"How Fear Came" and "Mowgli's Brothers"
[vi]
"I killed for choice-- not for food," the tiger purred. [i]
Upon reading those words, I suspected that Kipling would use the rest of How Fear Came, to define the important difference between necessary killing and how we're treating animals.
Mowgli, like the reader, is part of the audience in this story... A wise primate retells the story of man's separation from animals, which comes with the consequences of death and fear. According to animal legend, the world was in a static state of paradise until "the First of the Tigers forgot that he was the master and judge of the Jungle, and, leaping upon [a] buck, broke his neck," [iv] giving Death it's first soul.
Graver yet, the smell of the fallen Buck's blood has a negative effect on the animals; it makes them foolish. Instead of communicating effectively amongst one another, the smell of blood seduces and dumbs them. The former master and judge of the Jungle, the first of Tigers, has tarnished animal-kind by introducing the business of Death, awakens selfishness and implants fear. Happy naivety is replaced with sobering mortality.
Shortly after that, as fear of death and shame consume The Tiger, he kills a human, who the Tiger mistakenly takes as Fear himself. But, this second death spreads fear in the hearts of men, igniting their long-lasting imprudence with the beasts.
"...Of all things, [animals] most fear Man," [ii] because "[he] will follow thy trail till thou [all] diest!" [iii]
Consider that animals, unlike humans, kill only for food and fight only when threatened. That is the way killing is fair. By contrast, Man kills animals whenever and wherever he pleases, sometimes for food or the growth of commerce, other times for sheer entertainment and pleasure. Kipling correctly prophesies that we willingly and unwillingly purge the world of its non-human inhabitants for reasons that often don't register. If society continues expanding, farm (food) animals continue to be harvested, and the world's forestation disappears, we will be left with a far less marvelous planet and a far more sinister shame. How can our precious intellect be turning the world into a barren wasteland? That is what the animals fear most--and know only man can deliver.
[v]
A monkey may live up on a tree, but its branches hold bird nests and its base offers an anteater's feeding ground. Similarly, the Lion shares the savanna with a wide range of animals; some he eats, some he competes with, others don't bother him, and many he never sees. These conglomerations of animals, living next to, behind, in front of, above, and below each other, manage to live in a harmony with the world and each other that eludes Man. Kipling is presenting an unspoken communication between all things wild, which ironically contrasts with Man's alleged ability to communicate. (In this blog, and throughout the world) It is important to mention that, unlike Man, an animal's communication never yields tears and is never brought to sorrow. This begs the question: whose language is more effective?
"No, Little Brother. That is only tears such as men use... now I know thou art a man," said Bagheera. [vii]
In the quote above, Kipling proposes that no male should be considered a "man" until he is moved to tears. By crying, a man proves he has feelings.
Kipling's construction, of a more desirable human and animal experience, in The Jungle Book is anti-Imperialistic because it necessitates, not a display of dominance, but a submission to sympathy and selfless love. In "Mowgli's Brothers", Mowgli cries when he is separated from his wolf-family. "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" depicts a family's appreciation for a fighting mongoose. In "The Miracle of Purun Bhagat", a village is saved by a human to animal conversation. And, even in "How Fear Came",-a unique version of the world's fall from grace- the ancient harmony between Man and animal fosters nostalgia, in the reader, for a perfect love that transcends Fear.
[i] Rudyard Kipling, "How Fear Came",
[ii] Rudyard Kipling, "How Fear Came",
[iii] Rudyard Kipling, "How Fear Came",
[iv] Rudyard Kipling, "How Fear Came",
[v] http://www.orange32.com/design/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/abc_cover.jpg
[vi] http://www.obit-mag.com/media/image/2059_death_MH.jpg
[vii] Rudyard Kipling, "Mowgli's Brothers", http://www.readbookonline.net/read/486/10057/
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