The Jungle Book

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Middle Grade | Published in 1894

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

“Mowgli’s Brothers”

“Kaa’s Hunting”

“Tiger! Tiger!”

“The White Seal”

“Rikki-tikki-tavi”

“Toomai of the Elephants”

“Her Majesty’s Servants”

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

“Kaa’s Hunting”Chapter Summaries & Analyses

“Kaa’s Hunting” Summary

This story occurs before Mowgli left the wolf pack, during the period in which he was being taught the Law of the Jungle by Baloo the bear. Mowgli memorizes what to say to different animals in the jungle so that they do not harm him, but he grows bored with the repetition, causing Baloo to hit him. After Mowgli runs away, upset, Bagheera arrives and Baloo explains to him that he is teaching Mowgli such valuable knowledge that he must use harsh methods of instruction. Mowgli returns, complaining that his head hurts from the strike, but he is able to recite the Master Words of the jungle in different animal languages. Speaking these words will prevent any other species from harming him. Mowgli reveals that when he was upset about being hit by Baloo, the monkey people—also called the Bandar-log—came to comfort him and promised him that he would be their leader someday. Baloo tells him that the monkey people lie constantly and they do not obey the Law of the Jungle, which means that the other animal species ignore them.

The monkey people have secretly been following Mowgli because they admire his ability to weave sticks together and make small structures. They decide to claim Mowgli as their leader to earn the respect of other jungle animals and yank him up into the tree canopy, swinging him away back to their home. Mowgli is afraid that they will drop him if he struggles, and so he uses the Master Words to call out to Rann, the kite bird, and asks him to tell Baloo and Bagheera where the monkeys have taken him. Baloo is distraught that Mowgli is in danger, but Bagheera reminds him that Mowgli knows the Master Words and will be alright. They decide to go to the python Kaa for help, because he is able to climb up into the trees to hunt baby monkeys and would know where they live.

Baloo and Bagheera find Kaa resting after a hunt and flatter him, although they claim that the monkeys have insulted his appearance and called him an earthworm. After riling Kaa up against the monkeys, he agrees to help rescue Mowgli. Rann the kite bird arrives and tells them where the Bandar-log have gone: the ruins of an ancient human city called the Cold Lairs. The Bandar-log live in these abandoned palaces, but they are not intelligent enough to understand what these buildings were once used for. Mowgli begins to get fed up with the monkeys, who get distracted when they try to collect food and do nothing but brag about how great they are without actually accomplishing anything.

Bagheera and Kaa reach the Cold Lairs first because they are fastest, and the monkeys prepare to attack them. Mowgli is thrown through the roof of an old summer house infested with cobras, but he uses the Master Words to prevent the cobras from attacking him. Bagheera and Baloo are overwhelmed by the monkeys’ attacks, but when Kaa arrives, the monkeys are terrified and flee. Kaa breaks Mowgli out of the ruined house and Mowgli thanks him courteously. Kaa snaps his jaws so that all of the monkeys will look at him and then begins to slither and coil around himself, doing what he calls the Dance of the Hunger of Kaa. This dance hypnotizes the monkeys, compelling them to walk toward Kaa and to their death. Baloo and Bagheera are also entranced and start to walk toward Kaa, but Mowgli breaks their concentration and gets them to leave. They return to the jungle and Mowgli is given a beating by Bagheera as punishment for affiliating with the Bandar-log. After that, all is forgiven and Mowgli goes home to the wolf cave.

“Kaa’s Hunting” Analysis

This story once again demonstrates Mowgli’s exceptional status as a human able to follow the Law of the Jungle, but also to rise above it. In his training with Baloo, Mowgli must learn different animal languages in order to protect himself from the dangers of various species. However, because all of these dangerous animals live under the Law of the Jungle and follow its rules, Mowgli can ensure his safety by claiming membership in their community. The Master Words that Baloo teaches Mowgli emphasize the bonds of kinship felt between all jungle animals: “[W]e be of one blood, ye and I” (50). Because Mowgli says these words to the kite bird and to the cobras, he is able to be safely rescued by the more physically powerful animals—Baloo and Bagheera. The name of the words themselves—“Master” —evokes a sense of imperialism that underpins the presentation of Mowgli’s status.

However, the monkeys pose a threat to Mowgli because they exist outside of the Law of the Jungle. Baloo explains why the monkeys are excluded from jungle society, claiming that “they are without leaders. They have no remembrance. They boast and chatter and pretend that they are a great people about to do great affairs in the jungle, but the falling of a nut turns their minds to laughter, and all is forgotten” (54). Perhaps most importantly, Baloo warns that the monkeys are mimics, telling Mowgli that “they have no speech of their own, but use the stolen words which they overhear when they listen and peep and wait up above in the branches” (54). Because of their lawless nature and their lack of language, Mowgli cannot speak the Master Words to the monkeys to protect himself during his abduction.

Allegorically, the monkeys represent arrogant yet supposedly less sophisticated humans. While they see themselves as close to human, noting their physical similarity to Mowgli, they lack his wisdom and are constantly distracted from doing any significant labor or making any advancement. Their home in the Cold Lairs is indicative of their delusional sense of grandeur. While they live in an ancient palace, they neither built it nor do they understand its purpose, using the magnificent throne room as a place to pick fleas out of each other’s fur. While Kipling does not include any details that directly tie the Bandar-log to a particular racial or cultural group, his description of the monkeys’ arrogance have a racist subtext and suggest that people who aspire to greatness but do not follow the rules of civilized society are delusional and a nuisance.

The ending of “Kaa’s Hunting” draws attention to Mowgli’s innate superiority that allows him not just to live peacefully amidst the jungle animals, but to master them. When Kaa performs his dance, entrancing the monkeys as well as Baloo and Bagheera, Mowgli is the only creature who is unaffected. He unknowingly rescues Baloo and Bagheera from being eaten, carelessly remarking “it is only old Kaa making circles on the dust” (86). While Mowgli appears unaware of his exceptionalism at this point in the story, his immunity to Kaa’s hypnotic motions suggests that humans are able to rule over animals because they possess stronger minds, making up for their weaker bodies. This can be read as an allegory that mirrors contemporaneous racist arguments about the difference between Europeans and Indians under British rule.