An Examination of the Relationship Between Kim and the Teshoo Lama Within the Context of Said’s Orientalism.

4498 Words18 Pages
This study will examine the relationship between the two main characters in Kipling’s novel. That two seemingly different ideologies and characters are in opposition to one another would suggest that any chance of a positive relationship, let alone a fruitful one is a fanciful and unrealistic notion. This essay will study the type of relationship the two have with one another and the factors which create a catalyst for their relationship. Finally what the outcomes of their alliance will be studied within this examination. This relationship does not however, exist apart from their surroundings. As Kipling’s Kim provides us with a range of themes. It is at once a picaresque novel, following the young boy on a great adventure and on the way he not only meets with an array of different characters, but also faces some dangerous situations along the way. It is also as Towheed states p 8- Kim’s antecedents- a book of many other genres. At the beginning of the novel, Kim is a boy who moves from one adventure to the next, this picaresque genre transforms into a bildungsroman genre where Kipling’s protagonist embarks upon a journey into manhood. The Teshoo lama and Kim’s ’s devotion to one another is played out against the backdrop of political intrigue of what was known as the Great Game, the British imperial control of India through espionage. Although there are several genres in Kim, This study will focus on two main genres, that of the bildungsroman and the picaresque. Although an analysis of the Lama and Kim will be undertaken within this genre, the essay will include examples from the myriad of genres which Kipling’s Kim displays . Not to do so would limit the scope of this essay. In contrast, the focus is to examine, compare and contrast the relationship between the main two characters and in order to provide a clear and coherent argument, there is a need for

More about An Examination of the Relationship Between Kim and the Teshoo Lama Within the Context of Said’s Orientalism.

Open Document