Literature / Sharpe's Tiger

Private Richard Sharpe is a soldier in the 33rd Foot during the Mysore War of 1799. He and his sergeant, Obadiah Hakeswill, are the bane of each other's existence, not least because they both desire the same woman, Mary Bickerstaff. Hakeswill goads Sharpe into striking him, then arranges with their company commander, Captain Charles Morris, to have Sharpe sentenced to a fatal flogging.

Sharpe is saved when the flogging is half-completed by the battalion commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Wellesley. One of his company officers, Lieutenant William Lawford, has been assigned to go undercover in the Tippoo Sultan's citadel, Seringapatam, to search for undercover officer Colonel Hector McCandless. He has requested Sharpe go with him. The pair pose as deserters and join the Tippoo's army, being placed under the command of French officer Colonel Gudin. Sharpe arranges for Mary to come with them to save her from Hakeswill's attentions.

McCandless has already been captured but manages to pass on the main piece of information he has: The Tippoo has constructed a mine which will be detonated when the British storm the city. Sharpe is unable to take the information back to the British after being attacked by Hakeswill during a night skirmish. Hakeswill is captured but escapes execution by betraying Sharpe and Lawford, who are both captured.

Sharpe and Lawford manage to break free and detonate the mine before the British storm the city, turning the tide of the battle. Sharpe follows this up by personally killing the Tippoo Sultan, looting his jewels. He throws the treacherous Hakeswill to the sultan's tigers, but he survives because the tigers had just been fed. Sharpe is made a sergeant as a reward.

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This is the earliest Sharpe novel in chronological order but was published quite some way into the range, functioning as the first of five prequels telling Sharpe's pre-Peninsular War career.

Tropes that appear in this novel:

• Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Having been separated from Sharpe early on in their time in Seringapatam, Mary quickly begins a relationship with Kunwar Singh.
• Adipose Rex: The Tippo is noticeably heavyset, but several characters acknowledge his bravery.
• Artistic License – History: The story of the mine is largely fictional, based on the fact that a powder magazine exploded near one of the walls a few days prior to the attack.
• As the Good Book Says...: Hakeswill justifies all his instructions with the Catchphrase "it says so in the scriptures". He is finally censured by McCandless after claiming the scriptures say private soldiers aren't allowed to learn to read.
• Ass Shove: Sharpe admits that he succeeded in smuggling a lockpick into the Tippoo's dungeon after he and Lawford were stripped of everything else.
• Bavarian Fire Drill: Sharpe and Lawford are able to take possession of a cart filled with rockets simply by having Lawford bellow orders at the soldiers guarding it.
• Big Bad: The Tippoo Sultan.
• The Big Guy: Despite being The Hero, Sharpe is essentially this, being the lowest ranked soldier present and the one who gets most of the action.
• Blatant Lies: Hakeswill's claim that Jem Bickerstaff was a good friend of his and it would be unseemly to see his widow remarry is so unconvincing that even his ally Morris doesn't pretend to believe him.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: The Tippoo's bodyguards try and get him out of the doomed city but are hampered by the fact he can't resist one last opportunity to stand and kill his enemies.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Despite being quite happy to execute prisoners, the Tippoo Sultan keeps Sharpe, Lawford and McCandless alive for a lengthy amount of time after learning they're spies. Sharpe himself attempts to kill Hakeswlll in an elaborate manner instead of just shooting him, allowing him to survive for the earlier-but-later novels.
• Brave Scot: Major-General David Baird personally leads the assault on Seringapatam.
• Catchphrase: This novel introduces Hakeswill's "It says so in the scriptures" maxim, absent from his earlier appearances.
• Corporal Punishment: Sharpe receives 200 lashes. He had initially been sentenced to 2000, which would have almost certainly been fatal.
• Court-martialed: Sharpe faces one of these for his assault on Hakeswill.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: The Tippoo Sultan initially appears to be a Non-Action Big Bad, but proves quite an able fighter in the final battle as he grabs a rifle and tries to fight his way to safety.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: The Tippoo is particularly fond of executing prisoners in this way, having his jettis either drive a nail into their skulls by hand or wring their necks until their heads have turned round completely.
• Death Trap: The mine, and also the tiger pit which Sharpe attempts to consign Hakeswill to.
• Dramatic Irony: Sharpe and Lawford are told their only hope of getting McCandless or his information out of jail is to enlist the aid of merchant Ravi Shekhar. The very next scene has the Tippoo executing Shekhar as a traitor.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: The Tippoo Sultan is guided by his dreams. The night before the British attack, he dreams of monkeys, which are considered a bad omen.
• Due to the Dead: Despite looting his body, Sharpe leaves the Tippoo Sultan his jewel-encrusted sword, and salutes him as a warrior in his dying moments:
  You can keep your sword, for you fought proper. Like a proper soldier. Take your blade to paradise, and tell them you were killed by another proper soldier.
• Entertainingly Wrong: Gudin tells Lawford and Sharpe that they will have to be circumcised in order to join the Tippoo's Muslim army. Lawford reacts with horror, but Sharpe is nonchalant, assuming that "circumcision" means some kind of verbal oath or swearing-in. Then Gudin explains...
• Exactly What I Aimed At: Inverted. Gudin instructs Sharpe and Lawford to fire on the British soldiers besieging the city, as a loyalty test. Knowing that they've got to convince Gudin and the Tippo that they are genuine deserters, Sharpe aims in earnest but misses (but Gudin is impressed by how close he came), while Lawford tries to miss on purpose, but is distraught when his shot actually goes home and kills a soldier.
• Fake a Fight: After Sharpe is ordered to shoot McCandless and the gun fails to fire, he pretends to strike McCandless in the stomach with the musket. In fact, he stops at the last second and McCandless feigns injury.
• Fake Defector: Sharpe and Lawford pose as deserters to infiltrate the citadel.
• A Father to His Men: Major-General Baird is considered "a soldier's general". He is friendly towards Sharpe despite their gulf in rank, and his men are so comfortable with him that one of them doesn't think anything of slapping him on the back after the victorious assault.
• Fire-Forged Friends: Despite their different social status, their experiences together form a close friendship between Sharpe and Lawford.
