Rudyard Kipling’s India: Literature, History and Empire

Kim: Pedagogy in the Empire from a Post-Colonial Perspective

Kipling has created various educational character models in his fictional works in the past and ‘Kim’ is no exception. Kim’s relationship with his father-figures or contemporaries namely, Creighton, Lurgan, Mahbub Ali, Hurree Babu, and the lama are of paramount importance in understanding the contrasting views on education during the imperial era. The various education models Kipling’s characters embody help us to further analyze his role as an educator to the reading public and explore his ideas on the education of a white boy in India. In this essay, we shall be individually exploring the various characters and themes presented in one of Kipling’s most unconventional novels, Kim, from a postcolonial perspective and further study about the implications each of these had on Kim’s educational path to facilitate our understanding of the larger, overarching concept of pedagogy in the Empire.

However, we must first understand the concept of postcolonialism. Postcolonialism is a very complex theory since it encompasses the study of various intertwined categories including: acknowledging the cultural interactions amongst people in certain geographical regions, or territories that were previously occupied by the Europeans, dealing with the history behind a present-day system such as education in a country that was previously a colony and finally, exploring literature that has been authored by people originating from colonized countries and which draws on their experiences. Even though there still exists a prevailing debate on the exact meaning of the term post-colonialism, in this essay we shall regard the term to mean the aftermath, both temporal and ideological, of colonies. In other words, it refers to the effects of European colonialism through the course of the 1800’s up until the present-day neo-colonialism.

In order to understand the concept of pedagogy, we should also examine the British perspective on education in the nineteenth century and how this was implemented in their colonies during the time. As a result of the colonization of India, a large number of children faced cataclysmic losses, causing them to be separated from their families and admitted into orphanages. It had become quite evident to the British officers that these children were devoid of proper education and they saw this as an opportunity to steer these children in a direction such that they would best serve the empire. According to present-day scholars, it also served as a means to prevent the white boys from becoming ‘native’ and serving as an additional hindrance to the Empire and hence, protecting their race. The children were thus made imperial assets and it became their primary objective to serve the Empire and assist British officers.

The novel Kim, represents Kimball O’Hara, a young white orphan boy, as he assumes and transgresses cultural boundaries whilst being educated at St. Xaviers amongst other ‘products of imperialism’ or while working in the colonial intelligence wing of the Ethnological Survey. Macaulay had written the “Minute on Education” in 1835 advocating English-language as a medium of instruction in all Indian higher education since he believed that this would inevitably promote Indian loyalty to British rule.[1] From that time onwards, English education played a crucial role in establishing colonial power. Kim’s education at St. Xaviers where he learned concepts like mapping only intensified his whiteness.

Colonel Creighton represents the imperial perspective as he works for the Ethnological Survey. He radiates authority and is a personification of the British mentality in the nineteenth century.

Creighton is the embodiment of the opinion that one must understand how India operates as a country in order to govern it.[2] Creighton’s relationship with Kim had a paternal aspect to it for he sent Hurree Babu to look after the young boy when he went off on a spiritual quest with the lama, but Creighton also considered Kim to be a valuable asset to the Empire. He believed in education through institutions like St. Xaviers and even encouraged Kim to ‘work as an assistant chain-man in the Canal Department’[3] which emphasizes British India’s promise to make Kim into a Sahib. At St. Xaviers, Kim is told that he would be encouraged to imbibe both racial and moral values but as one might see, these do not necessarily cohere with one another. In fact, it was evident that the institution focused more on maintaining one’s racial dignity than their ethical considerations.

When tales were told of hot nights, Kim did not sweep the board with his

reminiscences; for St. Xavier’s looks down on boys who ‘go native all-together.’

One must never forget that one is a Sahib, and that someday, when examinations

 are passed, one will command natives. Kim made a note of this, for he

began to understand where examinations led.[4]

Thus, Creighton supposedly embodies the educational perspectives of Kipling who himself, thought that India was an integral part of the British Raj but was also of the opinion that Western education of whites born and bred in the country was essential for maintaining the foundation of the Empire which was built on the idea of European supremacy. “The status of such a model of cultural epistemology is directly opposite to the readership embodied in the pre-educated manifestation of Kim, and calls for further attention to his ability to transmogrify from adolescent mobility into the inflexibility represented by colonial knowledge.”[5]

