All of these ideas are found in The Jungle Book. Kipling was best known for his work on laws, traditions, and rituals, as well as the daily struggles in societyвЂ™s communities (Seon 75).

He uses the metaphor of the Jungle to express these laws and morals: вЂњвЂ¦in the context of the Jungle Books, Kipling is casting the impressive disguise of authentic moral law over certain aspects of animal behavior instinctively evolved to secure the survival of a speciesвЂќ (Stewart 2). Kipling believed very much in law and morals, and living by the law.

While in America, Kipling became a вЂњвЂharder man,вЂ™ as his political beliefs started to stiffenвЂќ (Essa). His wife was a very domineering woman and had trouble accepting the varied aspects of KiplingвЂ™s character. He lived in various places, including India, England, London, United States, and Burwash, Sussex. Kipling was born in India and this became a setting for many of his works (Paffard 43). To fully understand Kipling and his writings one should know more about his background. People or societies or individuals ignoring вЂthe LawвЂ™ thereby diminish themselves-becomingвЂ¦вЂ™lesser breeds.вЂ™ To show a wolf pack as within вЂthe Law,вЂ™ and a chatter of monkeys as outside it, is simply toвЂ¦enforce the depth and reach of this ideaвЂќ (Stewart 3). вЂњIt is a law codified in custom, and its recognition and preservation is the distinguishing principle of civilization. His use of the animals and the Law of the Jungle expressed this moral idea of what happens when one follows or when one disregards the law. вЂњHe certainly believed that moral ideas can be derived only from experience, but that as there is much that is common and universal in all human experience so is there a common and universal law lying beneath all the variations of racial and national culturesвЂќ (Stewart 2). (Wilson 205) Kipling uses these animals to represent society, its laws and morals.

Baloo is a bear and a housemaster Bagheera is chiefly the leopard but a wise, sensual man more worldly than the bear Kaa is primarily a python, delighting in his coils and glistening skin, lusting chase and kill, but he is also an exceptional and clever man, knowing himself yet accepting The Law, perhaps a true intellectual as opposed to the Bandar-Log who are monkeys and вЂњintellectualsвЂќ the jackal is MussoliniвЂ™s forerunner and Shere Khan HitlerвЂ™s. As Angus Wilson put it The chief glory of art in the Mowgli stories lies in his extraordinary combination of the natural and animal world with the world of the humans. The easiest way to see how this вЂњcivilizationвЂќ is being threatened is to break it down and look at what each animal represents. Through the use of Shere Khan and the Law of the Jungle, Kipling expresses how civilization is always being threatened, while at the same time using the Law of the Jungle and all of the animals to metaphorically show morality and civility in human civilization. And what is this danger that is present in this novel? This danger is symbolized by none other than the tiger Shere Khan. That theme is clearly seen in The Jungle Book. One of KiplingвЂ™s main themes in his writing was the way that civilization is always being threatened by danger.

As a civilization gets older and older, part of that culture is lost, and even that could pose as a danger. This danger can be represented by many different things: war with other nations or lack of food, for example. Kipling uses the Jungle and the animals to represent human civilization, and sees civilizations and cultures as being threatened by вЂњdanger.вЂќ A danger is an вЂњexposure or vulnerability to harm or riskвЂќ (American Heritage 334). Each animal in The Jungle Book represents a different part of the вЂњcity.вЂќ In a city, there are the lazy people, the hard workers, the thieves, the cheaters, the criminals, etc. A civilization is вЂњthe type of culture and society developed by a particular nation or region or in a particular eraвЂќ (American Heritage 246). When reading Rudyard KiplingвЂ™s The Jungle Book, one could look at the Jungle as a вЂњcityвЂќ and the animals as its inhabitants, its civilization.

Law of the jungle book