Part 1 (2/2)

While India remained a dominant focus in Kipling's writing throughout his life, he never returned to his birthplace after his marriage. Significantly, Kipling had never been to the Seoni district of central India where the Mowgli stories are set. In fact, none of Kipling's detailed descriptions of the flora and fauna of the Indian jungle were based on personal experience. Kipling wrote to a friend in 1893 that he included in The Jungle Books The Jungle Books everything he had ever ”heard or dreamed about the Indian jungle.” He used multiple sources for his depiction of Indian animals, including Robert Armitage Sterndale's everything he had ever ”heard or dreamed about the Indian jungle.” He used multiple sources for his depiction of Indian animals, including Robert Armitage Sterndale's Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon and and Denizens of the Jungles Denizens of the Jungles. Kipling's interest in tales of children raised by wolves may have been spurred by his father's popular 1891 book, Beast and Man in India, Beast and Man in India, which discusses the prevalence in India of ”wolf-child stories.” Work on which discusses the prevalence in India of ”wolf-child stories.” Work on The Jungle Books The Jungle Books offered Kipling an opportunity to collaborate with his father: Not only did Lockwood offer his knowledge of Indian wildlife, but he also ill.u.s.trated his son's volumes. offered Kipling an opportunity to collaborate with his father: Not only did Lockwood offer his knowledge of Indian wildlife, but he also ill.u.s.trated his son's volumes.

LAW AND DISORDER.

Like his contemporary, American animal fabulist Joel Chandler Harris, whose ”Uncle Remus” stories were popular in England in the 1880s, Kipling told animal stories that diverged from the tradition of moral English and American animal tales. In The Jungle Books The Jungle Books Kipling generates a new breed of animal tale, one that combines the didacticism of earlier English animal stories with a new vision of nature influenced in part by the popularization of Charles Darwin's ideas following the appearance of the groundbreaking Kipling generates a new breed of animal tale, one that combines the didacticism of earlier English animal stories with a new vision of nature influenced in part by the popularization of Charles Darwin's ideas following the appearance of the groundbreaking On the Origin of Species On the Origin of Species (1859). The wolves that populate the Mowgli stories are not the denizens of Grimm's fairytales or Aesop's fables-that is, expressions of human foibles. They are unabashedly lupine: more hungry hunters than crafty deceivers of girls in red capes. Their primary focus in life is food, and food for them means frequent hunting. The Mowgli stories chime with the refrain ”good hunting”-the phrase with which animals who follow what Kipling calls 'Jungle Law” hail their fellows. Most of the numerous ”songs” in the books deal with hunting or with another sort of violence. The animals in (1859). The wolves that populate the Mowgli stories are not the denizens of Grimm's fairytales or Aesop's fables-that is, expressions of human foibles. They are unabashedly lupine: more hungry hunters than crafty deceivers of girls in red capes. Their primary focus in life is food, and food for them means frequent hunting. The Mowgli stories chime with the refrain ”good hunting”-the phrase with which animals who follow what Kipling calls 'Jungle Law” hail their fellows. Most of the numerous ”songs” in the books deal with hunting or with another sort of violence. The animals in The Jungle Books The Jungle Books (and, in places, the humans) don't only discuss hunting-they do it. They do so much of it that Henry James, a lone critical voice when the books first appeared, remarked in a letter to Edmund Gosse: ”The violence of it all, the almost exclusive preoccupation with fighting and killing, is ... singularly characteristic.” (and, in places, the humans) don't only discuss hunting-they do it. They do so much of it that Henry James, a lone critical voice when the books first appeared, remarked in a letter to Edmund Gosse: ”The violence of it all, the almost exclusive preoccupation with fighting and killing, is ... singularly characteristic.”

