On December 30, 1865 in Bombay India an author who would go on to write some of the most renowned pieces of literature was born. Rudyard Kipling wrote many novels and poems including If-, The White Man’s Burden, Kim, and more. Upon moving to England in 1871, Kipling became interested in British imperialism, eventually leading to the creation of one of his most famous works, The Jungle Book.
In order to ensure Kipling got the best education possible, his family decided to move to England whilst he was still young. In 1878 Kipling entered a boarding school where he often endured harsh discipline and was frequently bullied ("Rudyard Kipling Biography."). However, he also had many close friendships and even recorded some of the pranks he pulled …show more content…
Supposedly, the main character in the story, Mowgli, is meant to represent the British. Mowgli overcomes his enemy Shere Khan, which establishes order in a place of corruption and deceit much like England did for India (Litz, Ann, and Randall, Don). This young child who was raised in the jungle by a pack of wolves is energetic and schooled in the codes of the Law, is the alien liberator whose final victory represents the establishment of just rule in the place of an ostensibly corrupt and decrepit Mughal dynasty. As the rebel Sepoys of 1857 looked to Bahadur Shah for leadership, so, during a troubled period of interregnum within the Seeonee pack, restless young wolves rally around Shere Khan and turn against Mowgli. Just as the British, in 1858, put an end to the symbolic kingship of Bahadur Shah, so Mowgli puts an end to the lame tiger's pretensions to power. Like the British articulated a new imperial order through Mogul emblems of power, Mowgli uses the tiger's skin to symbolize his accession to the role of Master of the Jungle. The story of Mowgli's ultimately victorious struggle against Shere Khan thus mirrors key features of Mutiny history and of the British reconstitution of that history, recapitulating a British "triumph" in the midst of treachery and
In order to ensure Kipling got the best education possible, his family decided to move to England whilst he was still young. In 1878 Kipling entered a boarding school where he often endured harsh discipline and was frequently bullied ("Rudyard Kipling Biography."). However, he also had many close friendships and even recorded some of the pranks he pulled …show more content…
Supposedly, the main character in the story, Mowgli, is meant to represent the British. Mowgli overcomes his enemy Shere Khan, which establishes order in a place of corruption and deceit much like England did for India (Litz, Ann, and Randall, Don). This young child who was raised in the jungle by a pack of wolves is energetic and schooled in the codes of the Law, is the alien liberator whose final victory represents the establishment of just rule in the place of an ostensibly corrupt and decrepit Mughal dynasty. As the rebel Sepoys of 1857 looked to Bahadur Shah for leadership, so, during a troubled period of interregnum within the Seeonee pack, restless young wolves rally around Shere Khan and turn against Mowgli. Just as the British, in 1858, put an end to the symbolic kingship of Bahadur Shah, so Mowgli puts an end to the lame tiger's pretensions to power. Like the British articulated a new imperial order through Mogul emblems of power, Mowgli uses the tiger's skin to symbolize his accession to the role of Master of the Jungle. The story of Mowgli's ultimately victorious struggle against Shere Khan thus mirrors key features of Mutiny history and of the British reconstitution of that history, recapitulating a British "triumph" in the midst of treachery and