The "Perfect" Child Model

Time always brings about changes, especially when it comes to culture. This difference is very evident when comparing and contrasting The Jungle Book and The Graveyard Book. The differences between Mowgli and Nobody can be boiled down to one simple thing, they are from different time periods. I believe that both Kipling and Gaiman were attempting to write about the ideal child when they chose their main characters. But, of course, these are two rather different things because the books were written more than 100 years apart. In The Jungle Book, Mowgli is an obedient, strong, and brave child. He is the epitome of a manly man, which was the ideal back when Kipling wrote the stories. Now Bod does exhibit some of these traits, such as bravery or courage, but the main difference is the way that the two learn. Mowgli is, for the most part, obedient, he learns by being taught. Bod on the other hand is a much more curious child. He explores more, and wants to go out into the world and learn things on his own. This curiosity exhibits the change in the "perfect" child model that has come about over the past 100 years. No longer is it ideal for children to be perfectly obedient and learn only what they are taught. Nowadays children are expected to figure out some parts of the world for themselves, and be more independent than ever before. Because of this, I believe that Kipling and Gaiman were basically doing the same thing, however the changes in our culture over the last 100 years caused Gaiman to adapt the personality and story of Bod from the original character of Mowgli. Of course The Graveyard Book was based on The Jungle Book, but there are disagreements on just how similar the two are. To me, it seems as though Gaiman was just updating The Jungle Book for modern times and this explains almost all the differences in the characters. It is not that Gaiman chose to change the personality of Bod from Mowgli, but it was dictated by our modern society. Otherwise no one could relate to the book and it would not sell. This change in culture accounts for the main differences between The Jungle Book and The Graveyard Book.