Rudyard Kipling's 'Kim'

Book Review # 116420

Asian Studies > East Asian Cultures
Literature > World
Philosophy > Eastern

This paper looks at Rudyard Kipling's work 'Kim' and shows how the character Kim and Teshoo Lama are symbolic representations of the West and the East respectively.

1,039 words () | 2 sources | MLA | 2008 Bangladesh

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer depicts Rudyard Kipling's novel 'Kim' as a parable concerning the relationship between the East and the West. The characters of Kim and Teshoo Lama are shown to be symbolic representations of the West and the East respectively. The writer discusses that in this novel the West seeks the path of mind and activity, while the Eastern path is characterized by the soul and submission. The writer concludes that Kipling demonstrates that though the paths are diametrically opposed to each other, they are not mutually antagonistic, and in fact each is dependent on the other to succeed.

From the Paper:

"On the other hand, we are sympathetic towards Colonel Creighton and others at St Xavier's school, where Kim is sent from the military base to finish his schooling. It is an institution sincerely devoted to spreading education in India, and in this society Kim finally fits in. The implication is that India in vitally necessary to Kim's self discovery, and on a more general note, it is vital to the Western quest as a whole.
"In the same way Teshoo Lama's quest is hopeless without the Western presence in India. The river he seeks is not a material place, but is rather a destination of the soul. But when he arrives at Lahore in the first stage of his quest, we can only feel pity for the man, who is bereft of the least clue at to how to proceed, and is only equipped with some hazy notions about a material river."

Sample of Sources Used:

Kipling, Rudyard. Kim. Contributor Edward Said. New York: Penguin Classics, 1989.
Tagore, Rabindranath. Selected Letters of Rabindranath Tagore. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997.