Kipling's wolves do, however, adhere to a strict code of ethical behavior, which Mowgli-and the hypothetical child reader-learn. The violence in the books is tempered by this code of Jungle Law. In fact, what is most striking about Kipling's depiction of nature is that it is not a place of wild savagery but of sensible adherence to this law. For the Law of the Jungle is not simply a Darwinian ”survival of the fittest,” but rather a complex set of precepts by which a society regulates its members. Kipling uses nature metaphors to describe the Law, suggesting that it simply grows in the jungle, like a plant: ”As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back-/ For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack” (p. 193). The Law clearly ”girdles” the pack, and as the stories show, it links together all the animals of the jungle. It seems that the Law compels the creatures to act in consort, like a single animal. In fact, the poem or song in which it is described, ”The Law of the Jungle,” concludes with an image of the Law as a single beast. These lines also serve as an epigraph for The Second Jungle Book: The Second Jungle Book: ”Now these are the Laws of the Jungle, and many and mighty are they; / But the head and the hoof of the Law and the haunch and the hump is-Obey!” (p. 172). For Kipling, the central precept of this law, which establishes and maintains the social order, is submission. ”Now these are the Laws of the Jungle, and many and mighty are they; / But the head and the hoof of the Law and the haunch and the hump is-Obey!” (p. 172). For Kipling, the central precept of this law, which establishes and maintains the social order, is submission.

Law is specifically contrasted with savagery in the story with which Kipling concludes the first Jungle Book, Jungle Book, ”Her Majesty's Servants.” Here the law that is followed by animals has been created by men-the British military in India-and the rule of the British is glorified. In this story the narrator recounts a conversation among animals that he overhears on a night pa.s.sed in a military camp where the Viceroy of India is meeting with the Amir of Afghanistan. As a young journalist, Kipling himself attended such an event. In the story, the Amir, described as ”a wild king of a very wild country,” has brought with him an entourage of ”savage men and savage horses” (p. 151). ”Her Majesty's Servants,” animals who serve England, grumble about these uncultivated horses who stampede each night through the camp, disrupting their sleep. Throughout the narrative, various beasts speak in turn about how they fight for the British in colonial wars, each a.s.serting that his manner in battle is best. When a youthful mule asks why the beasts must fight at all, the troop-horse, who has been established as a superior fighting animal and ”servant,” responds, ”Because we are told to” (p. 162). This story and the first ”Her Majesty's Servants.” Here the law that is followed by animals has been created by men-the British military in India-and the rule of the British is glorified. In this story the narrator recounts a conversation among animals that he overhears on a night pa.s.sed in a military camp where the Viceroy of India is meeting with the Amir of Afghanistan. As a young journalist, Kipling himself attended such an event. In the story, the Amir, described as ”a wild king of a very wild country,” has brought with him an entourage of ”savage men and savage horses” (p. 151). ”Her Majesty's Servants,” animals who serve England, grumble about these uncultivated horses who stampede each night through the camp, disrupting their sleep. Throughout the narrative, various beasts speak in turn about how they fight for the British in colonial wars, each a.s.serting that his manner in battle is best. When a youthful mule asks why the beasts must fight at all, the troop-horse, who has been established as a superior fighting animal and ”servant,” responds, ”Because we are told to” (p. 162). This story and the first Jungle Book Jungle Book as a whole conclude with a clear message: Obey orders and all will be well. At the end of the tale, the narrator listens to another conversation, this time between a ”native officer” and a Central Asian chief, who watch 30,000 British soldiers and their animals parade for the Amir, among them the beasts overheard on the previous night. When the chief marvels at the obedience of the men and animals, asking, ”In what manner was this wonderful thing done?” the officer responds, ”There was an order, and they obeyed” (p. 166). The story is then punctuated with the ”Parade-Song of the Camp Animals”: The animals sing, ”Children of the Camp are we, / Serving each in his degree” (p. 169). All in all, the lawlessness of ”savage” beasts is contrasted with the orderly hierarchy of English-trained animals. Creatures ruled by the English are presented as models of self-regulation and submission. The animals seem to stand in for the Indian people whom the British govern. The rule-and the Law-of the English is thus hailed without ambivalence. This celebration of British rule in India can be seen in other as a whole conclude with a clear message: Obey orders and all will be well. At the end of the tale, the narrator listens to another conversation, this time between a ”native officer” and a Central Asian chief, who watch 30,000 British soldiers and their animals parade for the Amir, among them the beasts overheard on the previous night. When the chief marvels at the obedience of the men and animals, asking, ”In what manner was this wonderful thing done?” the officer responds, ”There was an order, and they obeyed” (p. 166). The story is then punctuated with the ”Parade-Song of the Camp Animals”: The animals sing, ”Children of the Camp are we, / Serving each in his degree” (p. 169). All in all, the lawlessness of ”savage” beasts is contrasted with the orderly hierarchy of English-trained animals. Creatures ruled by the English are presented as models of self-regulation and submission. The animals seem to stand in for the Indian people whom the British govern. The rule-and the Law-of the English is thus hailed without ambivalence. This celebration of British rule in India can be seen in other Jungle Book Jungle Book stories as well, such as ”The Undertakers” and ”Letting in the Jungle.” stories as well, such as ”The Undertakers” and ”Letting in the Jungle.”

