A Report On The Jungle Book By Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling was born on December 30, 1865, in Bombay, India. He was educated in England but returned to India in 1882. A decade later, Kipling married Caroline Balestier and settled in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he wrote The Jungle Book (1894), among a host of other works that made him hugely successful. Kipling was the recipient of the 1907 Nobel Prize in Literature. He died in 1936. Kipling's work entered the realm of mass popular entertainment in the Disney film adaptation of The Jungle Book, a 1967 animated musical loosely based on the original tale. A live-action version of the movie was later released in 2016. Following their wedding, the Kiplings set off on an adventurous honeymoon that took them to Canada and then Japan. But as was often the case in Kipling's life, good fortune was accompanied by hard luck. During the Japanese leg of the journey, Kipling learned that his bank, the New Oriental Banking Corporation, had failed. The Kiplings were broke. As a writer, too, Kipling flourished. His work during this time included The Jungle Book (1894) and The Second Jungle Book (1895), among others. Kipling was delighted to be around children. His tales enchanted girls and boys all over the English-speaking world.
Synopsis of the novel
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling is an adventure story about a man-cub named Mowgli. Mowgli is an abandoned child raised by wolves hunted by an evil tiger named Shere Khan. Mowgli tries to live a peaceful life with other humans, but is too wild for them and too human for the wolves. Facing certain death, Mowgli must overcome his reluctance to leave his wolf family and return to the 'man village. But he is not alone on his quest: Bagheera the panther, and later by the carefree bear Balloo, he braves the jungle's many perils. Eventually Mowgli finds a home in the jungle with a pack of his own.
Setting
Setting in book and movie are the same.
The main setting of the book is the jungle. In fact, one of the biggest conflicts is Shere Khan's incompetence which causes the human world and the animal world to mix in a very bad way. He has a tendency to eat human children which makes the humans angry. When the humans are angry, they set things on fire. When the jungle is on fire, none of the animals come out on top.
The second setting of the book is the bering sea. We have to mention that part of this alleged 'Jungle' book takes place in the Bering Sea and closer to Sarah Palin's house than it is to India. On the islands in the Bering Sea, the dynamic between animals and humans is different. The seals don't seem to care one way or the other about the humans even though the humans there are much more dangerous than the humans in the jungle. The only interaction between humans and seals is when the humans lead the seals away, club them, and skin them.
Characters
Characters in Book
Mowgli, Shere Khan, Bagheera, Baloo, Kaa, Akela, Mother wolf, Father wolf and Grey brother are the main roles in this story. Mowgli is the first main character in the book. He is brave and spunky as a young child and as he gets older his skills come to match his spunk. He is lithe and athletic, more animal in movement than human, and visually striking to look at. He is wily and smart and able to strategize well. Shere Khan is a tiger who has a pronounced limp due to once being shackled. He is aggressive and extremely predatory, disrespectful of the Jungle Laws regarding killing, and an innate troublemaker. Bagheera is a black panther the color of ink, who most in the jungle are in awe of, and also a little afraid of. He is one of Mowgli's main teacher and loves the man-cub dearly and the two spend much time together. Baloo is a large brown bear who is the only non-wolf to be allowed at Council Rock. He is fairly lazy physically because of his substantial weight. Kaa is a giant python blessed with beautiful, polished skin that he regularly sheds. Akela is a gray lone wolf and the leader of the Pack. Mother Wolf is very protective of Mowgli and raises him as her own. Father Wolf is also very protective of his new human cub and fully supports his wife in wanting to keep him. Gray Brother is the oldest of Mowgli's four wolf brothers.
Chil, Hathi, Buldeo and Messua is the minor characters of this stories. Chil is a kite, a very majestic bird of prey who feeds off the carcasses of any kill. Hathi the elephant is King of the Jungle and a wise, inspiring leader. Messua is Mowgli's human mother who recognizes her son when he returns at eleven years old and again at seventeen.
Characters in movie
According to the “The Jungle Book” movie (2016), the characters Mowgli, Mowgli’s father, Baloo, Bagheera, Shere Khan, Raksha, Kaa, Akela, King Louie, Ikki, Grey brother, Fred, Giant squirrel, Rocky, Raquel, Nilgai played the role in this movie. The character Fred, giant squirrel and Nilgai were added up which made the movie to make the flow of the story more interesting.
Plot
Plot of the book and movie are the same.
