Rikki Essay

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Short Story Essay The Dangerous Side of a Mongoose Only a snake knows how dangerous a mongoose can really be. In “Rikki-tikki-tavi”, by Rudyard Kipling, Rikki the mongoose shows how a curious happy go lucky animal can become a ferocious predator. The mongoose demonstrates his strength through both agility and force. Rikki defends his foster family as a mother defends her young while two snakes attempt to threaten his territory. The agility of a mongoose became apparent after Rikki’s first encounter with the snakes. Here in the garden Rikki meets Nag the cobra. As both animals confront one another, Nag’s wife Nagianas sneaks up behind the mongoose to attack him. Rikki’s agility enables him to jump high enough to escape the failed attack. With his great sense of awareness, the agile nature of the mongoose outwits both snakes. The snakes decide that because Rikki is too strong, they would kill the family that adopted him instead of Rikki. ‘When the house is emptied of people’, said Nagaina to her husband, ‘he will have to go away and the garden will be our own again’(17). As Nag sneaks into the family bathroom, the cobra decides to wait until morning to kill the father. Rikki never gives Nag the chance and attacks him immediately. Nagaina finds out firsthand on how forceful a mongoose can be. Word travelled fast through the neighborhood from animal to animal that Nag had been killed. “Nag is dead-is dead-is dead!” sang Darzee(19). Nagiana is convinced she must avenge her husband’s death by following through with the plan to kill the family. She creeps into the house and traps the family as Rikki forcefully destroys all but one of her unborn cobra eggs. Before Nagiana is able to bite anyone, she notices that Rikki has one of her eggs. The mongoose goes on the attack and chases Nagiana to her
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