Kim is the story of an unintentional quest for identity. Kipling sheds light on the internal conflict which encompasses Kim’s mind, in other words, the juxtaposition of the Eastern and the Western cultures. Kim, Kipling’s protagonist, was born of British parents but raised as a native on the streets of Lahore. Hence, he had the ability to constantly move across the Eastern and Western cultural settings, resulting in his lack of belonging to either one of the two cultures and his need for some sense of attachment or belonging. Through the mention of White, Mohammedan and Buddhist in the same breath, Kipling, conflates, in the most poignant manner, different kinds of nativism, to explore Kim’s hybridity and represent him as ‘a Friend of all the World.’[6] It may be interesting to note that this hybridity is represented in the form of a problem posed to Kim’s self-identity, though, in the larger scheme of things, it is useful for a young boy who grew up in the Empire. Kim’s hybridity causes the much-needed disintegration of the restrictive categories of the colonial census prevailing in the nineteenth century. Kim is an instance of colonial contact and is perhaps, Kipling’s way of acknowledging the complexity of racial or cultural make-up.

Huree Babu is another important example of the same for he is a native by blood but was educated according to Western ideals which is in direct contrast to Kim, who was white by blood but grew up as a native in the streets of Lahore. Kipling’s characters are thus, in a state of ‘in-between’ which allows for important cultural and personal exchanges within the constricted space permitted by imperial relationships.

It is important to note here, that Kipling found his initial days at St. Xaviers quite overwhelming and unpleasant. He was among other students that were quite similar to him in the sense of being white boys in British-India but he still found the atmosphere quite claustrophobic and restrictive. He was against the institutionalized system of education and instead, felt indebted to the lama for his teaching. Kim had spent his vacations being schooled in the various, practical aspects of the Great Game’s surreptitious trade-craft. He had mastered the art of mapping, sketching and donning various disguises. Lurgan, who like Kim, is and is not a Sahib at the same time, also helps train Kim to assist the Empire in the future by testing his ability to resist mind control and the events that unfold such as Kim invoking the English multiplication table is testament to him coming under the influence of the English education system.

 But in spite of this, he felt obliged to the lama for his education, for it was he who was indirectly responsible for Kim’s magnanimity and his empathetic personality. The lama, perhaps one of the most critical characters in the story, believes in the Wheel of Life. He refers to Kim as his chela and encourages him to forget all his worldly affairs and embrace enlightenment. He urges Kim to join him on his search for the River of Arrows and during their journey, Kim finds himself to have been changed for the better. Both were on the lookout for something- for Kim, it was the sense of belonging and for the lama it was detachment from worldly affairs or estrangement. Their quests intertwined and they each found someone else to help alleviate their struggles by sharing them. Thus, the convergence of the lama’s path with Kim’s has an underlying symbolism and its impact is greatly reflected in the lines that follow.

‘I was made wise by thee, Holy One,’ said Kim, forgetting the little play

 just ended; forgetting St. Xavier’s; forgetting his white blood; forgetting even

 the Great Game as he stooped, Mohammedan-fashion, to touch his master’s feet

 in the dust of the Jain temple.

 My teaching I owe to thee. I have eaten thy bread three years. My time is

 finished. I am loosed from the schools. I come to thee.’[7]

As the novel approaches its end, Kipling draws on the relationship Kim shares with the lama and explores the replacement of political implications with spiritual ones as the two embrace. They find solidarity in each other’s company. However, much to the surprise of the readers, the novel doesn’t end with the fulfillment of the lama’s tenets. Even though Kim claims to be obligated to the llama for his education and the development of his personality, he most likely chooses to traverse the path of the Great Game paved by figures like Mahbub Ali and Creighton.

Suleri describes this in the most poignant manner.

 … in keeping his institutional education a secret from the reader, moreover,

 the narrative suggests that Kim’s real instruction lies in the hands of Colonel

 Creighton, Mahbub Ali, Lurgan Sahib, and Hurree Babu, who train their

 “colt” for the Great Game. The jest at hand, of course, indicates the futility of the

 lama’s intervention, which – far from saving Kim – physically secures him for his

 role in the Game.[8]

Mahbub Ali seems to play a trivial role in Kim’s education but alas at the outset, it is his perspective on education that seems to be most befitting for Kim. He, like Colonel Creighton is a supporter of the Great Game but has views, distinct from him, since he is not convinced that Kim requires an institution like St. Xavier’s to serve the British Empire.

