jungle book review essay

“The Jungle Book” by Rudyard Kipling Essay (Critical Writing)

There is a great number of different masterpieces of literature in the world. Each of them describes some peculiar phenomenon or event. The majority of books are devoted to human beings and their feelings and emotions. There are, however, some works which are devoted to animals and their touching allegiance to people. Being very popular, this issue has always interested people. However, there are not many works which manage to combine description of the life of human beings, animals behaviour and visions of nature, trying to show the authors way of to reflect the real world. One of these works is called The Jungle Book and is written by Rudyard Kipling.

Devoted to the description of the life of a human being, the book, though, manages to combine this description with the visions of nature of the jungle and the laws according to which animals live there.

The main character of the story is a boy called Mowgli. The main peculiarity of this boy is the fact that he was raised by wolves and acts according to their code. In certain period of time this fact was taken as ridiculous and impossible. However, boys like Mowgli were found. That is why, it is possible to say that Kipling created a very interesting story which could be based on some real facts. Mowgli is able to understand animals and communicate with them, following the rules accepted in the jungle. All these facts make him a unique character who is very interesting for people.

Having created his story in the form of a tale, Kipling romanticized the life of animals and human beings in the jungle. However, there is one very important aspect of the jungle which the author describes. It is the law according to which animals live. Kipling uses the term the law of the jungle to describe existing set of codes according to which the community of wolves and other animals is structured. They all should follow it or they will not be able to survive.

All rules which are described by this law are wise and created by generations of animals in order to guarantee their survival. The law of the jungle outlines the main activity of animals, their main food and relations with other species. However, the Bandar-log do not accept these rules. They can be taken as rebels, who do not want to follow the majority. However, Kipling describes them as primitive and disorganised tribe which is not able to guarantee its prosperity. Outlining this fact, the author wants to show great importance of the law and norms which regulate behaviour in society.

Being created by Rudyard Kipling, the term the law of the jungle became very popular, though having changed its main meaning. Nowadays, it is widely used in order not to describe some set of codes accepted in society, but to show special kind of human attitude to the rest of people and his/her role in society. Everyone should take care only of himself/herself and be the strongest to survive in coherent society. This is the meaning of the term which prevails nowadays.

Besides, having read the book, it is impossible to remain indifferent. Having created interesting and fascinating world, Kipling also introduced the new term which described existence of animals in the jungle. The term the law of the jungle became the metaphor which is widely used nowadays.

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The Jungle Book

By rudyard kipling.

• The Jungle Book Summary

The Seeonee pack of wolves in the jungle head to their family lair when, thanks to the gossip of the jackal Tabaqui, they hear Shere Khan , the tiger with a pronounced limp but passion for fighting, is approaching. Mother Wolf protects her four cubs but is amazed to see a little, naked, brown human cub running into the cave. He is the prey that the tiger is looking for. Quickly she decides to bring the boy into her family, naming him Mowgli , which means "little frog.” Mother agrees to show him to the pack alongside her own cubs to be identified, so that they can be free to run and play without fear of being killed. At the wolves’ Circle Rock Council, Mowgli's right to be a member of the pack is questioned by Shere Khan, who still feels that the boy belongs to him. The Law of the Jungle states that if there is a dispute, a cub needs to have two members of the pack that are not his mother or father speak for him. As Mother prepares to fight for her man-cub, Baloo , the old brown bear, speaks for him and promises to teach him the laws of the jungle. This is seconded by Bagheera , the black panther, who buys Mowgli's safety by offering up to the pack a fat bull that he has just killed. Mowgli is then accepted into the pack.

Mowgli spends his childhood learning the ways of the jungle from Baloo, hunting with Bagheera, and living with his wolf family. Once he is kidnapped by the Monkey-People, but Baloo, Bagheera, and the python Kaa save him.

When he is eleven years old. Shere Khan again demands that Mowgli be given to him and a fight ensues; Shere Khan has a lot of the younger wolves on his side and they depose Akela , the wise and aging leader of the pack. However, Mowgli has fire that he has been tending, and knowing how much the animals fear fire, he threatens Shere Khan with it and then orders that they leave Akela safe. Hugging his wolf family, who ask him to return one day, he goes towards the nearest village to find his own people.

