Mowgli of the Jungle
There in the cave, sleeping next to his brothers, lies the man cub. Taught the ways of the jungle, this boy becomes a member of the wolf pack. Mowgli embodies the struggles within man between the life of the forest and the life of community. The boy, having no contact with his race, takes on the traits of beats while his heart is filled with emotions he cannot explain. When he does learn the ways of man, he sees their error and cannot live among them. Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book displays Mowgli as a dual character caught between two worlds.
Snatched from the paws of Sher Khan, the tiger, the man cub resists in the jungle kept safe by the pack. His name means ‘frog’ and originates from his long legs and feisty movement. He is kept alive by the efforts of Baloo, the bear, and Bagerra, the black panther. Bagherra seals Mowgli’s home in the jungle when he gives a bull in payment to the pack council. The man cub is accepted and ignorantly goes bout his life, protected. Mowgli “would have called himself a wolf if he had been able to speak in any human tongue” (26). He grew and the wolves became ashamed of themselves due to the wisdom they saw in his eyes. They plotted to kill him and his wolf father, Akela. They knew he was a threat to them, not in physical strength but in strength of mind. At Council rock, the pack declares he must leave. They intend to kill him but because of Bagherra, Mowgli has fire to save his life. Mowgli declares, “the jungle is shut to me, and I must forget your talk and companionship” (39). Out of the entire pack, only a few wolves remain loyal to Mowgli’s friendship.
Escaping to a village some ways outside of his territory, Mowgli looks for acceptance. He had once before sought out a race to call his own in the Monkey Kingdom. To the boy, the monkeys stood up and moved about more like him than any other animal. Baloo told him that the monkeys were the disgrace of the jungle and that he must never associate with them. This second attempt to find a true home taught him yet another lesson. There, within the village, he is schooled in language, work skills, and currency. The only human whom he admires is a mother who takes him in because her son was taken by Sher Khan. Trouble starts when he sits in the village council and hears of their vows of his previous home. To them, the land beyond their huts is mystical and dangerous. Mowgli scoffs them for their suggestions and is, in turn, challenged to bring in the skin of Sher Khan. His knowledge of both worlds causes him to feel out of place in whatever task he undertakes. With his cunning, he plans his exit of their society, on that perceives to strangle him.
Herding the buffalo, the boy conspires with his brother wolf on the death of Sher Khan. His whole life, Mowgli has been threatened by the tiger. Sher Khan hates him because of the limp he acquired during the attack his parents. Campfire scared his reputation in the jungle and caused him to seek revenge on the child. Mowgli was destined to kill the tiger from birth when mother wolf said, “he shall not be killed. He shall live to run with the Pack and hunt with the Pack; and in the end…he shall hunt thee!” (12-13). Aided by the stock of men and his jungle wisdom, Mowgli stampedes the buffalo on a full bellied Sher Khan; ending the terror he had spread in the village. Mowgli skins the tiger, brings it to the council rock, an once again shows to his pack that he has moved on from that life.
Kipling is notorious for blending two worlds of opposite character madly into one. His British heritage flows into that of the wild Indian folklore. The conflict is seen clearly in Mowgli’s life. His struggle is between two worlds he and knows that ultimately he will not side with either one. In Mowgli’s song, he says, “‘the Man Pack have cast me out. Why? Wolf Pack, ye have cast me out too. The jungle is shut to me and the village gates are shut’” (131). This children’s story transcends into historical truths that show man’s inner desire for acceptance. Mowgli sings, “These who things fight together inside of me as snakes flight in the spring. The water comes out of my eyes; yet I laugh while it falls” (131).
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