Exposition
The Seeonee pack of wolves in the jungle head to their family lair when, thanks to the gossip of the jackal Tabaqui, they hear Shere Khan, the tiger with a pronounced limp but passion for fighting, is approaching. Mother Wolf protects her four cubs but is amazed to see a little, naked, brown human cub running into the cave. He is the prey that the tiger is looking for. Quickly she decides to bring the boy into her family, naming him Mowgli. Mother agrees to show him to the pack alongside her own cubs to be identified, so that they can be free to run and play without fear of being killed. At the wolves’ Circle Rock Council, Mowgli's right to be a member of the pack is questioned by Shere Khan, who still feels that the boy belongs to him. The Law of the Jungle states that if there is a dispute, a cub needs to have two members of the pack that are not his mother or father speak for him. As Mother prepares to fight for her man-cub, Baloo, speaks for him and promises to teach him the laws of the jungle. This is seconded by Bagheera who buys Mowgli's safety by offering up to the pack a fat bull that he has just killed. Mowgli is then accepted into the pack. Mowgli spends his childhood learning the ways of the jungle from Baloo, hunting with Bagheera, and living with his wolf family. Once he is kidnapped by the Monkey-People. Soon Baloo, Bagheera and the python Kaa save him.
Conflict
When he is eleven years old. Shere Khan again demands that Mowgli be given to him and a fight ensues. Shere Khan has a lot of the younger wolves on his side and they depose Akela, the wise and aging leader of the pack. However, Mowgli has fire that he has been tending, and knowing how much the animals fear fire, he threatens Shere Khan with it and then orders that they leave Akela safe. Hugging his wolf family, who ask him to return one day, he goes towards the nearest village to find his own people. When he arrives, he is welcomed into the home of a couple who believe him to be their long-lost son who was taken from them as an infant by a tiger. Messua decides he is not their missing boy but a boy sent by the Gods to make up for their son being taken away. She treats him like her own but Mowgli, used to living in the jungle, is not comfortable or at ease in a human home. He sleeps outside. One day, Gray Brother wakes him. Gray Brother has learned that Shere Khan is still hunting Mowgli, and brings Akela to the village to try to help. Mowgli works every day in the fields herding buffalo, so they plan to divide up the herd to throw Shere Khan off the scent, then make a big circle uphill to get ahead of the ravine, taking the bulls down into it and trapping Shere Khan between the cows and the bulls. Shere Khan takes the bait and is trampled. When he is dead, Mowgli starts to skin him with his knife, but having come searching for his buffalo, the chief hunter of the village, Buldeo, realizes that there was a price on the head of this tiger who has been killing villagers, and demands the skin for himself so that he can claim the reward. Mowgli tells Akela that Buldeo is threatening him so Akela holds the chief down. Akela is leader again with the skin laid over the Council Rock. Buldeo having convinced the entire village that Mowgli is one with wolves, declares him to be a sorcerer and Mowgli is banished from the village. Buldeo leads a group of hunters into the jungle to try to kill Mowgli who in the meantime has returned to the village to find Messua and her husband bound, gagged, and imprisoned in their home. He procures the help of Hathi the wise old elephant, who agrees to destroy the village. He and his sons start to put the word out that the best food and best kill is available down by the village. Mowgli frees Messua and her husband, telling them to flee. After they have left, the jungle dwellers start to close in on the village in an effort to make the villagers move away. Hathi and his sons eat all of the stored seed corn, the other animals ruin the fields, and the lack of supplies finally forces the starving humans to leave the village. Hathi barrels through buildings until nothing is left standing and in a few short months the jungle has grown over the land where the village used to be.
Rising action
Mowgli is recognized as Master of the Jungle. One of his favorite friends is Kaa, the giant python, who saved his life. After their customary play-wrestle they go back to the scene of Kaa's life-saving heroics and meet a huge, elderly white cobra who has lived underground for so long that he does not realize the jungle has taken over the old palaces of the Raj that he used to serve. He is the Warden of the King's Treasure and he allows them to take ownership of it, but only whilst they are in his lair. He threatens to kill Mowgli, but after they overpower him Kaa and Mowgli realize his fangs have dried up and he is not a threat at all. Mowgli takes a jeweled elephant head-dress with him, but the white cobra tells him it is cursed and death will follow it wherever it goes. Mowgli doesn't believe him at first, but when a hunter looking to steal the item from them winds up dead followed by six others with a similar goal in mind, Mowgli realizes he was speaking the truth and returns the jeweled spike to him.
Climax
The story jumps to Mowgli at the age of seventeen when his parents pass away. He rolls a boulder in front of their family cave and sings his mourning song. Akela is now too old to hunt for himself so Mowgli hunts for him. The Seeonee pack grows stronger. One day, a lone wolf who lives not in a pack but with his wife and children comes to their part of the jungle, having been involved in an attack by the red dogs. They killed his cubs and wife and almost slaughtered him. He asks for help from the Seeonee pack. Mowgli heads to where the dogs are to count them and devises a plan along with Kaa to draw them towards the river at twilight where the bees will swarm and attack them. There is a giant battle but Mowgli's plan puts the red dogs at a huge disadvantage as when they are climbing out of the river the wolves, who attack by biting the throat are able to attack before the dogs are fully out of the water. Akela is not killed in battle but realizes it is time for him to die. Before he sings his own mourning song, he tells Mowgli to go back to man as he has paid his debt to the jungle. Mowgli does not want to leave and is puzzled by Akela.