When he arrives, he is welcomed into the home of a couple who believe him to be their long-lost son who was taken from them as an infant by a tiger. Messua , the woman, decides he is not their missing boy, but a boy sent by the Gods to make up for their son being taken away. She treats him like her own but Mowgli, used to living in the jungle, is not comfortable or at ease in a human home. He sleeps outside. One day, Gray Brother , one of his wolf siblings, wakes him. Gray Brother has learned that Shere Khan is still hunting Mowgli, and brings Akela to the village to try to help. Mowgli works every day in the fields herding buffalo, so they plan to divide up the herd to throw Shere Khan off the scent, then make a big circle uphill to get ahead of the ravine, taking the bulls down into it and trapping Shere Khan between the cows and the bulls. Shere Khan takes the bait and is trampled. When he is dead, Mowgli starts to skin him with his knife, but having come searching for his buffalo, the chief hunter of the village, Buldeo , realizes that there was a price on the head of this tiger who has been killing villagers, and demands the skin for himself so that he can claim the reward. Mowgli tells Akela that Buldeo is threatening him so Akela holds the chief down. With the skin laid over the Council Rock, Akela is leader again.

Buldeo, having convinced the entire village that Mowgli is one with wolves, declares him to be a sorcerer and Mowgli is banished from the village. Buldeo leads a group of hunters into the jungle to try to kill Mowgli, who in the meantime has returned to the village to find Messua and her husband bound, gagged, and imprisoned in their home. He procures the help of Hathi the wise old elephant, who agrees to destroy the village. He and his sons start to put the word out that the best food and best kill is available down by the village. Mowgli frees Messua and her husband, telling them to flee. After they have left, the jungle dwellers start to close in on the village in an effort to make the villagers move away. Hathi and his sons eat all of the stored seed corn, the other animals ruin the fields, and the lack of supplies finally forces the starving humans to leave the village. Hathi barrels through buildings until nothing is left standing and in a few short months the jungle has grown over the land where the village used to be.

Having returned to the jungle stronger, and slightly feared, Mowgli is recognized as Master of the Jungle. One of his favorite friends is Kaa, the giant python, who saved his life. After their customary play-wrestle they go back to the scene of Kaa's life-saving heroics and meet a huge, elderly white cobra who has lived underground for so long that he does not realize the jungle has taken over the old palaces of the Raj that he used to serve. He is the Warden of the King's Treasure and he allows them to take ownership of it, but only whilst they are in his lair. He threatens to kill Mowgli, but after they overpower him Kaa and Mowgli realize his fangs have dried up and he is not a threat at all. Mowgli takes a jeweled elephant head-dress with him, but the white cobra tells him it is cursed and death will follow it wherever it goes. Mowgli doesn't believe him at first, but when a hunter looking to steal the item from them winds up dead followed by six others with a similar goal in mind, Mowgli realizes he was speaking the truth and returns the jeweled spike to him.

The story jumps to Mowgli at the age of seventeen, when his parents pass away. He rolls a boulder in front of their family cave and sings his mourning song. Akela is now too old to hunt for himself so Mowgli hunts for him. The Seeonee pack grows stronger. One day, a lone wolf who lives not in a pack but with his wife and children comes to their part of the jungle, having been involved in an attack by the red dogs. They killed his cubs and wife and almost slaughtered him. He asks for help from the Seeonee pack. Mowgli heads to where the dogs are to count them and devises a plan, along with Kaa, to draw them towards the river at twilight where the bees will swarm and attack them. There is a giant battle but Mowgli's plan puts the red dogs at a huge disadvantage as when they are climbing out of the river the wolves, who attack by biting the throat, are able to attack before the dogs are fully out of the water. Akela is not killed in battle but realizes it is time for him to die. Before he sings his own mourning song, he tells Mowgli to go back to man as he has paid his debt to the jungle. Mowgli does not want to leave and is puzzled by Akela's claim that "Mowgli will drive Mowgli out of the jungle."

