7.4 /10 1 Votes
Country United Kingdom Publication date October 1901 Originally published October 1901 Page count 368 | 3.7/5 Goodreads Language English Pages 368 Illustrator H. R. Millar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Publisher McClure's Magazine (in serial) & Macmillan & Co (single volume) Media type Print (Serial & Hardcover) Characters Kimball O'Hara, Colonel Creighton, Teshoo Lama, Lurgan Sahib, Mahbub Ali, the Red Beard Genres Novel, Picaresque novel, Spy fiction Similar Works by Rudyard Kipling, India books, Novels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kim is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling. It was first published serially in McClure's Magazine from December 1900 to October 1901 as well as in Cassell's Magazine from January to November 1901, and first published in book form by Macmillan & Co. Ltd in October 1901. The story unfolds against the backdrop of The Great Game, the political conflict between Russia and Britain in Central Asia. The novel made the term "Great Game" popular and introduced the theme of great power rivalry and intrigue.
Contents
It is set after the Second Afghan War which ended in 1881, but before the Third, probably in the period 1893 to 1898. The novel is notable for its detailed portrait of the people, culture, and varied religions of India. "The book presents a vivid picture of India, its teeming populations, religions, and superstitions, and the life of the bazaars and the road."
In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Kim No. 78 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. In 2003 the book was listed on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's "best-loved novel."
Plot summary
Kim (Kimball O'Hara) is the orphaned son of an Irish soldier and a poor Irish mother who have both died in poverty. Living a vagabond existence in India under British rule in the late 19th century, Kim earns his living by begging and running small errands on the streets of Lahore. He occasionally works for Mahbub Ali, a Pashtun horse trader who is one of the native operatives of the British secret service. Kim is so immersed in the local culture, few realise he is a white child, though he carries a packet of documents from his father entrusted to him by an Indian woman who cared for him.
Kim befriends an aged Tibetan Lama who is on a quest to free himself from the Wheel of Things by finding the legendary River of the Arrow. Kim becomes his chela, or disciple, and accompanies him on his journey. On the way, Kim incidentally learns about parts of the Great Game and is recruited by Mahbub Ali to carry a message to the head of British intelligence in Umballa. Kim's trip with the lama along the Grand Trunk Road is the first great adventure in the novel.
By chance, Kim's father's regimental chaplain identifies Kim by his Masonic certificate, which he wears around his neck, and Kim is forcibly separated from the lama. The lama insists that Kim should comply with the chaplain's plan because he believes it is in Kim's best interests, and the boy is sent to a top English school in Lucknow. The lama funds Kim's education.
Throughout his years at school, Kim remains in contact with the holy man he has come to love. Kim also retains contact with his secret service connections and is trained in espionage (to be a surveyor) while on vacation from school by Lurgan Sahib, at his jewellery shop in Simla. As part of his training, Kim looks at a tray full of mixed objects and notes which have been added or taken away, a pastime still called Kim's Game, also called the Jewel Game.
After three years of schooling, Kim is given a government appointment so that he can begin his role in the Great Game. Before this appointment begins however, he is granted time to take a much-deserved break. Kim rejoins the lama and at the behest of Kim's superior, Hurree Chunder Mookherjee, they make a trip to the Himalayas. Here the espionage and spiritual threads of the story collide, with the lama unwittingly falling into conflict with Russian intelligence agents.
Kim obtains maps, papers and other important items from the Russians working to undermine British control of the region. Mookherjee befriends the Russians under cover, acting as a guide and ensures that they do not recover the lost items. Kim, aided by some porters and villagers, helps to rescue the lama.
The lama realises that he has gone astray. His search for the "River of the Arrow" should be taking place in the plains, not in the mountains, and he orders the porters to take them back. Here Kim and the lama are nursed back to health after their arduous journey. Kim delivers the Russian documents to Hurree, and a concerned Mahbub Ali comes to check on Kim.
The lama finds his river and achieves Enlightenment. The reader is left to decide whether Kim will henceforth follow the prideful road of the Great Game, the spiritual way of Tibetan Buddhism, or a combination of the two. Kim himself has this to say: "I am not a Sahib. I am thy chela." (Meaning, "I am not a master. I am your servant.")
Characters
The Mavericks
Her Majesty's Royal Loyal Musketeers, also known as "The Mavericks" is a fictional Irish Regiment of the British Army also mentioned in the novella "The Mutiny of the Mavericks".
The nickname is from the Bull in their colors. Mavericks are stubborn, unbranded cattle that are hard to keep in the herd, much like the independent-minded troops of the regiment. They seem to be a tough regiment with a fierce reputation because in "Kim" they are respectfully known by the natives as the "Red Bullock Men".
Cap Badge: A crowned gold Irish Harp.
Regimental Badge: A red Bull furieux [A Heraldry term that combines the terms Salient (depicted rearing upon its hind legs and striking with its hooves) and Enragé ("maddened" - depicted red-eyed, nostrils flared, and baring its teeth)].
Regimental Colours: A white field with the Cap Badge set in the center on a blue rounded and the red Bulls set in the corners.
Battle Honours (Mentioned in "The Mutiny of the Mavericks"): Vittoria (sic), Salamanca, Toulouse, Waterloo, Moodkee (sic), Ferozshah (sic), Sobraon, Inkerman, The Alma, and Sebastopol (sic).
The battle honours should be listed by date, but some of the battles are out of order. There is also some mention of the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and the wars in Afghanistan in passing, but it is unclear whether they are Honours or just campaigns the regiment served in.
Landmarks
Critical assessment
Considered by many to be Kipling's masterpiece, opinion appears varied about its consideration as children's literature or not. Roger Sale, in his history of children's literature, concludes "Kim is the apotheosis of the Victorian cult of childhood, but it shines now as bright as ever, long after the Empire's collapse..."
In a reissue of the novel in 1959 by Macmillan, the reviewer opines "Kim is a book worked at three levels. It is a tale of adventure...It is the drama of a boy having entirely his boy's own way... and it is the mystical exegesis of this pattern of behaviour..." This reviewer concludes "Kim will endure because it is a beginning like all masterly ends.."