Establishing Supremacy: A Lesson of The Jungle Books

One of the most prominent and recurring messages in Kipling’s The Jungle Books is the importance of power. Those who can properly use their resources should do whatever must be done to obtain supremacy. Though this theme is established throughout the five texts read in class, it reaches its apex in "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" and "‘Tiger! Tiger!’". The common bond of the two main characters, Rikki-tikki and Mowgli, is the ultimate killing of those who threaten their rise to power, using all available resources to do so.

Rikki first establishes his superiority during his first encounter with the tailor-birds, Darzee and his wife. He appeals to the birds' sympathies, consoling them after learning that Nag had eaten one of their chicks (90). This, I believe, gains their trust so that they will later help Rikki-tikki defeat Nagaina. This idea is confirmed when, after only just meeting Rikki, Darzee warns him of “Nag’s wicked wife” as she sneaks up behind him from the grass (91).

After the close—and near deadly—encounter with the two cobras, Rikki does not feel that he alone “could manage two snakes at once” (91), indicating that the mongoose cannot rise to power without help. However, to further assert his power Rikki kills Karait, the “dusty brown snakeling,” who warns he and Teddy of his presence (92). Rikki-tikki is slowly working his way to the top by both making necessary allies and ridding the garden of the competition.

Later that night, Rikki meets Chuchundra, the skulking musk-rat who, after being intimidated by the mongoose, reveals that Nag and Nagaina are in the bungalow (93). With this information, he eavesdrops on the two cobras, listening to their plans to kill Teddy and his parents. He uses this information much to his advantage, and kills Nag after learning that he planned on waiting to strike the “big man” in the bathroom (95).

Now only Nagaina remains in his path to becoming head of the garden. Rikki again uses his allies and intimidation tactics to obtain information. After three unsuccessful attempts to get Darzee’s attention, the mongoose resorts to threats: “'If I could get up to your nest, I'd roll all your babies out’” (97)! Only then does the bird respond with what Rikki needs. After, he uses Darzee's wife, who feigns a broken wing, to distract the cobra in order to destroy all but one of Nagaina's eggs. This was necessary to truly defeat the snake and to prevent any eventual threats to Rikki's power. Once all snakes are gone, Rikki has nothing more to worry about, and curls up in the grass to sleep. He is pampered by the humans. I don’t think it would have been possible for Rikki to get to this point of control if the birds and the musk-rat had not helped. Kipling shows that by using all possible resources, one can become the most powerful.

Similarly, Mowgli elicits the help of Gray Brother and Akela in order to defeat Shere Khan, the boy’s only hindrance to become leader of the Pack. To become the most powerful in the jungle, Mowgli takes full advantage of his resources. With the help of Gray Brother and Akela, his “brother” and “father,” he drives the buffalo-herd to trample Shere Khan.. By killing the tiger, Mowgli ultimately and unabashedly obtains the power needed to lead the Wolfpack. This ruthlessness, I believe, is the outstanding lesson to be learned from these stories.

I think it is important to briefly mention Mowgli's ignorance of human hierarchy. The boy “had not the faintest idea of the difference that caste makes between man and man” (51). He talks down to Buldeo, the hunter, and later has Gray Brother hold him down—quite a low form of disrespect. I believe that Mowgli stays intentionally unaware of this system, for he can gain no status or power from it.

Thus Mowgli and Rikki-tikki really are quite merciless characters. During his relatively brief stay with Man, Mowgli confounds the people with his superiority, kills his nemesis, and shames the town hunter. Likewise, in the few days Rikki spends in the garden, he kills all known snakes, as well as their offspring. He has also scared all of his allies into submission. This brutality is necessary to become the head of the garden. I believe this is the outstanding moral in The Jungle Books; for both protagonists follow the same pattern of callous will to rise to power And yet, Kipling also demonstrates this moral through the defeated—Shere Khan and the two cobras. Nagaina, more so than Nag, is ruthless in her pursuit to become “queen of the garden” (94). She intends on killing the family living in the bungalow, as well as Rikki-tikki. She, too, uses all resources—her stealth, cunning, patience—but because the mongoose used his resources more efficiently, the cobras ultimately fail. Perhaps if they had allied with Darzee and the musk-rat, events would have turned in their favor. Shere Khan, too, makes the wrong allies. Though he and the young wolves in Mowgli’s Brothers briefly side with one another, the alliance does not help Shere Khan kill Mowgli.

Through both the victors and the defeated, the author weaves an important moral. Time and time again Kipling iterates that power and the ruthless will to get there is the most important lesson to be learned in The Jungle Books.