• First-Name Basis: Sharpe insists on calling Lawford "Bill" and on Lawford calling him "Dick" to sell the story that they're friends who deserted together.
• Foreign Queasine: Inverted when Gudin reacts with horror to the fact that Sharpe's idea of a good meal is beef, potatoes and "gravy thick enough to choke a rat".
• Foreshadowing:
  • Sharpe's first exposure to a rifled firearm, and learning how much more accurate they are than smoothbore muskets.
  • The first meeting between Sharpe and Col. Arthur Wellesley.
  • Col. Gudin mentions that a young, up-and-coming general named Bonaparte is waging a campaign in Egypt and hoping to link up with forces hostile to the British in India.
• Frame-Up: Hakeswill and Morris attempt to frame Sharpe for selling his flint by having Hakeswill inspect the weapon and replace it with useless stone. Sharpe gets another flint before Hakeswill can expose the "crime" and Lawford quickly proves the accusation wrong.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Colonel Gudin casually recalls an insignificant former comrade named Bonaparte who is now a general.
• Heroic BSoD: Lawford has a brief moment of this on discovering that Ravi Shekhar has been dead all along.
• Historical Domain Character: In addition to Colonel Wellesley and the Tippoo Sultan, there's General Harris, Major-General Baird, engineering officer Colonel Gent, Wellesley's second-in-command Major Shee and Lieutenant Fitzgerald.
• Hit Me, Dammit!: Mary gets Sharpe to give her a black eye so she won't get unwanted attention in Seringapatam.
• Human Sacrifice: The Tippoo Sultan's execution of prisoners by his jettis is said to be of religious significance.
• I Gave My Word: Lawford is unable to lie when asked on his word of honour.
  • After Sharpe is unmasked, Gudin asks him hopefully if his genuine respect for Gudin is enough to convince him to defect for real. Sharpe smiles and says no, he swore his oath to serve the Army, no matter what Ungrateful Bastards they can be. Gudin smiles back and says he expected as much.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: When Sharpe discovers Mary is now happy with Kunwar Singh, he takes it in his stride and wishes her well.
• Ignored Expert: Gudin advises using cavalry and cannon against the British at Malavelly. The Tippoo Sultan believes his infantry will be enough and is proved disastrously wrong.
• It Has Been an Honour: Gudin continues to respect Sharpe, and vice versa, after learning he had only pretended to defect.
• Kangaroo Court: Sharpe's court martial is conducted by the battalion's major, who goes ahead without Sharpe's defending officer being present and ignores everything the defence says.
• Literalist Snarking: Hakeswill asks if Garrard was talking to which Garrard says he doesn't have the breach. "You ain't got the breath? That means you're dead, Private Garrard! Dead! No use to King or country if you's dead, but you never was any bleeding use anyway."
• The Man They Couldn't Hang: Hakeswill begins his habit of being very hard to kill. He presents himself as a literal example of this to his men, showing them the scars of the failed hanging.
• The Matchmaker: Lakshmi, the wife of Appah Rao, plays this role for Mary and Kanwar Singh.
• The Mole: Appah Rao, one of the Tippoo's generals, provides McCandless with information in return for a promise to restore the old Hindu dynasty.
• Mythology Gag: Gudin describes the Tippo's most prized jewel, "The Moonstone", the McGuffin of Wilkie Collins' 1868 novel of the same name. When Sharpe loots the Tippo's corpse after killing him, he can't seem to find the Moonstone, thus avoiding a "discontinuity" with Collins's narrative that the jewel disappeared during the siege.
• Never Bring A Knife To A Gunfight: In the tunnel underneath Seringapatam, the Tippoo charges Sharpe with his drawn sabre. Sharpe, always a Combat Pragmatist, raises his musket and shoots the Tippoo dead. However, he places the sword in the dying Tippoo's hand and acknowledges what a "brave fat bastard" he is.
• Never Learned to Read: Lawford and his uncle, Hector McCandless, teach Sharpe to read and write in the Tippoo's dungeon, a necessary prerequisite to being promoted to Sergeant, as he demanded of Wellesley.
• Not So Above It All: After being given a day of leave as reward for their service, Sharpe suggests to Lawford that they visit Seringapatam's brothel. Lawford, a respectable son of the gentry, hems and haws, but ultimately goes with Sharpe.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Deconstructed when Sharpe tells McCandless that Hakeswill is evil, noting that he thieves, lies, rapes and murders. McCandless asks if Sharpe has ever done those things, to which he replies "Never raped, sir, and as for the others, only when I had to."
• Odd Friendship: Despite being a lowly private, Sharpe strikes up genuine friendships with officers Lawford and McCandless.
• Oh, Crap!: Sharpe has a moment of this when he finally gets a look at the defences on the west side and realises the British are going to be lured into a small killing ground and then blown up.
