Scan barcode
A review by the_eucologist
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling
1.0
It's an odd experience reading this as an adult versus having it read to you as a child. In the chasm of maturity between those periods, I've heard plenty a story about Kipling's noted imperialism and ethnocentrism. Readily apparent in Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is that it represents (and intends to reproduce) a very specific kind of thinking that normalizes British expatriation (read: colonization) in India--it is therefore a subliminal work of propaganda. This is most clearly illustrated on its fourteenth page: "Every well-brought-up mongoose always hopes to be a house-mongoose some day and have rooms to run about in, and Rikki-Tikki's mother had carefully told Rikki what to do if he ever came across white men."
There is both a very clear reification of whiteness here, as well as an implication that such deference towards whiteness and self-subjugation by the autocthonous animal residents (here the Indian countrymen, of course) will bring about a kind of social equilibrium. It is written as both a call to action to young Britons and as a cautionary tale for those who might find themselves on the wrong end of empire. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is far from a harmless tale of strength, courage, and resilience. It may have been both enchanting and spellbinding when I was six, but in historical context it's a rather tedious justification for militarization and expansionist state policies. I can say, however, that the writing is a sufficient bedtime story--it'll put you right to sleep.
There is both a very clear reification of whiteness here, as well as an implication that such deference towards whiteness and self-subjugation by the autocthonous animal residents (here the Indian countrymen, of course) will bring about a kind of social equilibrium. It is written as both a call to action to young Britons and as a cautionary tale for those who might find themselves on the wrong end of empire. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is far from a harmless tale of strength, courage, and resilience. It may have been both enchanting and spellbinding when I was six, but in historical context it's a rather tedious justification for militarization and expansionist state policies. I can say, however, that the writing is a sufficient bedtime story--it'll put you right to sleep.