Spring comes and with it a strange, unfamiliar feeling in Mowgli's stomach that leaves him unable to fight properly and generally feeling grumpy and depressed. He decides to undertake a Spring Running and begins a journey on foot that takes him to a village where again he sees Messua and re-introduces himself to her. He is feverish and rests with her for a few days while she takes care of him. As he is headed back to the jungle, Gray Brother finally answers Mowgli's call, and they trot back together as Mowgli breaks the news that he is going to rejoin the humans. He says farewell to his family - Baloo, Kaa, and Bagheera, who tell him how much they love him, and his wolf brothers, then sets off to live among men once more.

As for the other tales, the most well-known is that of “ Rikki-Tikki-Tavi ,” the tale of a feisty and brave mongoose who is washed away from his parents during the rains and finds himself living in a house with an English family of three. He discovers Nag and Nagaina , a cobra and his wife, who want the humans to leave so that they can have the bungalow to themselves when their children are born. Rikki-tikki surprises the male cobra and disables him until the man comes to shoot the snake dead. The family is grateful to Rikki for saving their lives, but he is mindful that the snake's wife will be even more determined to kill the family. He decides to smash all of her eggs, saving one to barter, which draws her away from the house and into her tunnel. Rikki-tikki follows, not knowing if he will make it out alive, but happily does after killing Nagaina. The family realize he has saved their lives three times now, and remain grateful to him, However, he is very humble, living with them and making sure the garden is kept free of snakes.

In “The White Seal,” Kotick , a young seal known for his incredible and rare white coat, journeys to find an island where all of the seals can be safe from men clubbing them for their pelts.

In “The Miracle of Purun Bhagat,” Purun Dass becomes Prime Minister of a province of India, but willingly gives up his rule for peace and quiet as a holy man. He travels on foot to the Himalayas and takes up residence in a craggy mountain near a small village. The villagers respect and honor him and he lives a pleasant existence. He befriends the animals, who warn him that the mountain is coming down one night. Purun Bhagat, as he is now known, warns the villagers of this and they flee. Purun Bhagat perishes, and the villagers mourn and honor him.

In “Toomai of the Elephants,” Little Toomai , the son of an elephant driver, travels deep into the jungle with his elephant, Kala Nag , to see the mysterious and mythical dance of the elephants – something which no man ever gets to see. When he returns, the Englishman Peterson Sahib , manager of all the Indian Government’s elephant operations, as well as the rest of the Indians involved, honor and celebrate the boy.

In “Servants of the Queen,” a collection of animals in the service of the Indian Government – a troop-horse, two mules, two bullocks, a small dog, and a camel from a visiting army – discuss their services, their masters, and their lives.

In “The Undertakers,” a crane, a jackal, and a crocodile who live by a river near a village converse. The crocodile remembers the events of the Mutiny of 1857. He recalls a young boy whom he tried to eat and how the boy escaped; later that very boy returns to kill the crocodile.

In “Quiquern,” an Inuit teenager named Kotuku travels into the vast, wild winter wasteland in the far North to find seal for his starving village.

The Jungle Book Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Jungle Book is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Who was purun Dass

I think he's from the second Jungle Book. Purun Dass .was a high caste Brahmin, whose father had been an important official in an old-fashioned Hindu Court.

The jungle book

What chapter are you referring to?

Briefly explain why "growing up involves facing tough situations" is a good theme for the story.

Mowgli becomes a young man as the book progresses, and the reader watches him grow from an impulsive and earnest man-cub into a leader. Like most adolescents, he believes he is not allowed to do as much as he wants to do, but readers see him grow...

Study Guide for The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book study guide contains a biography of Rudyard Kipling, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Jungle Book
• Character List

Essays for The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.