• One-Man Army: Downplayed; Sharpe single-handedly kills three jettis, the Tippoo's Elite Mooks, despite only having one bullet available, taking down the first two before using the gun on the third one.
• Opportunistic Bastard: Hakeswill hides away during the night assault on Seringpatam, and after being captured, is quick to betray Sharpe and Lawford to save his own life.
• Rags to Riches: Sharpe starts his journey from the lowest level of society here, learning to read and write and becoming a sergeant.
• Relatively Flimsy Excuse: Mary explains her association with Sharpe by claiming he's her half-brother.
• Robbing the Dead: Sharpe picks out a Mysore officer to kill at Malavelly mainly because he knows the man will have money on him.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: The Tippoo is at the front of the soldiers defending Seringapatam, killing several of the attackers himself.
• Salt the Earth: The Tippoo has his army destroy all granaries and poison all water on the British route to Seringpatam in the hope of starving them.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Seeing that his men will be the next to be slaughtered by Baird's attack, and with his first loyalty being to the Rajah rather than the Tippoo, Appah Rao uses the excuse that his men haven't been paid in months to calmly walk away from the ramparts with his men following.
• Sergeant Rock: Sharpe achieves this rank in the closing chapters of the novel.
• Sex Slave: Hakeswill plans to sell Mary to Nasty Naig's brothel.
• Share the Male Pain: Gudin says if Sharpe and Lawford join the Tippoo's soldiers, they will have to be circumcised. Lawford is instantly horrified. Sharpe follows suit when he is told what it means.
• Shoot the Dog: McCandless performs a Mercy Kill on his faithful mare when her back is broken by a Mysore bullet.
• Shoot Your Mate: Sharpe is ordered to shoot McCandless in order to prove he is serious about defecting. The gun fails to fire, so he clubs McCandless with it instead before being told to stop. He later reveals he knew the gun wouldn't fire because the "gunpowder" was too fine to be real, and besides, the Tippo wouldn't be dumb enough to give them live ammunition until he was sure of their loyalty. In private conversation with Lawford and McCandless, however, Sharpe admits that if the powder had been live, he'd have killed McCandless, just to maintain their cover.
  • Gudin instructs Sharpe and Lawford to fire on the soldiers besieging the city. Sharpe aims in earnest but misses, though Gudin can see he was trying. Lawford attempts to miss on purpose, but is distraught that he actually kills a soldier when a near miss would have been enough.
• Shout-Out: The Moonstone makes a brief appearance.
• Spanner in the Works: Hakeswill ends up being this to Sharpe. Sharpe plans to use the cover of the night attack to slip back to the British and warn them of the mines. However, Hakeswill is so full of hatred for Sharpe that, upon seeing him, he tries to kill him as the battle rages around them, resulting in Gudin catching up with them.
• Stealth Mentor: Col. Gudin, even after Sharpe and Lawford are unmasked, gives both some valuable advice about surviving in the army, the most important of which is to always put The Men First.
• Storming the Castle: The British storm the Tippoo Sultan's citadel at the climax.
• There's No Place Like Home: Col. Gudin internally reflects that, while India is quite beautiful, no place on Earth is as lovely as his home county of Provence. After he is wounded during the siege and taken prisoner by Lawford and Sharpe, the fact that he has failed in his official mission to help the Tippoo defeat the British matters a great deal less to him than that he will be exchanged soon, repatriated to France and get to see his home again.
• Unfriendly Fire: Hakeswill casually murders Lieutenant Fitzgerald, one of the few officers not willing to turn a blind eye to his bullying the men, under cover of battle.
• Villain Holds the Leash: While he has an army anyway, the Tippoo Sultan's use of tigers greatly increases the amount he is feared. One of them even guards the dungeons where Sharpe and the others are held at night.
• Villainous Valor: The Tippoo Sultan proves himself willing to fight with his men during the battle.
• Worthy Opponent: The Tippoo Sultan is one of the few of Sharpe's opponents to give him a good fight and earns his respect in death.
  • Likewise, after being unmasked, Sharpe tells Gudin, in all honesty, that Sharpe wishes the British Army had more officers like him.
• Xanatos Gambit: Appah Rao sends his men to free McCandless from the cells for this reason. If the British win, McCandless will make sure his family come to no harm. If the Tippoo wins, he can have McCandless killed before the Tippoo suspects treachery.
• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Harris calls Baird by his first name, David, for the first time when agreeing to him leading the attack on the city.
• You Need to Get Laid: Sharpe convinces Lawford to accompany him on a visit to Seringapatam's brothel. It is strongly suggested to be Lawford's first sexual experience.