Parallel Introductions

              The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and the Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling have many striking similarities throughout their stories. They both revolve around a young boy who has been taken away from human civilization and is raised based on the Laws of the land. Particularly in the beginning of each of these stories, the similarities are rather apparent.

 In the Jungle Book, the wolves find Mowgli after Shere Khan attempted to kill him. When the wolves save the man club, Shere Khan demands for the man cub to be returned to him, as it is his kill. The wolves refuse, and ultimately decide to keep him as their own when Mother Wolf confronts Shere Khan by saying, “The man’s cub is mine, Lungri – mine to me! He shall not be killed. He shall live to run with the Pack,” (Kipling 9). This interaction is parallel to Mrs. Owens demanding that Bod be kept in the Graveyard to protect him from the man Jack. She shows her determination similar to Mother Wolf when she rebuttals, “’I can look after him […] as well as his own mama. She already gave him to me. Look: I’m holding him, aren’t I? I’m touching him,’” (Gaiman 22). Here, it is clear that the mothers are the influential force in each of these stories for persuading the others to allow the boys to stay. They are protecting the children from the ones trying to kill them, and this is consistent in both stories.

However, the mother’s will is not enough to persuade everyone; there is a set of laws that must be followed in both cases. Mowgli must be brought to Akela, the Lone Wolf, in order to decide his fate. Akela is described as “the great gray Lone Wolf, who led all the Pack,” (Kipling 11). Bod, too, must be brought to the leader of the graveyard, who is described by Gaiman as, “a woman, clothed head to foot in gray” (Gaiman 30). In both stories, the leader of the “pack” is a lone individual clad in gray.

There is similarity between Bagheera and Silas in these two stories; neither were born into the Jungle or Graveyard. Bagheera tells Mowgli, “I was born among men […] I had never seen the jungle,” (Kipling 16). Mrs. Owens reveals that Silas had been given Freedom of the Graveyard when she says, “It en’t the first time we’d’ve given the Freedom of the Graveyard to an outsider” (Gaiman 23). And, as a result, both Bagheera and Silas act as vouches for the young boys to be allowed to stay among the others. They sympathize with the boys, as they too had to be accepted by their peers. Bagheera and Silas end up as teachers for the strange boys, as they feel the most empathy towards them.

The Graveyard Book and The Jungle Book have almost mirror image introductions. The similarities can be seen in the threat of the boys’ lives, the mothers’ protective and persuasive nature, the portrayal of the leaders, and the boys’ teachers.