• War and Womanhood in Rudyard Kipling’s Mary Postgate (1915)
• Loyalty in “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi”

Lesson Plan for The Jungle Book

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Jungle Book
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Jungle Book Bibliography

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The Jungle Book Review – Essay Sample

Upton Sinclair was a son of the ruined Southern aristocrats who moved to New York when he was 10. The family had to work hard to earn for a living, and Upton himself, even despite successful writing attempts from as early as 14, was forced to work at the meatpacking plant in the yards, where he became the witness of multiple violations of labor legislation and safe handing of food. The result was the plot of The Jungle where the author unveiled the terrible conditions in which the workers were forced to work, and revealed the corruption existing in the Meat Trust leading to neglect of safety regulations and improper handing of meat products. The work was first ignored by publishers, but the writer insisted that he would still publish the work himself, after which he really received a great number of orders. The work had a series of significant legislative changes, including the adoption of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act initiated by the President Theodore Roosevelt. Thus, the overall effect of the book involved both social and legal consequences that altered the public understanding of meatpacking work and the true safety of food they bought (Sinclair).

The book tells about the Lithuanian family, immigrants to the USA, with Jurgis Rudkus as a head thereof and the main character of the novel. The family moves to the USA in the pursuit of better life, but they find out that they have to work in inhumane conditions at the meatpacking plant where they see how exhausted and neglected the workers are, how unsafe the work is and how horrible the quality of produced products turns out. All members of the family have to work, including Jurgis’ pregnant wife and weak old father, but they are still urged to exist in dangerous, intoxicated surroundings, in homes full of rats and poisonous chemicals (Sinclair). Jurgis is driven to despair as soon as his wife and small son die, so he leaves the plant and goes to the countryside where he loses the last ties with a decent life. Returning to Chicago, he gets involved in criminal activities with his new friend from a jail, and degrades. The savior is his introduction to the principles of Socialism; Jurgis enters a Socialist party and learns the roots of inequality, finds a decent job and tries to help the family he abandoned (Sinclair). The ending part of the book serves a Socialist propaganda with the speech about the forthcoming force of the Socialist party and its future coming to the rule in the city (Sinclair).

There are several main messages and themes in the book; the first call of Sinclair refers to the inhumane working conditions of that time, and the corruption existing in the meatpacking industry, as well as in other areas such as the police force, the politics etc. The author offers dreadful descriptions of where the workers had to live to make the reader understand how unacceptable the conditions were:

“There were mountains and valleys and rivers, gullies and ditches, and great hollows full of stinking green water. In these pools the children played, and rolled about in the mud of the streets…Swarms and flies…hung about the scene, literally blackening the air” (Siclair 26).

The book is also full of depictions of corruption that surrounded meat production; Sinclair focused on numerous malpractices of officials, making the audience realize how dangerous their activities could be for the consumer health: it is enough to recollect the fragment about processing pregnant cows that were officially considered inappropriate for food or the words about the attitude to materials from which the products were made: “They use everything about the hog except the squeal” (Sinclair 31).

Speaking about the general effect of the book and its value to readers, one should note that Sinclair provides a true picture of the production at the beginning of the 20 th century. Malpractices, labor exploitation, inhumane conditions for existence – all this was a part of the daily reality for workers at the rise of the Industrial Revolution. People had to agree to the miserable payment and live in insanitary conditions just to be able to provide for their living; hence, the rise of the Socialist movement finds a precise reflection in the work of Sinclair. The work will be of invaluable interest and help for any person studying the history of the working class in 1900s and the formation of the labor movement that marked the next few decades.

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The Jungle Book Review

Jon favreau brings magic back into the classic story..

With impressive visual effects, a strong leading actor and well-drawn characters, Disney's return to The Jungle Book is a fantastic adventure film with strong messages that's good for audiences young and old. There is some darkness to the movie that might be too much for some younger viewers, but for adults who loved the animated movie growing up, Favreau's take on the story amplifies the 1967 animated film's strengths while also adding new depth and emotional resonance to what was already a strong story.

In This Article

More Reviews by Terri Schwartz

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The Jungle Book

Rudyard kipling, everything you need for every book you read..

The Jungle Book opens with three stories and a song about Mowgli , a young boy raised in a jungle by wolves. Mother Wolf and Father Wolf find Mowgli when he is only an infant and take him in as one of their own. As Mowgli grows older, he learns the Law of the Jungle from Baloo the Bear and Bagheera the Black Panther . As a young boy, Mowgli does not fully appreciate the Law of the Jungle. His lack of appreciation leads him to be kidnapped by the Bandar-log , a group of monkeys who do not regard the Law of the Jungle. Luckily, Baloo and Bagheera rescue Mowgli and bring him back to the wolf pack.