They will send him to a school and put heavy boots on his feet and swaddle him

in these clothes. Then he will forget all he knows[9]

Mahbub Ali was the first to introduce Kim to the Great Game and shares Creighton’s imperial mindset but he also believes in the system of hands-on-learning. He advocates freedom and a non-institutionalized form of learning. For a young, white orphan boy in British India, this perspective might be of paramount importance for it greatly helped Kim to find his place amongst the other members of the Empire and develop life skills which could not be learned within the four walls of an institution. Thus, Mahbub Ali embodies an alternate approach to education. He has a positive attitude towards the British Empire but at the same time, is not of the opinion that Kim’s nativism must be completely washed away for him to be a good servant of the Empire.

There seems to be a lack of feminine figures in Kipling’s novel but there is however, the Kulu woman whose maternal instinct had been clearly depicted in the prose. She is the one that nurses Kim back to health and helps take care of him, almost like her own son. Kim is able to imbibe vital personality traits from her and this fosters his development.

Kim is subjected to various schools of thought throughout the novel. Creighton and Lurgan wish to create an imperial leader of him while Mahbub Ali is of the opinion that he should use his skills to become a new and improved leader while the lama wishes for him to acquire the role of his chela and accompany him in his spiritual quest. Kipling however clearly supports the views held by Creighton since he could foresee the need for the British to govern India. Kipling is able to portray Creighton as an authority figure who took interest in the natives’ cultures and thought that this epistemological curiosity was important to enable change and establish positive relations between the Raj and their subjects in order to ensure the survival of the Empire. From a post-colonial perspective, we understand the broader implications of this for it is not possible for one country to govern another without sufficient knowledge of the culture and background of the people they are ruling over. It is easier to stay civil and maintain everlasting peace if we are able to understand and moreover, respect our cultural differences with one another.

Moreover, from a post-colonial perspective, it is evident that these educational beliefs contribute in their own ways towards the growth of a young, white orphan boy in British-India. Today, education entails the presence of institutionalized learning but at the same time it also stresses on the importance of practical applications of previously acquired knowledge and one’s moral and ethical development. Even today, education is a problem that persists in India and Kipling’s novel sheds light on the various perspectives on education that circulate and their need in the present era. Kipling was a supporter of institutions which is evident in the following aspects of his narrative: Colonel Creighton’s representation as an authoritarian who supported Kim’s admission into St. Xaviers, Kim’s assumed return to St. Xaviers and his readiness to serve the Empire effectively once his spiritual quest had come to an end, Hurree Babu’s character representation who after having being given the description of a stereotypical Bengali (Kipling’s way of mocking the natives) was also made of the most skilled practitioners of the Great Game as a direct result of his being Western-educated. Thus, Western Education has been portrayed as quite essential for success in Kipling’s novel but at the same time, he also acknowledges the other aspects of learning and draws of his characters’ experiences to elaborate the vitality and implications of each one and explore the underlying theme of pedagogy in the Empire.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Rudyard Kipling, Kim, Edited by Zohreh T. Sullivan, Norton Critical Editions
2. Sara Suleri, Kim’s Colonial Education, in Kim, Norton Critical Editions
3. Edward Said, ‘Kim as an Imperialist Novel’, in Kim, Norton Critical Editions
4. Elmer H. Cutts, ‘The Background of Macaulay’s Minute’ Oxford University Press

[1] Elmer H. Cutts, ‘The Background of Macaulay’s Minute’ Oxford University Press, 824

[2] Edward Said, ‘Kim as an Imperialist Novel’, in Kim, pp. 337-350.

[3] Rudyard Kipling, Kim, Edited by Zohreh T. Sullivan, Norton Critical Editions

[4] Rudyard Kipling, Kim, Edited by Zohreh T. Sullivan, Norton Critical Editions,107

[5] Sara Suleri, Kim’s Colonial Education, in Kim, Norton Critical Editions, 408

[6] Rudyard Kipling, Kim, Edited by Zohreh T. Sullivan, Norton Critical Editions, 160

[7] Rudyard Kipling, Kim, Edited by Zohreh T. Sullivan, Norton Critical Editions

[8] Sara Suleri, Kim’s Colonial Education, in Kim, Norton Critical Editions, 407

[9] Kipling, Kim, 198