The Second Jungle Book Essay

Mowgli himself was very much confused about himself. When he was young, he believed that he is a wolf, he thought he belonged to the Pack of wolves and had nothing to do with humans. But the some wolves did not thought so, they always believed that “What have the free people to do with a man’s cub?” (Kipling 1909, 16). No one could look between his eyes in the jungle, not even Shere Khan. His eyes were a major indication of the humanness in him. ‘He has eyes that make the jungle people afraid’. In The Second Jungle Book, we are told that “And yet the look in his eyes was always gentle. Even when he fought, his eyes never blazed as Bagheera’s did” (Kipling 1895, 286). In every situation, his eyes betray that he is not an animal. Bagheera at first is convinced that Mowgli is a human but his attitude towards his identity is
While Mowgli himself was in great doubts about his identity, the wise animals in the jungle already predicted his future: “Man goes to Man at the last” (Kipling 1895, 314). Even during his last hours, Mowgli is still not completely convinced: “I know not what I know! I would not go; but I am drawn by both feet” (Kipling 1895, 318). Mowgli’s in-between-ness and the often recurring theme of searching for a home reflects Kipling’s own feelings. “Kipling’s obsession with home and belonging is caused in part by his own homeless state: born in India, banished to England for schooling, he returned to India, but spent much of his adult life moving restlessly between Africa, Vermont, England and points between” (Kutzer 15). In disciplined England, Rudyard felt very uncomfortable and unhappy. Kingsley Amis concludes his biography of Kipling by saying that “Despite [Kipling’s] immense celebrity, he remained an isolated figure, a member no group or alliance” (104). Eric strokes wrote a similar