I am intrigued by the story because it brings an unfamiliar culture to light for me. Kim is a young boy who lost his father and was taken in by a woman. He runs in a beggars circle and seems to understand his status as well as others statuses around him. It is very early in the novel where we see hierarchal statuses brought up. In the start of chapter one we are introduced to the protagonist as "...white-a poor white of the very poorest" (Pg.53). His name was Kim and his father who was a member of the freemason's who died from what seems to be an overdose. We immediately see the un-stability of Kim's life. The woman who was responsible for Kim after his father's death, wrapped his papers and birth certificate into parchment paper and placed it around his neck. It is interesting to me that she would do that because it seems as though she did not want to take full responsibility for him; those papers state that he is not fully her child/responsibility. At the start of the book I immediately began to see Kim as a boy with dirty feet and raggedy clothes, but as I continued to read he seemed less raggedy and more sophisticated, not really sure why. I think it may be because of his knowledge of the culture, religion and hierarchal statuses.
As I read Kim I could not help but relate this novel to a little book called The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn. Finn and Kim have a few things in common (other than the rhyming of their names); for one their social statuses. They are both poor with very little to no support from birth parents. Finn had an abusive father and Kim seems to have had an absent, drug addicted father. Having unstable upbringings defines both of these characters. Adventure is mainly what brought me to the comparison, "True, he knew the wonderful walled city of Lahore from the Delhi Gate to the outer Fort Ditch; was hand in glove with men who led lives stranger than anything Haroun al Raschid dreamed of; and he lived in a life wild as that of theArabian nights..."(pg.55).Both characters are intrigued by adventure and surround themselves with very similar characters. Being surrounded by the strong adventurous men that Kim surrounds himself with has made him a skeptic of others. Along with skepticism comes a lack of respect. When Kim first meets the old man in front of the wonder house he does not give him a title when speaking to him because he automatically assumes that he is of very low status. Although he is poor he has no respect for those who resemble his situation. Huck Finn has very similar characteristics.
I am looking forward to reading the rest of Kim and I am hoping the more I read, the more I will get used to Kipling's writing style and hopefully find more similarities to Huck-Finn.
Salwa,
ReplyDeleteI completely got the image of Huck Finn as well! I think we are going to see even more similarities as the book moves forward...maybe even between the Lama and Jim?
I think you make a great point about how Kim really notices status. He seemed like a more sophisticated boy than his counterparts to me as well, but I had attributed that to the fact that though he was raised in India, he was still "white." Perhaps his heritage in that way makes him appear more worldly? I know that language was highly valued as marker of intelligence, so the fact that Kim can speak multiple languages and is "Friend to All the World" could definitely give cause for the high status games he plays with those around him.
Thanks!
-Sydney
Hello Salwa,
ReplyDeleteI agree entirely with you, in regards to picking up the pattern of Kipling's writing. I typically find myself able to get into the swing of a writer's style with relative ease, but Kim has shown me differently. It took quite some time for me to settle in, and, even then, I found myself floundering with new vocabulary and geography. But, like you said, this does not take away from the merit of the work, nor the interest we might have in it. If anything, it provides us with an opportunity to explore a time and a place more intimately than we might not have otherwise had.
Cheers!
Shelby.
I, like many others in the class, including yourself, had trouble with Kipling's writing style. Other than it being an assigned reading, I was drawn in by the rich imagery of a foreign land, which provoked me to read and re-read to ensure I was processing everything properly. I am not sure I agree that Kim did not assign a title to the lama at their first meeting because he did not respect the lama. On the contrary, Kim seems be-fuddled by this strange man because he "could not divine the man's creed." (p. 57)
ReplyDeleteI think Kipling definitely plays with status in this novel. He automatically assigns a high status to Kim as a white boy, even though he is "of the very poorest" he still assumes a rank above the 'natives' for the expected reader. His wisdom beyond his years (to not be cheated, to understand duplicity, to acquire food and money) and ability to throw curses and verbal jabs with the best that Kipling's India has to offer continue to show his superiority. I haven't completed the book yet, but I am interested to see how his cleverness will translate now that he is interacting with whites who would objectively dramatically outrank him.
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