Animals in the Mowgli stories are cla.s.sified as obedient to the Law or antagonistic to it, such as, respectively, the queen's servants and the ”savage” horses. Within The Jungle Books, The Jungle Books, the Law is in part defined by its opposition to the lawlessness of the latter group. In fact, the Law is first mentioned at the beginning of the first the Law is in part defined by its opposition to the lawlessness of the latter group. In fact, the Law is first mentioned at the beginning of the first Jungle Book Jungle Book story when Shere Khan, a tiger, violates it. The wolves who are soon to adopt Mowgli a.s.sert that the transgressing tiger has ”no right” to be hunting in their territory, and, more importantly, that he has no right to be hunting man, who is taboo as prey according to Jungle Law. The idea that the tiger is the prototypic lawbreaker recurs throughout the Mowgli stories. In ”How Fear Came,” a tale that echoes the biblical story of the expulsion from Eden, the elephant Hathi tells the jungle creation story, in which a tiger is responsible for the ”fall” of the Jungle People because he breaks the rules established by a G.o.d-figure; he kills first a buck and then a man ”for choice,” thus bringing ”death” and a pervasive ”fear” into the jungle simultaneously. The introduction of fear means that animals of different species no longer mix freely together but instead fear each other. Obedience to the Law is a.s.sociated here with divine ordinance and might, it seems, retrieve a lost Eden. The moments in the story when Shere Khan, a tiger, violates it. The wolves who are soon to adopt Mowgli a.s.sert that the transgressing tiger has ”no right” to be hunting in their territory, and, more importantly, that he has no right to be hunting man, who is taboo as prey according to Jungle Law. The idea that the tiger is the prototypic lawbreaker recurs throughout the Mowgli stories. In ”How Fear Came,” a tale that echoes the biblical story of the expulsion from Eden, the elephant Hathi tells the jungle creation story, in which a tiger is responsible for the ”fall” of the Jungle People because he breaks the rules established by a G.o.d-figure; he kills first a buck and then a man ”for choice,” thus bringing ”death” and a pervasive ”fear” into the jungle simultaneously. The introduction of fear means that animals of different species no longer mix freely together but instead fear each other. Obedience to the Law is a.s.sociated here with divine ordinance and might, it seems, retrieve a lost Eden. The moments in the Jungle Book Jungle Book stories when men and animals work together harmoniously (there are many) point to this mythical time before the fall. By overcoming Shere Khan, Mowgli symbolically fights the forces of disorder and discord in the jungle, in this way a.s.serting the rule of Jungle Law. stories when men and animals work together harmoniously (there are many) point to this mythical time before the fall. By overcoming Shere Khan, Mowgli symbolically fights the forces of disorder and discord in the jungle, in this way a.s.serting the rule of Jungle Law.

Many of the creatures cla.s.sified as antagonistic to the Law are implicitly a.s.sociated with the ma.s.ses in English and American society. This is particularly the case with the Bandar-log-the Monkey People-and the Red Dog. Both groups are despised by the Jungle People, and this att.i.tude is seconded by the narrator. In ”Kaa's Hunting,” the child Mowgli learns that he must not play with the Bandar-log who are, as he discovers, ”outcastes” (p. 35). Perhaps the most denigrated group in The Jungle Books, The Jungle Books, the Monkey People are designated people with ”no Law” (p. 35). The Red Dog are represented in a similar way; like the Bandar-log, they gather in ma.s.ses, are considered ”lawless,” and run rampant over vast areas-that is, they do not have a particular place (like Shere Khan, who breaks the law by leaving his hunting grounds). These descriptions-such as that of the ”savage horses,” who are characterized as a ”mob”-evoke contemporaneous depictions of the ma.s.ses in the popular press and in works by writers such as Henry James and H. G. Wells. the Monkey People are designated people with ”no Law” (p. 35). The Red Dog are represented in a similar way; like the Bandar-log, they gather in ma.s.ses, are considered ”lawless,” and run rampant over vast areas-that is, they do not have a particular place (like Shere Khan, who breaks the law by leaving his hunting grounds). These descriptions-such as that of the ”savage horses,” who are characterized as a ”mob”-evoke contemporaneous depictions of the ma.s.ses in the popular press and in works by writers such as Henry James and H. G. Wells.

