Critical analysis of Kipling's novel Kim

Kim

Fathering Kim

The concept of a "coming of age" novel or a Bildungsroman is fairly well established, typically exploring the loss of innocence and the growing awareness -- both of the self and of the external world -- of the protagonist of the story, typically an adolescent male. There are many variations on this overall idea of a coming of age novel, of course, with characters and plots the cover a wide variety of different backgrounds, settings, and intentions, and with the overall impact and meaning of these novels also highly varied. Great Expectations and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are two examples of Bildungsroman, in certain ways, yet are very different stories told in very different styles, and with very different commentaries on society. Interestingly, despite the major differences in these tales, both of the protagonists in each of these novels is also without a true father in any meaningful or traditional sense, which is a commonality of many coming of age stories.

Kim, the masterpiece novel by Rudyard Kipling, is another tale involving a fatherless adolescent learning about himself and the world around him. In this coming of age novel, the title character is an orphaned boy of Irish heritage growing up in late nineteenth-century India, still under British rule. Part spy novel, part Bildungsroman, and all adventure, Kim contains several potential father figures for the adolescent that each have a unique impact on and relationship with the protagonist. Though some relationships can be deemed more successful than others, all of them have a profound effect on the way Kim sees himself and his world.

Finding Father Figures

One of the earliest father-like figures in Kim's life is Mahbub Ali, the shrewd horse trader that Kim all but begs for employment or a hand out in their first meeting, and who ends up steering much of Kim's life through his involvement in international affairs as a British spy. Their relationship is one of a strange mutual mistrust, however, with neither fully showing their hands to the other unless they have to, and yet with what manipulations that occur basically well-intentioned and mostly benevolent. After their first meeting, when Mahbub Ali describes a task he will ask Kim to venture on, Kim leaves and laughs: "He knew he had rendered a service to Mahbub Ali, and not for one little minute did he believe the tale [of the task ahead]," never suspecting that Ali has his own motives and trickery at work (ch. 1). This position of manipulation becomes more strongly one-sided in Mahbub Ali's favor as the novel progresses, but this potential paternal relationship shows and develops the adversarial yet good natured and inquisitive way in which Kim engages with the world. Mahbub Ali both guides and instructs Kim, and at times Kim is simply forced -- knowingly or unknowingly -- to do Mahbub Ali's bidding in a way that, in a more standard domestic scenario, might be considered a normal part of the father-son relationship, and because of this Kim learns many of the same implicit lessons that are learned in any standard father-son relationship.

One of the next father figures Kim encounters is a real Father and a connection to Kim's actual father, long since dead. Father Victor is the military chaplain that had served with Kim's biological father and namesake, and through both this symbolic connection to Kim's racial heritage (a clearly important factor in Kipling's novel, as is expected in a piece of literature form this era) as well as through the practical influence this priest helps (or forces) Kim to develop his Western perspectives and knowledge, providing him with at least some of the education and cultural transfer that Kim's real father would have. Again, the first meeting that occurs between Km and this father figure sets much of the tone of their relationship, and also serves as a prime example of the ongoing cultural and racial tension that exists for Kim throughout the book, and that he must overcome in order to come to a full and acceptable view of himself. As Kim is trying to identify himself in response to Father Victor's piqued curiosity, he explains, "They call me Kim Rishti ke. That is Kim of the Rishti…Eye-rishti - that was the Regiment - my father's" (ch. 5). His immersion in Indian culture and language has given him a slanted perspective of his Western identity, something that Father Victor views as a result of the "Powers of Darkness," and, like any father who finds out his son is heading down the wrong path, he takes very active steps to correct this imbalance. Also like many fathers, Father Victor oversteps his bounds in this and ultimately ends up alienating Kim from this heritage to some degree.