Rikki Character Analysis

“The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.” (Thomas Paine) Though this quote refers to men, sometimes bravery can be found in animals as well. The theme of the fictional story Rikki-tikki-tavi by Rudyard Kipling is that courage comes from loyalty to the people you care about.
Rikki Tikki is a brave and inquisitive character in the story. Even though he’s a mongoose, Rikki Tikki is courageous and loyal to those he cares about, which is shown when he distracts Nagaina before she can kill Teddy. (para 90-91) If he wasn’t as brave as he was, he would’ve run away out of fear of Nagaina. Instead, he stands his ground and gives Teddy’s father time to drag him away from her. This also shows how he is loyal to Teddy and doesn’t want him to be killed. Since Rikki-Tikki was able to gather his courage to face Nagaina and save Teddy and his family, it shows that courage and loyalty go together. Rikki Tikki is also loyal to Teddy’s family because they took him in and took care of him. He wants to pay his debt to them because they saved his life when …show more content…
When Rikki knows he has the chance to save Teddy, he takes it. When Nagaina learns that Rikki has stationed himself as the protector of the house, she gathers her courage and devotion to her eggs to try to overthrow him. Because animals don’t actually have such notions, the author applies personification to make them seem more like humans and relatable to readers. Loyalty is a double edged sword. On one side, too much can ruin you, like Nagaina and her devotion to Nag which led her to come to the conclusions to kill Rikki and everyone in the bungalow. But when you use it to your advantage and become fearless like Rikki, then it is worth it. Bravery blooms from devotion, and it is an important lesson for everyone to