Notably, many of the nonwhite people who appear in the Mowgli tales are grouped together with lawless animals. From the beginning to the end of The Jungle Books, The Jungle Books, the idea that these men are not to be trusted is a.s.serted by various venerated characters. Mowgli's mentor Bagheera, the black panther who was raised in captivity and who knows ”the ways of men,” cautions that ”[Mowgli's] own tribe” is to be ”feared ”(p. 33). The wolf Gray Brother likewise shares his wisdom about men, suggesting that men are dishonest and dishonorable: ”Men are only men, Little Brother, and their talk is like the talk of frogs in a pond” (p. 62). The distaste Mowgli's surrogate parents and teachers have for humans and their culture is perhaps most evident at the conclusion of the idea that these men are not to be trusted is a.s.serted by various venerated characters. Mowgli's mentor Bagheera, the black panther who was raised in captivity and who knows ”the ways of men,” cautions that ”[Mowgli's] own tribe” is to be ”feared ”(p. 33). The wolf Gray Brother likewise shares his wisdom about men, suggesting that men are dishonest and dishonorable: ”Men are only men, Little Brother, and their talk is like the talk of frogs in a pond” (p. 62). The distaste Mowgli's surrogate parents and teachers have for humans and their culture is perhaps most evident at the conclusion of The Second Jungle Book, The Second Jungle Book, when Mowgli receives final advice from these wise elders of the jungle. Bagheera warns Mowgli against ”Jackal-Men” (p. 374), and Baloo compares the ”Man-Pack” to Mowgli's feline nemesis, Shere Khan: ”When thy Pack would work thee ill, / Say: 'Shere Khan is yet to kill.' / When the knife is drawn to slay, / Keep the Law and go thy way” (p. 373). Baloo thus encourages Mowgli to uphold Jungle Law rather than human law. when Mowgli receives final advice from these wise elders of the jungle. Bagheera warns Mowgli against ”Jackal-Men” (p. 374), and Baloo compares the ”Man-Pack” to Mowgli's feline nemesis, Shere Khan: ”When thy Pack would work thee ill, / Say: 'Shere Khan is yet to kill.' / When the knife is drawn to slay, / Keep the Law and go thy way” (p. 373). Baloo thus encourages Mowgli to uphold Jungle Law rather than human law.

Mowgli's experiences after he enters the ”Man-Pack” reveal these warnings to have been well justified. He himself rails against the Indian villagers: ”They are idle, senseless, and cruel; they play with their mouths, and they do not kill the weaker for food, but for sport. When they are full-fed they would throw their own breed into the Red Flower” (p. 237). It is interesting to note that the villagers and not the British are a.s.sociated with killing ”for sport.” Of course killing for sport-big game hunting-was a favorite pastime among Europeans in India. Seeking revenge against the ”Man-Pack” for threatening his life and the lives of his foster parents, Mowgli commands Hathi the elephant and his sons to ”let in the Jungle upon that village” (p. 237). Mowgli then leads the elephants and all the creatures of the jungle against the village. In this attack, Kipling not only highlights the evils of human civilization-at least as it is manifest in an Indian village-but he emphasizes the power of the hybrid outsider to combat these apparent ills of wanton cruelty and superst.i.tion.

Significantly, Kipling positions British ”progress” on the same side as Jungle Law. The English in this story, though unseen, are presented as a force that, like Mowgli, is capable of effecting ”justice”; Mowgli's surrogate parents, Messua and her husband, flee the violence of the villagers and seek ”a great justice” from the British in Kanhiwara. Mowgli tells them, ”I do not know what justice is, but-come next Rains and see what is left” (p. 231). By the time the British arrive to punish the unjust villagers, the village will be leveled and abandoned: That is Mowgli's ”justice.” Mowgli can be seen here to express the hidden brutality of British ”justice”; through the vehicle of this Indian boy, Kipling expresses the impulse to destroy a culture deemed lawless and corrupt, whose superst.i.tiousness is shown in several stories to be not only absurd but pernicious. Kipling combines a Rousseauian Romanticism that deems all civilization corrupt and a jingoism that exempts British civilization from this censure.

