Rikki-Tavi, By Rudyard Kipling

A story may have many different themes. Theme is the subject or central idea of a story. In addition, readers usually find the theme after they read a story. Knowing this information, the theme of “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” by Rudyard Kipling is without a doubt you can be courageous and cowardly at the same time. I can validate this because Rikki, the protagonist, was frightened when he first saw Nag, however, he was still encouraged when him and Nag fought. The mongoose was emboldened throughout all of the conflicts he had with Nag, Karait, and Nagaina. Alongside with being valiant, Nag, the father cobra, knew in the bottom of his heart that Rikki could kill him and that scared him. Since the protagonist did not know if Nag would try to kill someone,

such as Teddy and his parents or Rikki, he was cautious when he snuck up on Nag in the sluice. He stayed unafraid when the father cobra was shaking him like a dog would shake a toy. In some cases, I see why one may think that the theme is one needs ambition to succeed, but it is definitely not.
It is very obvious that the theme is one can be courageous and cowardly at the same time, and all of the animals are very good examples of that.

In the story, the mongoose had challenges against three snakes. He had been very daring in all of them, especially versing Nag for the first time since he has never seen a live cobra. Additionally, Chuchundra, the muskrat who was always terrified, told Rikki when Nag was nearby. Darzee’s wife was fearless when she helped Rikki out by flying over to Nagaina, the antagonist, pretending that her wing was broken to distract her. While Darzee’s wife was distracting Nagaina, the protagonist had snuck over to the end of the melon bed where Nagaina’s eggs were and started killing the snakelings. There was one more egg left when Darzee’s wife called out to him, so he took it with him and teased Nagaina with it. Another good example is when Rikki kept telling Nagaina she was going to be in the rubbish pile with Nag. Similarly, Darzee’s wife was extremely bold when she flapped her wings at Nagaina’s head to slow her down so Rikki could get Nagaina. The last example that must be remembered is when Rikki had valiantly followed Nagaina, the mother cobra, into the snake hole even though he did not know when the hole could open up and she could turn and kill

him.
Given that the theme is indeed one can be courageous and cowardly at the same time, all of the animals at one point in the story have definitely been frightful.

In that case, Rikki had jumped back when Nag was slithering out of the grass and raising his hood. He had also been afraid for a few seconds when he saw the spectacle mark on the back of Nag’s head. Nag knew at the bottom of his heart that Rikki could kill him and that alarmed him. Furthermore, Nag and Nagaina both slithered away after Nagaina struck at Rikki and missed. In addition, the protagonist did not think he could handle two cobras at once. While Rikki was fighting and killing Karait, Teddy had big eyes as he saw what had happened. Chuchundra had always been to discouraged to run into the middle of the room due to his thought that Nag would mistake him for Rikki and try to kill him. Also, Chuchundra was weeping when he was talking to Rikki because he thought that Rikki would harm him. Lastly, Nagaina had left Nag as soon as he got into the bathroom because she did not want to be killed

also.
On the other hand, one needs ambition to succeed could possibly be the theme, but I can prove that it is obviously not. With that in mind, hard work brought Rikki success is an example of how it could be the theme. Another example is how the protagonist’s ambition let him win against Karait when they had fought outside of the house until Teddy’s father came outside to kill Karait. However, one example of why it is not the theme is that Nagaina was a greedy, ambitious snake but that did not allow her to succeed. Also, hard work did not bring any success to Nagaina. Finally,the mother cobra was impatient and ambitious to rule the garden, so she sent Nag to kill the young boy and his family, but Nag was the one who got killed instead.
In the long run, the theme, you can be courageous and cowardly at the same time, is used to show us that it’s okay if you’re timid in some situations and undismayed in others. Mr. Kipling helped us think about what this theme means for mankind. When we are daring and fearful, we show that we do not care what situations we are going to be in because we know that we can handle the problems with either one. If we were to be selfish and only care for ourselves, we would not be able to face what will happen because we would not want to help others or show that we can be dauntless. In conclusion, the theme is absolutely you can be courageous and cowardly at the same time.