As Mowgli grows older, some of the wolf pack start to resent him because the ferocious tiger, Shere Khan , convinces them that he is not one of their own and does not belong in the jungle. After a confrontation with Shere Khan and the wolves, Mowgli decides to leave the jungle and live among human beings. However, his time in a human village does not last long.

While living with the humans, Mowgli tricks and kills Shere Khan. After, Mowgli skins Shere Khan and takes his pelt . One of Mowgli’s fellow villagers, Buldeo , tries to steal the pelt and claim it as his own. However, Mowgli’s wolf brothers pin him down and do not allow him to. This leads Buldeo to claim Mowgli is a sorcerer, which gets him kicked out of the village. After leaving the village, Mowgli returns to the jungle and displays Shere Khan’s pelt. However, his return to the jungle is only temporary, as he will one day return to live among humans.

A stand-alone story called “The White Seal” tells the tale of Kotick , a white seal who searches far and wide for a place where seals can live without worrying about humans clubbing them. At the end of the story, Kotick finds such a place, and it becomes the most popular spot for the seals in his area.

Following “The White Seal,” is a story called “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.” Rikki-tikki-tavi is a mongoose whom an English family living in India takes in after his burrow floods. Rikki-tikki-tavi feels he owes the English family his life and does everything he can to defend them from two cobras, Nag and Nagaina , who live in the family’s garden. After a great struggle, Rikki-tikki-tavi kills both Nag and Nagaina, which buys him the undying loyalty of both the British family and the other animals of the garden.

“Toomai of the Elephants” tells the story of a young boy named Little Toomai who hopes to one day become an elephant catcher. When he shares this information with Petersen Sahib , the leader of the local elephant catching operation, Petersen tells Little Toomai he will only achieve his dream once he witnesses an elephant dance. That night, Little Toomai follows an elephant named Kala Nag into the jungle. There, he watches a group of elephants stomp the ground for hours. The following day, Little Toomai returns to Petersen and tells him what he saw. Petersen congratulates Little Toomai and tells him he can become an elephant catcher.

The final story, “Her Majesty’s Servants,” features a group of animals talking about their respective roles in the British-Indian army. All the animals have different strengths and weaknesses, though none understands the point of the conflict the humans have enlisted them to take part in.

Meanwhile, the Amir of Afghanistan meets with the Viceroy of India . The level of control the Viceroy has over his army impresses one of the Amir’s men . However, when he expresses his approval to one of the Viceroy’s officers , the officer mocks him. He thinks Amir and the other Afghanis are inferior to the British forces and need to learn their place.

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Book Review: The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Kipling wrote this book in 1894 while living in India. Born to British parents in Bombay, he was raised and educated in England, and lived in England most of his life; but he spent many of his happiest years in India.  The Jungle Book  and its sequel,  The Second Jungle Book , are testimonies to his fascination with the legends and natural wonders of the Subcontinent.

The chief thread in  The Jungle Book  is the myth of the wild boy, raised by animals in the jungle. In this case the wild boy is Mowgli, who as an infant (or, “man-cub”) strays from his village and ends up being raised by a family of wolves, like one of their own pups. The growing boy survives the malice of the great tiger Shere-Khan and the wiles of the serpent Kaa, by a combination of his own pluck and cleverness, the protection of his wolf brethren, and the friendship of the bear Baloo and the black panther Bagheera. He learns to hunt, fight, go to ground, and be careful of the wicked monkeys. He also returns to civilization for a while–just long enough to learn who his true family belongs, and where true civilization lies. And he vanquishes his greatest enemy.

Not all of  The Jungle Book  is the story of Mowgli, however. In and amongst the many poems and songs that Kipling lavishes on us, there is the adventure of a young white seal who searches for a safe place for his people to mate…the battle between the mongoose Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and a nest of cobras…the secret dance of the elephants, ever seen by only one human being, and that a boy…and the boasting rivalry of the pack-animals of Her Majesty’s forces in India, which brings the book to an ironic close.

