Jungle Book
Animals reflecting Human Traits
Kipling uses animals to reflect many human traits throughout The Jungle Book. Traits such as love, responsibility, leadership and determination are some human traits that the animals display throughout the short stories. The reader can sense love in each of Kipling’s stories. The wolves in Mowgli’s Brothers are similar to our parents and they raise Mowgli. The mother wolf spoke softly in front of her cubs. Although she showed favoritism toward Mowgli, she loved her pups. Responsibility is also a human trait that Kipling displays throughout his book. Rikki Tikki shows love and responsibility by protecting the family who adopted him. He watches over the child at night from the deadly snakes that want kill the family. After the monkeys kidnap Mowgli, Baloo and Bagheera show responsibility by taking the risk and rescuing Mowgli from the monkeys. The bear, Baloo, who always showed leadership, taught Mowgli the “Jungle Law”. He took Mowgli under his wing and taught him ways and rules of the jungle, similar to a good teacher or big brother. The animals in The Jungle Book often showed determination. In The White Seal, Kotick is determined to find a safe and secure place for the seals to live, a place that humans were unaware of. He travelled a long time and risked his life for his family and fellow seals. He commented that he would not get married until he had accomplished his mission.
The article “ Why Dogs Really Do Feel Your Pain” explains a study that suggests that dogs empathize with humans even more than humans empathize with each other. In the study, the dogs reacted to humans, when giving sounds of crying or signals of concern. I even know through my own experiences with our dogs, that they sense when things are not right.
Kipling uses animals to reflect many human traits throughout The Jungle Book. Traits such as love, responsibility, leadership and determination are some human traits that the animals display throughout the short stories. The reader can sense love in each of Kipling’s stories. The wolves in Mowgli’s Brothers are similar to our parents and they raise Mowgli. The mother wolf spoke softly in front of her cubs. Although she showed favoritism toward Mowgli, she loved her pups. Responsibility is also a human trait that Kipling displays throughout his book. Rikki Tikki shows love and responsibility by protecting the family who adopted him. He watches over the child at night from the deadly snakes that want kill the family. After the monkeys kidnap Mowgli, Baloo and Bagheera show responsibility by taking the risk and rescuing Mowgli from the monkeys. The bear, Baloo, who always showed leadership, taught Mowgli the “Jungle Law”. He took Mowgli under his wing and taught him ways and rules of the jungle, similar to a good teacher or big brother. The animals in The Jungle Book often showed determination. In The White Seal, Kotick is determined to find a safe and secure place for the seals to live, a place that humans were unaware of. He travelled a long time and risked his life for his family and fellow seals. He commented that he would not get married until he had accomplished his mission.
The article “ Why Dogs Really Do Feel Your Pain” explains a study that suggests that dogs empathize with humans even more than humans empathize with each other. In the study, the dogs reacted to humans, when giving sounds of crying or signals of concern. I even know through my own experiences with our dogs, that they sense when things are not right.