Bro Do You Even Lit

ENGL 2103-004

25 Mar 2016

"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" Critical Essay

Understanding "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi"

     “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,” by Rudyard Kipling, tells the story of a mongoose who is swept away from his home during a storm and deposited near a bungalow in India.  The short story was published in 1894, a time during which Britain was colonizing India, which inspired the setting of the story. [SLO 2]  Rikki-Tikki, driven by curiosity, explores a garden outside the bungalow and discovers an imminent threat to the family in the form of Nag and Nagaina, a husband, and wife duo of cobras.  Rikki-Tikki must now confront this threat in order to save the family, and the safety of his new home.  “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” utilizes plot, symbolism, setting, and character analysis in order to help the reader understand the story as it is not simply a story about a mongoose, but tells of the struggle between light and dark through several devices including allusion.

     On a purely literal level the central conflict in Rikki Tikki Tavi is the recurring threat of two cobras living in the garden who want to eliminate Rikki-Tikki because he poses a threat to them, “a grown mongoose's business in life was to fight and eat snakes. Nag knew that too and, at the bottom of his cold heart, he was afraid (Kipling 2-3).  This presence of cobras is the central driving force of the story, and serves to advance the plot of the short story. Rikki-Tikki grows to love the family, and explores their property to find a couple of birds whose baby had just been eaten by Nag, one of the aforementioned cobras, “One of our babies fell out of the nest yesterday and Nag ate him” (2).  When Rikki-Tikki approaches Nag, he is almost attacked by Nag’s wife Nagaina because they know mongooses can kill cobras. This is where the conflict begins, as Nag and Nagaina want to kill Rikki-Tikki due to his ability to kill them.  Likewise Rikki-Tikki wants to kill the cobras because of the threat they pose not only to himself, but the garden’s and bungalow’s inhabitants.  Rikki-Tikki even states that “’its war for me down here’” in reference to the battle he is fighting against the cobras (6). As the story progress Rikki-Tikki bonds with the family that lives in the bungalow, and kills Nag while he is preparing to kill the father of the family that lives in the Bungalow.  A now furious Nagaina attempts to kill Rikki-Tikki during the story’s climax but fails to do so and not only loses her life, but the life of her children as well.  This literal interpretation of “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” exists to entertain its reader, and is targeted at a younger audience.  With its straightforward plot this story is easily understood, but a literal interpretation is not the only existing interpretation of this story.

     Throughout the story there are many symbols and allusions.  The most immediately apparent symbol is that of the two cobras symbolizing evil.  The first snake that Rikki-Tikki encounters even states, “’I am Death’” (3).   In literature snakes oftentimes represent evil, or wickedness.  This trend dates back to the Bible as it was a snake in the Garden of Eden that convinced Eve to take a bite of the forbidden fruit.  The claim that the cobras represent evil is further validated when the fact that the majority of the story takes place in a garden. [SLO 4]  The snake in the Garden of Eden was evil, and the two snakes in the garden of the story are also evil.  While the snakes symbolize evil, or darkness, Rikki-Tikki symbolizes light, or goodness.  Rikki-Tikki spends the story trying to protect not just himself, but the garden’s inhabitants from the two cobras.  Rikki-Tikki even challenges Nagaina to a fight to protect Teddy “’turn around, Nagaina. Turn and fight’” (7).  Nag and Nagaina spend the story trying to rule the garden by killing its inhabitants, “’so long as the bungalow is empty, we are king and queen of the garden’” (4).  “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,” when viewed on a symbolic level is now no longer simply a story about a mongoose, and two snakes, but about the struggle between light and dark.  Rikki-Tikki, who symbolizes the light, is struggling against the two cobras, who symbolize the dark.  Ultimately Rikki-Tikki, the light, prevails, and defeats the cobra family, the dark.  “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,” like the Harry Potter book series becomes a story about light versus dark when viewed on a symbolic level. [SLO 4]  The symbolism present in the story helps the reader to understand that the story is about the struggle between good and evil, and that good can win.   

     As previously mentioned “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” takes place in a garden, and the adjacent bungalow.  The setting is mysterious to Rikki-Tikki, and as he explores and learns about the garden so does the reader.  The beginning of the story is similar to the H.G. Wells short story, “In the Abyss,” in that the stories protagonist explores an alien environment, and like the reader has no idea what to expect.  Rikki-Tikki spends his first day in the bungalow, “roaming over the house” (2).  The setting is integral to the plot of the story as it revolves around Rikki-Tikki protecting the garden, and bungalow, along with their inhabitants.  The garden setting aids in making the stories symbolism more apparent to the reader.  Because “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” is set in a garden when the snakes are introduced the fact that they symbolize evil is immediately apparent, this is because the biblical Garden of Eden contained an evil snake, and by drawing parallels to the Bible (the snake in the garden) Kipling makes it readily apparent that the snakes are evil.  By making the cobras in the story similar to the serpent in the Garden of Eden Kipling also allows the reader to easily recognize that Rikki-Tikki, the foil to the two cobras, represents goodness, and light.

     In “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” the two main characters, Nagaina, and the eponymous Rikki-Tikki-Tavi are at war with each other.  After Rikki-Tikki kills Nagaina’s husband, Nag, she chooses to go on a quest for revenge against those that were involved in the death of her husband, even going so far as to attempt to kill the son of the family who inhabit the bungalow, “’my husband lies on the rubbish heap this morning, but before night the boy in the house will lie very still’” (6).  This desire for revenge is what ultimately costs Nagaina not only her own life, but the lives of her unborn offspring as well.  Rikki-Tikki, meanwhile, is given a feast after protecting the family from the cobras.  In essence Rikki-Tikki is rewarded while Nagaina is punished, this is due to the fact that Rikki-Tikki actions had noble intentions while Nagaina’s actions were driven purely by a desire for power, and hatred.  Rikki-Tikki’s character is that of a protector, striving to make his new home safe for not only himself, but for others as well.  Rikki-Tikki is also depicted as a brave character who rushes into battle in much the same way as the soldiers in Alfred Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade." [SLO 4]  Nagaina’s character is, on the other hand, is purely that of an antagonist, she exists to kill the garden and bungalow’s inhabitants in order to have absolute power over the area “So long as the bungalow is empty, we are king and queen of the garden” (4).  By having these two contrasting characters in the short story Kipling makes the contrast between Rikki-Tikki’s nobility, and Nagaina’s selfishness a stark one. 

     Though it may seem like a simple short story about a mongoose fighting two cobras “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” is anything but.  The plot, symbolism, setting, and characters all serve to make “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” a story about the dangers of greed, and the rewards that come from living a good life.  Rikki-Tikki, who represents good fights the cobras that inhabit the garden in order to protect its inhabitants.  As a reward Rikki-Tikki receives a feast for his efforts, and lives a happy life.  Nagaina, and Nag, who are the power hungry cobras that inhabit the garden are rewarded for their efforts to kill the garden’s inhabitants with death.  The story on the surface tells of a mongoose battling two cobras, but symbolically tells of a battle between the light and the dark, in which the light emerges victorious and is rewarded.  This symbolic interpretation helps establish the theme that it is worth it to do the right thing.  The theme of the story is revealed through the setting, plot, and characters which in turn reveal the symbolic struggle occurring as the literal story happens, thereby allowing the reader to fully understand the text. [SLO 1 and SLO 3]