Kipling's preoccupation with the Law and his insistence on its centrality in the Mowgli stories has been seen by critics as a response to his impressions of American lawlessness. In his memoir and in letters of the period, Kipling alludes to his belief that American society was plagued by a distasteful and disturbing disorder. In 1893 he wrote to W. E. Henley that America has ”no law that need be obeyed.” In another letter from this period he described America as ”barbarism, barbarism plus telephone, electric light, railway and suffrage.” Though Kipling clearly a.s.sociated America with lawlessness, the centrality of the Law in The Jungle Books The Jungle Books can also be seen in the context of broader anxieties about lawlessness in British culture at the time. can also be seen in the context of broader anxieties about lawlessness in British culture at the time. The Jungle Books The Jungle Books were composed only twenty-five years after the publication of Matthew Arnold's widely read were composed only twenty-five years after the publication of Matthew Arnold's widely read Culture and Anarchy Culture and Anarchy (1869). In this work, Arnold, whose writings Kipling first read and admired when he was in his teens, warns the English against wors.h.i.+ping freedom as an end in itself. Such wors.h.i.+p, he concludes, leads to rampant anarchy-everyone merely ”doing as one likes.” The conclusion of ”Her Majesty's Servants” echoes Arnold's charge. After the officer describes to the Asian chief the intricate hierarchy of power that organizes the parading men and animals, the chief replies, ”Would it were so in Afghanistan ... for there we obey only our own wills” (p. 166). (1869). In this work, Arnold, whose writings Kipling first read and admired when he was in his teens, warns the English against wors.h.i.+ping freedom as an end in itself. Such wors.h.i.+p, he concludes, leads to rampant anarchy-everyone merely ”doing as one likes.” The conclusion of ”Her Majesty's Servants” echoes Arnold's charge. After the officer describes to the Asian chief the intricate hierarchy of power that organizes the parading men and animals, the chief replies, ”Would it were so in Afghanistan ... for there we obey only our own wills” (p. 166).

Kipling firmly believed that the British Empire, like Jungle Law, produced order in a chaotic and G.o.dless world. At the same time, he believed that it promoted manliness and character in those who engaged in its civilizing mission, those who shouldered what he notoriously dubbed ”the white man's burden.” Jingoism was rampant in England in the 1890s, when Kipling rose to fame. He delivered his vision of a fascinating yet chaotically teeming India to eager British audiences, linking India to the heart of modernity's ”darkness”: social disorder. In The Jungle Books The Jungle Books he provides an antidote, Mowgli, who combats disorder symbolically by ensuring that the animals abide by their own Law. Kipling distinguishes Mowgli from the other animals in his position outside the Law. Because Mowgli is not really a part of the jungle, he is not bound by Jungle Law; he only chooses to follow it. Whereas Arnold's antidote for this plague of anarchy was high ”culture,” Kipling's is a voluntary acceptance of nature's Law. he provides an antidote, Mowgli, who combats disorder symbolically by ensuring that the animals abide by their own Law. Kipling distinguishes Mowgli from the other animals in his position outside the Law. Because Mowgli is not really a part of the jungle, he is not bound by Jungle Law; he only chooses to follow it. Whereas Arnold's antidote for this plague of anarchy was high ”culture,” Kipling's is a voluntary acceptance of nature's Law.

THE Ec.u.mENICAL VISION.

Though the Mowgli stories consistently denigrate ”men” and their ways, the att.i.tudes toward fraternal solidarity they express correspond to ideals of manliness and gentlemanliness commonly held during the Victorian period. For example, Mowgli's wolf pack in many ways matches Alfred, Lord Tennyson's idealized representations of bands of ”brothers” who work together, following a set of strict principles. Through their adherence to such a code, these groups, including the soldiers in ”The Charge of the Light Brigade” and the knights in the Arthurian poems, demonstrate honor. Unlike these examples, however, Kipling's idealized male troop in the Mowgli stories is strikingly heterogeneous, the Jungle Law binding together members of different species. In 1889, several years before he began to work on the Jungle Book Jungle Book stories, Kipling imagined manly bonds forged across social divides in his well-known poem ”The Ballad of East and West.” Here Kipling a.s.serts, ”there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, / When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the ends of the earth!” The strength that Kipling emphasizes here is also stressed in descriptions of the binding nature of Jungle Law: ”The strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack” (p. 193). stories, Kipling imagined manly bonds forged across social divides in his well-known poem ”The Ballad of East and West.” Here Kipling a.s.serts, ”there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, / When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the ends of the earth!” The strength that Kipling emphasizes here is also stressed in descriptions of the binding nature of Jungle Law: ”The strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack” (p. 193).

