Give a Character Sketch of the King from Class 11 English Snapshots Book Chapter 8 The Tale of Melon City
Character Sketch of the King
The King in Vikram Seth’s ‘The Tale of Melon City’ has a unique personality. What drives him is his whimsical nature rather than reason and logic. He is introduced ironically as ‘placid’ and ‘just’. He has his own limitations and can’t provide justice. He does not acquire a firm mind and lacks sound judgment. Rather he can easily be convinced and influenced. He asks to construct a monument in the shape of an arch to depict his victory and glory. Unfortunately, the arch is so low that it hits his crown while he passes the gate on horseback, resulting in the falling off of his crown. He feels that it’s a disgrace and orders to hang those who committed this fault. Finally, by his own decree, he is hanged. He orders to set-up the noose and hang the one who fits in it. One by one everyone was measured and the only one to fit in it was the King himself. The king falls in his own trap, as he is weak and suppresses himself under pressure.
The Tale of Melon City Overview – The poem “The Tale of a Melon City” narrates how the city found it’s new King, a melon. The story unfolds as their King orders to have an arch built which turned out to be too low. It hit the King’s head resulting in the falling off of his crown. The King considers it a disgrace and orders for the chief of builders to be hanged. It is then followed by a series of events where they blame each other. Finally, a noose is built to determine the guilty and the only one to fit the noose is the just and placid King. The new King is then elected by the first person to pass that arch.
Related: The Tale of Melon City Summary, Explanation
Some Question on the Character Sketch of the King
Q1. What impression do you gather about the king from the tale of melon city?
Q2. How did the king of melon city fall into a difficult situation?
Q3. Why is the king called just and placid?
Q4. What was a disgrace for the king?
Related: The Tale of Melon City MCQ Questions