Throughout The Jungle Book, snakes are a
feared animal. The monkeys fear them because snakes “can climb as well as they
can” (34). The snake scares mongoose, human and animal alike because it is
cunning, quick and silent. The differentiation between snakes is derived from
their interactions and motivations. While both Kaa in “Kaa’s Hunting” and Nag
and Nagina in “Rikki Tikki Tavi” are well-feared snakes, what sets them apart
is their alliances and how they act.
In “Kaa’s Hunting”, Kaa helps Baloo and
Bagheera to rescue Mowgli. He agrees to help with the promise of goats in
exchange and his hatred towards the monkeys for calling him a worm. When he
reaches Mowgli and the cobras inside the ruins say “‘take him away. He dances
like Mao, the Peacock. He will crush our young,’” Kaa tells them to hide while
he breaks down the wall to rescue Mowgli (45). Kaa does not like the Poison
snakes, “in fact he rather despised the Poison Snakes for cowards,” giving him
even greater incentive to rescue Mowgli than the promise of food and revenge on
the monkeys. Regardless of his motivations he is seen as good overall because
he helps save Mowgli’s life.
Nag, on the other hand, is never shed in a
positive light. Nag is seen as wicked from the beginning of “Rikki Tikki Tavi”
because, as Rikki-Tikki points out, marks or no marks it is not right “‘for
[him] to eat fledglings out of a nest’” (98). Nag shows no mercy to the birds
and eats their babies, although he expects that his will be protected. Nag and
“Nagina, Nag’s wicked wife” also threaten the human child, Teddy and his family
(98). “Nagina was coiled up on the matting by Teddy’s chair, within easy
striking distance of Teddy’s bare leg” hissing “if you move I strike and if you
do not move I strike” (106). Nagina is determined to kill Teddy to avenge the
death of Nag. Nag and Nagina are ruthless and aggressive, ready to kill
Rikki-Tikki, the baby birds, and Teddy, who are all seen as innocent.
Not only does Kaa save a human life while
Nag and Nagina endanger humans, but Kaa acts aggressive only in response to
wrong-doing, whereas Nag and Nagina start trouble, painting them in a negative
light. Although all three snakes are violent, their motivations are what
identifies them as either bad or good.
While I agree that Kaa the Python, Nag the Cobra, and his wife are largely defined by their allegiances and actions, what sets them apart more than these is Kipling’s Law of the Jungle, and how each animal either exemplifies or lacks it. Kaa respects the Law, whether in his disapproval of the Bander-Log’s lack of a Law, or his recognition of the Master Words (43), and he does not seem to care about the fact that Mowgli is a human. Kaa is old, and due to his age and vast amount of experiences, is fairly cunning. In his physical movements, he is fairly slow, for “He is too big” (32 Oxford World’s Classics edition). While he is in no way less dangerous than the cobras, as his slaughter of the Bander-Log proves (41-44), this demeanor of a semi-senile old person makes him disarming, to be feared, but largely amiable.
ReplyDeleteIn comparison, Nag and Nagaina obviously flout the Law of the Jungle. The animals of the garden are not afforded any of the respect of the animals in Mowgli’s jungle – Nag and Nagaina rule as if each of the lives of the animals they kill are entirely below them, rather than a respectful taking of life as with the wolves, or when Bagheera enjoys the joke of the young deer (154). In their conspiracy to rule, they commit that grave error of deciding to kill a human, which is decidedly breaking the Law. These two facts distinguish them from Kaa, who respects Baloo and Bagheera, and who avoids killing humans.
I agree that whether the snakes in The Jungle Book are good or evil is defined primarily by what motivates their actions. Kaa is motivated by his respect for the Law of the Jungle, as is clear when he describes the lawless monkeys as “Chattering, foolish, vain – vain, foolish, and chattering are the monkeys. But a man thing in their hands is in no good luck,” (56). Kaa, like the other animals in the jungle, does not like the monkeys because they do not follow the Law of the Jungle. Kaa presents his extreme dislike of the monkeys as one of the primary reasons he helps Baloo and Bagheera save Mowgli. On the other hand, Nag and Nagaina are motivated only by their own wishes because there is no law in the garden until Rikki-Tikki-Tavi arrives. That Rikki-Tikki establishes order, and some type of law, is clarified on the last page of “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” with the statement “and he kept that garden as a mongoose should keep it, with tooth and jump and spring and bite, till never a cobra dared show its head inside the walls,” (158). It is significant that Nag and Nagaina, and particularly their unborn children, were all killed at a relatively young age because they did not follow any rules. I believe Kipling uses the distinction between the young cobras and the aged Kaa to emphasize the importance of respecting rules. He suggests that Kaa reached such an old age because of his respect for the Law of the Jungle, which is part of what defines Kaa as “very cunning” (52).
ReplyDeleteWhile I think that Kaa is seen as good partially because he saves Mowgli from the monkeys, I think there is more to why he is seen as good while the cobras are portrayed as bad. Kaa is deeply respected by almost everyone in the jungle, not just because he is “’very old and very cunning’” (35) or because once he “lapped his huge coils round anybody there was no more to be said” (35), but because he is very wise and respects the Law of the Jungle. It is a good thing to have Kaa on one’s side, because he is very loyal and helpful to those who show him the proper respect and follow the Law of the Jungle. Unlike the cobras in “Rikki Tikki Tavi,” who plot to kill Rikki Tikki’s owners simply because “so long as the bungalow is empty, we are king and queen of the garden…our children will need room and quiet” (102), Kaa never kills without reason. He kills for food, and he kills when animals such as the monkeys and the dholes break the Law of the Jungle or do not follow the Law at all. Throughout The Jungle Book, the characters who are considered “good,” like Kaa, Mowgli, Bagheera, and Baloo, are those who follow the Law of the Jungle, while those who are considered “bad,” such as the monkeys, the cobras, and Shere Khan, are those who do not follow the Law.
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