Like Tennyson's brotherly bands, Kipling's beasts team together around common engagement in violent activity. Moreover, the idea of manly solidarity in both Kipling and Tennyson is linked to ineluctable tragedy and loss. Arthur's reign must end, as must Mowgli's rule in the jungle, and the male solidarity that these figures embody must as a consequence be lost as well; at the end of The Jungle Books, The Jungle Books, Mowgli's mentors are all aging or already dead. In Tennyson's poems (and Arthurian legend), Arthur's kingdom suffers corruption from within; similarly, many members of Mowgli's wolf pack willingly betray the boy. The connection between possible loss and manliness is also made in the Mowgli's mentors are all aging or already dead. In Tennyson's poems (and Arthurian legend), Arthur's kingdom suffers corruption from within; similarly, many members of Mowgli's wolf pack willingly betray the boy. The connection between possible loss and manliness is also made in the Jungle Book Jungle Book tale ”Quiquern,” which sets a coming-of-age story among the Inuit in the Arctic. The tale's epigraph a.s.serts that the Inuit described in the story are ”the last of the Men”; they are untainted and pure in their manliness because they live ”beyond the white man's ken,” but they are destined to dwindle (p. 298). This story, like the Mowgli tales, is filled with images of a rugged manliness. At the beginning of the story, the boy Kotuko longs to join the men in their hunting and in the rituals surrounding it, during which they gather in the Singing-House for their ”mysteries.” These men keep the community alive by hunting; if they fail, ”the people must die” (p. 306). The main activity of the males is hunting, and as in the Mowgli stories, canine and human hunters are paired. Kipling describes the boy and his dog, who is named after him, as the ”fur-wrapped boy and savage, long-haired, narrow-eyed, white-fanged, yellow brute” (p. 305). In the end, boy and dog together help to save the village from starvation during a particularly brutal winter. tale ”Quiquern,” which sets a coming-of-age story among the Inuit in the Arctic. The tale's epigraph a.s.serts that the Inuit described in the story are ”the last of the Men”; they are untainted and pure in their manliness because they live ”beyond the white man's ken,” but they are destined to dwindle (p. 298). This story, like the Mowgli tales, is filled with images of a rugged manliness. At the beginning of the story, the boy Kotuko longs to join the men in their hunting and in the rituals surrounding it, during which they gather in the Singing-House for their ”mysteries.” These men keep the community alive by hunting; if they fail, ”the people must die” (p. 306). The main activity of the males is hunting, and as in the Mowgli stories, canine and human hunters are paired. Kipling describes the boy and his dog, who is named after him, as the ”fur-wrapped boy and savage, long-haired, narrow-eyed, white-fanged, yellow brute” (p. 305). In the end, boy and dog together help to save the village from starvation during a particularly brutal winter.

An important model for Kipling's depiction of fraternal bonding was the male community of Freemasons. Kipling joined the Freemasons' Lodge Hope and Perseverance No. 782 in Lah.o.r.e in 1885 when he was nineteen, and through his life he embraced the Masons' ec.u.menical vision. The wolf pack into which Mowgli is inducted with much ceremony is called the ”Free People,” a t.i.tle that evokes the Freemasons. Like the Masons, Kipling's wolves refer to each other as ”brother,” and their fraternity crosses species lines just as the Freemasons fraternity crosses race and cla.s.s lines. At the Masonic lodge, which Kipling characterized in his memoirs as ”another world,” Kipling had the opportunity to fraternize with a medley of men: ”Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs members of the Aryo and Brahmo Samaj, and a Jew Tyler.” Of course, Kipling's repeated reference to the ”Masonic lions” of his childhood reading as a key influence on The Jungle Books The Jungle Books also highlights the link between the Masons and the also highlights the link between the Masons and the Jungle Book Jungle Book wolves. wolves.