Resolution
Spring comes and with it a strange, unfamiliar feeling in Mowgli's stomach that leaves him unable to fight properly and generally feeling grumpy and depressed. He decides to undertake a Spring Running and begins a journey on foot that takes him to a village where again he sees Messua and re-introduces himself to her. He is feverish and rests with her for a few days while she takes care of him. As he is headed back to the jungle, Gray Brother finally answers Mowgli's call, and they trot back together as Mowgli breaks the news that he is going to rejoin the humans. He says farewell to his family Baloo, Kaa, and Bagheera, who tell him how much they love him, and his wolf brothers, then sets off to live among men once more.
Theme
Themes in the book and movie are the same.
The first theme of the story is rules and order. The Jungle Book we're introduced to an unwritten animal code called the Law of the Jungle, or on the beach, the Law of the Beach. It seems to be a general moral code to maintain order in the wild.
The second theme of this story is revenge. In the jungle, you have to add a fang for a fang or a hide for a hide or a thirty-foot-long recently shed snakeskin for a thirty-foot-long recently shed snakeskin to the mix. Animals take their revenge seriously in The Jungle Book.
In the book, violence is the third theme. The animals of the jungle (or beach, or bungalow) are constantly aware of the violence around them. They have to hunt to survive and they have to fight to show their strength.
The following theme is family. In The Jungle Book, and animals often stick together. Wolves have their packs, seals have their pods, and mongooses (unofficially) have their troubles, although you don't have to remind Rikki-tikki-tavi of that. Although most of these families only care about their children until they're old enough to fend for themselves, they play a critical part in raising these kids to survive in the wild. The animals who stick together, survive together.
Lastly, courage is also a theme in this story. The animal heroes in The Jungle Book are overflowing with courage, too. That and, of course, courage and hero-status pretty much always go together. It's kind of their thing.
Moral values
Always Be Teachable
Bagheera the panther tried to teach Mowgli about the dangers of the jungle. Mowgli being young and naive was unwilling to listen. He wanted to continue to live in the jungle and he ignored Bagheera’s advice. We should all try to remember this advice. Living to our potential requires us to keep learning and expanding. Life is a continuous learning experience and we will always have new things to learn.
Embrace Your Surroundings
Mowgli doesn’t focus on the fact that he has no family and is an orphan. He’s more interested in what he does have, which is a huge jungle before his eyes. This leads Mowgli on a big adventure where he meets a lot of new friends. When we focus on what we do have we become more appreciative and happy. This leads us to go on and get more good things.
Take Time to Appreciate People
Mowgli is constantly looking for love and friendship but does not see the love that his friend Bagheera has for him right before his eyes. Many times Bagheera nearly gives up on Mowgli but, he always ends up returning and helping Mowgli out of bad situations. Sometimes we can get so caught up in our lives that it’s easy to forget the people that are always there for us.
Face Your Fears
Mowgli faced his fear of the tiger Shere Khan. He plucked up the courage to save his friend Baloo by tying a burning tree branch to Sheer Khan’s tail. This caused Shere Khan to run away in fear. Sometimes we avoid our fears. This can make us lead a mediocre life. When we face our fears we empower ourselves and we gain confidence with each fear we conquer. I was once approached by a teenage boy who wanted tips for home training to build muscle.
Evaluation/Commentary
In my view, “The Jungle Book” is an adventerous and interesting story. The story is mainly about is a boy named Mowgli. Mowgli is hunted by an evil tiger named Shere Khan. Mowgli tries to live a peaceful life with other humans but is too wild for them and too human for the wolves. Eventually Mowgli finds a home in the jungle with a pack of his own. Rudyard Kipling is one of my favorite author is the main reason for me to reach this book. As usual he never failed to impress me with his creative story content. “The Jungle Book” novel is one of his best creation which inspired me to the core.
My favorite part of the book is when Mowgli travels along with Baloo and Bagheera throughout the jungle because personally I felt the fun and joy like how Mowgli felt it with Baloo. My favorite character of the story is Bagheera the black panther and Baloo the bear. Bagheera is a mature and strong panther who took care of Mowgli throughout his journey. He was a great mentor for Mowgli and helped him whenever he was in trouble. Baloo is a friendly, patient and strong bear who became a bestfriend of Mowgli in that story. The character Baloo always remind me that no matter how hard our life is, we have to keep our patience in order to do the right thing.
Furthermore, readers who adore animals and fantasy stories will love this story content. It is suitable for kids since this story is under children’s literature. There are many moral values we can learn from the story and each of those moral values can be related to our personal life itself. It has reminded me to keep learning, embrace my surroundings, enjoy myself, appreciate my friends and family, have confidence in myself, face my fears and to try new things.