Children of all ages will love to read these stories and have them read to them. If you’ve only seen the  Disney animated feature , but have never read the book, you don’t know what you’ve missed! Here is a kind of magic that, to us, is very strange and foreign; for it is not only the magic of a strange and faraway land, but also of a time that is no more. American children will not be as quick to understand and identify with the settings and characters, because (unlike British children) India and the Empire are not part of their nation’s history or their cultural background. For us children of the Rebels, the  Jungle Books  will always have the same fascination as any story of exotic climates, cultures, and myths, or any story that depicts man’s relationship with nature from nature’s point of view.

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The Jungle, Book Review Example

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Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle . Charleston: Forgotten Books, 1935 .

Upton Sinclair was a son of the ruined Southern aristocrats who moved to New York when he was 10. The family had to work hard to earn for a living, and Upton himself, even despite successful writing attempts from as early as 14, was forced to work at the meatpacking plant in the yards, where he became the witness of multiple violations of labor legislation and safe handing of food. The result was the plot of The Jungle where the author unveiled the terrible conditions in which the workers were forced to work, and revealed the corruption existing in the Meat Trust leading to neglect of safety regulations and improper handing of meat products. The work was first ignored by publishers, but the writer insisted that he would still publish the work himself, after which he really received a great number of orders. The work had a series of significant legislative changes, including the adoption of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act initiated by the President Theodore Roosevelt. Thus, the overall effect of the book involved both social and legal consequences that altered the public understanding of meatpacking work and the true safety of food they bought (Sinclair).

The book tells about the Lithuanian family, immigrants to the USA, with Jurgis Rudkus as a head thereof and the main character of the novel. The family moves to the USA in the pursuit of better life, but they find out that they have to work in inhumane conditions at the meatpacking plant where they see how exhausted and neglected the workers are, how unsafe the work is and how horrible the quality of produced products turns out. All members of the family have to work, including Jurgis’ pregnant wife and weak old father, but they are still urged to exist in dangerous, intoxicated surroundings, in homes full of rats and poisonous chemicals (Sinclair). Jurgis is driven to despair as soon as his wife and small son die, so he leaves the plant and goes to the countryside where he loses the last ties with a decent life. Returning to Chicago, he gets involved in criminal activities with his new friend from a jail, and degrades. The savior is his introduction to the principles of Socialism; Jurgis enters a Socialist party and learns the roots of inequality, finds a decent job and tries to help the family he abandoned (Sinclair). The ending part of the book serves a Socialist propaganda with the speech about the forthcoming force of the Socialist party and its future coming to the rule in the city (Sinclair).

There are several main messages and themes in the book; the first call of Sinclair refers to the inhumane working conditions of that time, and the corruption existing in the meatpacking industry, as well as in other areas such as the police force, the politics etc. The author offers dreadful descriptions of where the workers had to live to make the reader understand how unacceptable the conditions were:

“There were mountains and valleys and rivers, gullies and ditches, and great hollows full of stinking green water. In these pools the children played, and rolled about in the mud of the streets…Swarms and flies…hung about the scene, literally blackening the air” (Siclair 26).

The book is also full of depictions of corruption that surrounded meat production; Sinclair focused on numerous malpractices of officials, making the audience realize how dangerous their activities could be for the consumer health: it is enough to recollect the fragment about processing pregnant cows that were officially considered inappropriate for food or the words about the attitude to materials from which the products were made: “They use everything about the hog except the squeal” (Sinclair 31).

Speaking about the general effect of the book and its value to readers, one should note that Sinclair provides a true picture of the production at the beginning of the 20 th century. Malpractices, labor exploitation, inhumane conditions for existence – all this was a part of the daily reality for workers at the rise of the Industrial Revolution. People had to agree to the miserable payment and live in insanitary conditions just to be able to provide for their living; hence, the rise of the Socialist movement finds a precise reflection in the work of Sinclair. The work will be of invaluable interest and help for any person studying the history of the working class in 1900s and the formation of the labor movement that marked the next few decades.

Works Cited

Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle . Charleston: Forgotten Books, 1935.

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