These positive heterogeneous fraternities in The Jungle Books The Jungle Books contrast with groups that might be described as anti-brotherhoods. ”The Undertakers” centers around such a group, a trio of carrion eaters on intimate terms who discuss their feeding exploits. Unlike the ”servants of the Queen” or the wolf brethren, these animals have no law to bind them to each other. Though they cl.u.s.ter together, each of the creatures-a crocodile, a crane, and a jackal-would rather have the good fortune to make a meal of the others than to converse. And in fact, at the end it is implied that two will feast on the remains of the third. The English in the story present a collective force, the force of ”progress,” that makes the pickings of these creatures slimmer and that ultimately leads to the demise of the most powerful among them. The Mugger, a notoriously enormous crocodile, grumbles that human food is scarce since the English have built a railway bridge across his river and people no longer need to ford the river; the crane complains that the streets of Calcutta, newly cleaned by the English, leave him little meat. contrast with groups that might be described as anti-brotherhoods. ”The Undertakers” centers around such a group, a trio of carrion eaters on intimate terms who discuss their feeding exploits. Unlike the ”servants of the Queen” or the wolf brethren, these animals have no law to bind them to each other. Though they cl.u.s.ter together, each of the creatures-a crocodile, a crane, and a jackal-would rather have the good fortune to make a meal of the others than to converse. And in fact, at the end it is implied that two will feast on the remains of the third. The English in the story present a collective force, the force of ”progress,” that makes the pickings of these creatures slimmer and that ultimately leads to the demise of the most powerful among them. The Mugger, a notoriously enormous crocodile, grumbles that human food is scarce since the English have built a railway bridge across his river and people no longer need to ford the river; the crane complains that the streets of Calcutta, newly cleaned by the English, leave him little meat.

Kipling presents the Mugger, who is the leader of this pack, as a formidable antagonist for the English. He brags that he achieved his great length and girth by feeding on bodies of those killed in the Indian Mutiny. Most specifically, the Mugger is the antagonist of a particular English child whom he tried to catch ”for sport” as the boy escaped with his mother from the violence of the Mutiny. Here as elsewhere, killing ”for sport” is a.s.sociated with lawlessness. This child-now a man-not only has built the railway bridge under which the Mugger hunts, but, at the violent conclusion of the tale, shoots the colossal creature to pieces. The railway bridge, a symbol of British ”progress,” ultimately leads to the Mugger's demise (the man who shoots him stands on it); and it is the Mugger's ignorance about ”progress,” expressed primarily in his inability to fathom the railway, that leads to his downfall. The Mugger thinks that the train crossing his river is ”a new kind of bullock” that he can devour if it falls off the bridge while he lurks beneath (p. 261).

Kipling generates a more complex vision of British ”progress” and the role of ”law” in his celebrated story ”The Miracle of Purun Bhagat.” The tale tells of the defection from civilization of the prime minister of an Indian semi-independent state; Kipling describes Purun Bhagat as embracing the British conception of progress without reserve, effecting improvements by, among other things, establis.h.i.+ng a school for girls and making roads. For his work he wins a knighthood and other British honors. Purun Bhagat abandons his position and material possessions to live among animals outside a small village in the Himalayas. In his voyage away from civilization, law plays a pivotal role. He embarks on his pilgrimage to seek ”a Law of his own” (p. 203). As in the Mowgli stories, a law discernable only to a solitary soul in nature is presented as akin to-or at least on the side of-British progress.

At the end of this story, Kipling blends his vision of this law-that of a mystical power or holiness-with a vision of British progress, and provides a slight ironic distance between the two. When a group of animals comes to warn Purun of an imminent mudslide that will destroy the hillside on which he lives, he ultimately sacrifices his life in the act of saving the villagers who live below him and who, he says, have treated him with kindness, giving him good food daily. As he descends to the village to warn the people, he is described as ”no longer a holy man, but Sir Purun Da.s.s, K. C. I. E., Prime Minister of no small State, a man accustomed to command, going out to save life” (p. 211). The story ends after Purun dies from his exertion and the villagers make him their saint. Kipling writes: ”But they do not know that the saint of their wors.h.i.+p is the ... honorary or corresponding member of more learned and scientifi

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