raja’s life in the wild and in captivity, Narayan encourages the reader to treat animals as fellow creatures with all the wants, needs, and feelings that we have and to ultimately let them be free in the wild.