The White Man's Burden Literary Analysis

Intro:
While there is plenty of evidence for Kipling’s racism and imperialism in both Kim and White Man’s Burden, there is more to the story than simple labels can describe. In Kim Kipling’s descriptions of native Indians is both curious and compassionate, the Indian characters are more interesting than the English. Kim’s character himself was born, like Kipling, in India under British rule and through the story Kim struggles between the culture of India and his British heritage. In the end, although Kim was raised almost solely by Indians in an Indian culture, he is still inherently full of imperialist tendencies that Kipling describes in The White Man's Burden. This is possibly descriptive of Kipling’s own views, in that he appreciated the
Indian people and culture, but still believed that the British must control and rule over others.

British:
The British characters in Kim certainly have power over the Indians, but they are also lifeless and ignorant characters.
When Reverend Bennett and Father Victor first encounter Kim they assume he is a native thief, “What were you doing? You're a thief. Choor? Mallum?” (Kipling). It is not until they discover that he is the son of O’Hara that they have any care or interest in him and Kim’s non-Christian and non-British mannerisms and appearance shock them “Powers of Darkness below, what a country! . . . It's O'Hara's boy, sure enough. O'Hara's boy leagued with all the Powers of Darkness” (Kipling). In this encounter Father Victor repeatedly disrespects the lama and through the novel English characters display great ignorance and lack of care towards native customs. When Kim resists the idea of becoming a soldier, Reverend Bennett takes on an almost imperialist attitude towards him, “You will be what you're told to be, and you should be grateful that we're going to help you” (Kipling). Even though Kim is English by birth, he is culturally very different and this is seen as almost more of a problem than if Kim were Indian. If Kipling was simply racist and full of imperialist tendencies, why would he have written British characters such as these in such a negative
light?

Indian:
Kipling’s India is written full of adventure and a colorful and busy place. Kim is always able to beg and make money for both him and the lama with flattery and many of the Indian characters are welcoming. Through the story the lama talks at length about his Buddhist beliefs, Kipling’s description of this character shows, at least to a certain degree, his understanding and respect of the religion. Similarly to Kim, Kipling was born in colonialist India and lived there for a part of his childhood. To this, Kipling describes India and the people with a degree of admiration and perhaps love. Although there are many biases in Kim, Kipling also criticizes British characters and shows Indian characters with depth and care.

Ethnically British, culturally Indian - Kim
Kim grew up in Indian culture with very little influence from the British, however, even though at the start of the story Kim is arguably more Indian than English, Kipling makes it very clear that he is different from the other beggars around him in Lahore, “Though he was burned black as any native; though he spoke the vernacular by preference, and his mother-tongue in a clipped uncertain sing-song; though he consorted on terms of perfect equality with the small boys of the bazar; Kim was white—a poor white of the very poorest” (Kipling). The first words of the story are “He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam Zammah”. The Zam Zammah was one of the largest guns ever made at the time, was made in the 1700s (Kaplan). Kim sitting astride the gun at the very start of the story, playing a “king-of-the-castle game” with two of his companions.
‘Off! Off! Let me up!' cried Abdullah, climbing up Zam-Zammah's wheel. 'Thy father was a pastry-cook, Thy mother stole the ghi,' sang Kim. 'All Mussalmans fell off Zam-Zammah long ago!' 'Let me up!' shrilled little Chota Lal in his gilt-embroidered cap. His father was worth perhaps half a million sterling, but India is the only democratic land in the world. 'The Hindus fell off Zam-Zammah too. The Mussalmans pushed them off. Thy father was a pastry-cook’ (Kipling).
Even though Kim was poorer than his friend Chota Lal, he is the only one allowed on top of the gun. Kim feels as though he has a natural claim to this position of power over the native boys. Kim has a natural and inherent tendency to own and rule over others, as Kipling describes in The White Man’s Burden.

Conclusion:
Through the story Kim is conflicted and torn between both Indian and British culture. While Kipling was undoubtedly an Imperialist as shown in The White Man’s Burden, in Kim he explores the conflict about loyalty and identity between his nature of British and the nurture of India. To a certain degree, Kipling explores the ignorance of the English colonizers, but he sets himself apart as someone who knows the country and people from the others. Although Kipling writes about India with affection, he never questions that the British have the right and responsibility to colonize and rule.

Kaplan, Robert D. "Lahore as Kipling Knew It." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Jan. 1989. Web. 05 Mar. 2017.
Kipling, Rudyard. Kim. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Free EBooks Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg, 15 Jan. 2009. Web. 5 Mar. 2017.