Tuesday, April 22, 2014

The Protagonists and Their Cultural Contexts

The Jungle Book and The Graveyard Book are clearly companion stories because of their many similarities, yet they maintain marked differences between each other. The most intriguing of these distinctions can be made between the protagonists Mowgli and Nobody, and it is this difference that gives each story its own unique tone. One of the main differences between the two characters is in how they relate to others. The main way that Mowgli relates to the animals around him is by dominating them. For example, when his wolf friends come to help him kill Shere Khan, instead of commiserating with them as equals, he uses Akela and Grey Brother as tools to obtain his ends, ordering them about in a domineering manner (Kipling 61). This instance shows Mowgli's feelings of superiority over the animals, which explains his behavior towards them. Though he values them in some ways, he is also imbued with a sense of inherent superiority because he is a man. This superiority of mind to his fellow creatures allows him to get away with dominating the other animals without any real consequences. This hierarchical style of thinking was common in Kipling's India, especially in relations between white men and Indians, and is reflected in Mowgli's treatment of others. On the other hand, Bod tends to relate to others in a much more friendly way. Instead of dominating others and forcing them to help him like Mowgli, Bod makes friends who come to help him because they care about him. A good example of this can be seen in Bod's friendship with Liza the witch; he is friendly and kind to her, and in return she helps him out of his scrape with the police. She tells Bod "us in the graveyard, we wants you to stay alive. We wants you to surprise us and disappoint us and impress us and amaze us"; because of the way he relates to others, I have a hard time imagining any of the animals of The Jungle Book saying something like that to Mowgli (Gaiman 198). Bod's loyalty and appreciation for the skills and wits of his friends set him apart from Mowgli and reflect an idealistic view of how modern people should treat each other.

Another important difference between Mowgli and Bod is that they face challenging situations differently. When Mowgli encounters a threat, he jumps straight to using fear and actions to overcome his situation. In the story "Mowgli's Brothers", Shere Khan uses his influence to turn the wolves against Mowgli, and Mowgli retaliates by threatening them with fire. He uses his wits to inspire fear and intimidate his former friends, particularly when he "flung the fire-pot on the ground, and some of the red coals lit a tuft of dried moss that flared up as all the Council drew back in terror before the leaping flames" (Kipling 21). Mowgli is much more of a man of action than Bod is, a trait that reflects the more rugged sentiment of the time in which The Jungle Book was written. Instead of jumping head-first into action, Bod tries to reason his way out of his scrapes. When he faces the bullies at school, Bod tries to reason with them first, and only as a last resort uses dream walking to scare Nick and threats of haunting to scare Mo (Gaiman 183-209). In the more modern times in which The Graveyard Book was written, being able to reason your way out of a bad situation is seen as a much better alternative to violence. Though these two characters are similar, they are also significantly different because of the cultural contexts in which they were written.

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