If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.
You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!
Rikki Tikki Tavi - Narrator - 3rd Person Omniscient - A narrative point of view where the narrator knows all the thoughts and emotions of all the characters in the story. The narrator has knowledge of all times, people, places, and events.
The setting of "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" is restrained to a bungalow and its garden, so we don't have travel far to take in all the sights. But even though it's a small setting, the landscape is filled with subtle meaning and context that's super important if we're to understand the conflict between Rikki-tikki and the cobras.
Heaven in a Bungalow in the Sun
The human's bungalow is a place of wonder and bounty for a mongoose like Rikki-tikki. There, he's constantly presented with more food than he can possibly eat, and the place is filled with such (then) modern wonders as a bathtub, kerosene lamps, writing-table, and western-style beds (15). Like most other aspects of the novel, how we read the bungalow depends on how we read the story as a whole.
If we take the classical route, the bungalow represents a safe haven from the wilds of the garden (which we'll get into in a minute). Like Camelot or the Shire, it's the place where the hero finds safety from the dangers of the world. It's also the place the hero must protect at all costs to maintain peace throughout the land, erm, backyard at any rate.
But if we read the story via postcolonial theory, the bungalow takes on a distinctly different appearance. It becomes the site of colonial power within the garden and represents "the impact of Western technology on an ancient, essentially spiritual civilization" (source). In other words, what was once a part of India has now been taken over, replaced with a bungalow to house the colonizer and his family. In this light, the bungalow seems the invading force, disrupting the natural balance of garden. And speaking of the garden….
It's a Jungle Out There
The garden is technically a part of the bungalow's plot, but it remains "only half cultivated, with bushes as big as summer-houses of Marshal Niel roses, lime and orange trees, clumps of bamboo, and thickets of high grass" (18).
This description sets this garden apart from anything Kipling's British or American readers would find in their backyard. The bamboo and citrus trees give it a distinct feel of what they'd have called the Orient—i.e. various parts of Asia. Its status as "half cultivated" suggests a wild, jungle-like vibe, a foreign place for its British inhabitants.
Just like the bungalow, we will read the garden differently depending on our take on the story. If the bungalow is seen as the safe haven for Rikki-tikki, then the garden is its counterpart—an uncivilized, wild, and dangerous landscape. It is the home to the villainous cobras, so, like Mordor in The Lord of the Rings, it poses a risk to the protagonist's safe haven. Our hero must conquer or tame it or, at the very least, return alive (preferably all three).
On the other hand, we can also look at the garden as India itself. Under the pressure of colonial rule (the bungalow), the garden has become half cultivated, meaning that part of it is shaped by the colonists but part of it remains as it once was. The dangerous cobras lurking in it aren't villains trying to destroy the hero's safe haven; they're natives trying to preserve their way of life. The danger it poses to the human characters has less to do with its inherent evilness that with bone-headed humans not knowing how to deal with it.
You have probably heard the phrase, "Actions speak louder than words." Read the following paragraph from "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi":
"He spent all that day roaming over the house. He nearly drowned himself in the bath-tubs, put his nose into the ink on a writing-table, and burned it on the end of the big man's cigar, for he climbed up in the big man's lap to see how writing was done. At nightfall he ran into Teddy's nursery to watch how kerosene lamps were lighted, and when Teddy went to bed Rikki-tikki climbed up too; but he was a restless companion, because he had to get up and attend to every noise all through the night, and find out what made it."
What do Rikki-Tikki-Tavi's actions tell the reader about his character? What adjectives best describe Rikki-Tikki-Tavi? Why?
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi spends the day fearlessly exploring his new surroundings, he is curious or bold. Find another sentence in the story that supports your conclusion, such as, "It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a mongoose, because he is eaten up from nose to tail with curiosity."
An author usually does not tell the reader that a character is wise, content, or brave. Instead, the author has the character's words and actions show the character's qualities. Read the following paragraph from "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi":
"That night at dinner, walking to and fro among the glasses on the table, [Rikki-Tikki] might have stuffed himself with nice things. But he remembered Nag and Nagaina, and though it was very pleasant to be patted and petted by Teddy's mother, and to sit on Teddy's shoulder, his eyes would get red from time to time, and he would go off into his long war cry of 'Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!'"
What conclusions can you draw about Rikki-Tikki-Tavi from his words and actions?
While Rikki-Tikki-Tavi enjoys the attention from Teddy's family, he does not lose sight of his goal. You might describe Rikki-Tikki-Tavi as determined, responsible, or self-disciplined.
Find another place in the story where a character's words or actions show the character's qualities.
Describe the fictional elements in the story they noticed - explain what you know was "made up." Share each of the passages below, explain why the passage is an example of fiction.
"That's Nag or Nagaina," [Rikki-Tikki-Tavi] said to himself; "and he is crawling into the bath-room sluice. You're right, Chuchundra; I should have talked to Chua."
Animals do not have conversations like human beings do. A mongoose could not have a conversation with a muskrat. To assess students' understanding, you may wish to have your students find one or more other passages in which an animal talks like a human being.
Nagaina lifted up her head and hissed, "You warned Rikki-tikki when I would have killed him. Indeed and truly, you've chosen a bad place to be lame in." And she moved toward Darzee's wife, slipping along over the dust.
Animals do not try to have their revenge on other animals; vengeance is a human invention. A snake would hunt a bird for food, but it would not seek to kill the bird for revenge. To assess students' understanding, you may wish to have your students find one or more other passages in which an animal thinks or acts like a human being.
Giving human qualities to non-human characters (such as animals) is called personification. nderline the word "person" in personification and emphasize that to personify something is to give it human traits.t To have an animal think or talk like a human being, as exampled in the passages above, is to personify it. Here is an example:
Chuchundra sat down and cried till the tears rolled off his whiskers. "I am a very poor man," he sobbed. "I never had spirit enough to run out into the middle of the room."
