In a world that is supposed to be chiefly swayed by hunger and by love...
Mrs. Packletide: An Exception
Mrs. Packletide was an exceptional character who did not conform to the usual human motivations of hunger and love. She was driven by her desire for social status and recognition, and was willing to go to great lengths to achieve it.
Desire for Social Status
Mrs. Packletide was obsessed with her social status and was determined to climb the social ladder at any cost. She was envious of her friend Loona Bimberton's reputation as a big game hunter and was determined to outdo her. She planned to shoot a tiger and get her name in the newspapers, which she believed would give her the recognition she craved.
Willingness to Go to Great Lengths
Mrs. Packletide's desire for social recognition led her to take extreme measures to achieve her goal. She hired a skilled hunter to find a tiger for her and bribed the villagers to tie a goat to a tree to attract the tiger. She then shot the tiger from a safe distance, and claimed that she had killed it herself.
Disregard for Ethics and Consequences
Mrs. Packletide's single-minded pursuit of social recognition led her to disregard ethics and the consequences of her actions. She was willing to kill an innocent animal just to achieve her goal, and was not concerned about the impact of her actions on the environment. She was also prepared to lie and cheat to achieve her goal, showing a complete disregard for honesty and integrity.
Lack of Empathy
Mrs. Packletide's focus on her own desires meant that she had little empathy for others. She was willing to exploit the villagers and the hunter for her own purposes, and did not consider the impact of her actions on them. She also showed no remorse for killing the tiger, which was a beautiful and endangered animal.
In conclusion, Mrs. Packletide was an exception to the usual motivations of hunger and love. Her desire for social recognition led her to take extreme measures and disregard ethics and empathy, making her a complex and morally ambiguous character.