This is the baldest example of personification in the text: though Chuchundra is a muskrat, when he talks, he refers to himself as "a man."
Return to the text to find examples of Kipling's use of personification for Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and Nag and Nagaina, and record two or more.
Assessment:
1. You've seen how using facts in a fictional story makes this story seem more believable. Now think about how personification affects this story: does it make the story more or less interesting? How might the story have been different if the animals did not talk and think like people?
2. People have enjoyed Rudyard Kipling's works for more than 100 years. In fact, during Kipling's lifetime, people admired his poetry so much that he came to be called "The Poet of the British Empire." Think back over "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi." Why did you enjoy Kipling's story?
In literature, the term ''conflict'' refers to a literary device that exhibits the struggle between opposing forces. The conflict can be internal or external. Rudyard Kipling's story Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is built around a conflict. The protagonist in the story is a mongoose named Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.
Answer and Explanation:
In the story Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, the external conflict lies in the age-old enmity between the mongoose and the snake. The deadly snakes, Nag and Nagaina, have terrorized everyone in the garden and have killed many innocent creatures. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi's anger knows no bounds when he hears how the snakes eat the tailorbird's baby. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi decides to confront and kill the snakes. The conflict is voiced by the narrator when he says that a "mongoose's business in life was to fight and eat snakes."
One theme from Rikki Tikki Tavi would be courage. Rikki has to fight two cobras, Nag and Nagaina, to protect his garden and Teddy. He is frightened of them because they are stronger and bigger than he is, but he overcomes his fear and fights them anyway.
Animals are anthropomorphized—that is, given human qualities—throughout “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi,” Rudyard Kipling’s story of a young mongoose’s attempt to protect his adoptive British family from two lurking cobras. The titular mongoose, named for the sounds he makes, is at once a wild animal and in possession of a distinctly civilized sense of refinement and loyalty—traits that endear him to the reader and suggest a kinship between nature and human beings. On the one hand, Rikki-tikki possesses a…
Kipling was an Englishman living in India during its period of British occupation. As a result, “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” and similar stories often portray colonialism as a benevolent force: bringing peace, order, and tranquility to a violent and chaotic world. Such attitudes were common and uncontroversial at the time, but both Kipling and “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” have been criticized in recent decades for “whitewashing” the often-cruel realities of life in India under British rule.
Regardless, “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” depicts the British…
Almost every character in “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” is defined by their family and places the safety and prosperity of their family above all else. That starts with Teddy and his parents, who allow Rikki-tikki into their home in part to look after their son. But it also extends to Darzee and his wife, the tailorbirds who are shattered when the cobras eat their child, and to Nag and Nagaina themselves, who dream of ruling the garden…
Directions: Use the websites below to answer the questions that follow. Divide the topics/questions among your group members, and write the answers below each question on one common Google Doc. Your group will then create a PowerPoint from the information you learned. You will create 1 slide each for India, Rudyard Kipling, Mongoose, Cobra, and Tailorbird.
Does the tailorbird really pretend that its wing is broken?
RIKKI TIKKI TAVI WEBQUEST
Group Members:
Directions: Use the websites below to answer the questions that follow. Divide the topics/questions among your group members, and write the answers below each question on one common Google Doc. Your group will then create a PowerPoint from the information you learned. You will create 1 slide each for India, Rudyard Kipling, Mongoose, Cobra, and Tailorbird.
India during the 1800’s controlled by England; in a bungalow
Point of View:
3rd person "omniscient"
Basic Situation:
Rikki, who looks like a cross between a cat and a weasel, gets flooded out of his burrow by a summer flood.
Hook:
Rikki learns there are cobras in the garden after meeting Darzee and his wife.
Rising Action:
Rikki bites Nagaina.
Rikki kills Karait and Teddy's dad hits Karait with a stick.
Rikki talks to Chuchundra, who tells him that Nag and Nagaina are planning to kill Teddy's whole family.
Rikki overhears Nag and Nagaina planning. They want to kill the family, then kill Rikki- Tikki-Tavi, and then have their babies. Their ultimate goal is to rule the garden.
Nag hides in bathroom drains waiting to kill Teddy's father. Rikki attacks Nag, and Teddy's father gets a gun and shoots Nag.
Rikki gets mad at Darzee for singing a victory song because Nagaina is still alive in the garden.
Rikki asks Darzee to lead Nagaina away from the melon patch and her eggs, but instead Darzee's wife does it.
In the melon patch, Rikki destroys all the eggs except for one. Nagaina holds Teddy hostage, but Rikki draws her away by showing her the last egg.
Rikki jumps around in preparation to fight Nagaina. Nagaina coils and strikes. The father grabs Teddy and pulls him to safety.
Climax:
Nagaina and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi fight in the rat hole and Rikki kills Nagaina. This part is so tense because if a mongoose enters a snake hole, the hole might open up larger which would allow the cobra to turn and strike.
Falling Action:
Rikki takes a nap, Darzee tells the coppersmith to spread the news to the other animals in the garden and let them know the snakes are dead.
Resolution:
Rikki didn't become too proud, he kept the garden safe and cobras never dared to return to that garden.
Other notes:
Rikki-tikki is not afraid of fighting the snakes because he instinctively knows how to fight them.
The main conflict of the story is that the cobras want to kill Rikki before he kills them.
Darzee’s wife and Nagaina are similar because they take action when their husbands don't.
The birds and frogs in the garden rejoice at the end of the story because they are overjoyed that the snakes are dead.
This is your Sidebar, which you can edit like any other wiki page.
This Sidebar appears everywhere on your wiki. Add to it whatever you like -- a navigation section, a link to your favorite web sites, or anything else.
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.