Shere Khan as the Enemy in Mowgli's Brothers of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book

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Shere Khan as the Enemy in Mowgli's Brothers of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling was written in the year 1894 as a

series of short stories based primarily in the jungles of India. The

first story, 'Mowgli's Brothers' introduces a number of characters

that feature throughout additional stories in the novel. The

antagonist a tiger named Shere Kahn, is introduced early in the novel

and presents the ongoing danger against the protagonist, 'man-child',

Mowgli. Kipling conveys Shere Kahn as the enemy early in the novel

through varied use of language and the events that create tension

between Mowgli & himself. Shere Khan's character ignores of the 'Law

of the Jungle' and the constant threat he poses to Mowgli establishes

him as the enemy in the story.

Kipling first introduces the reader to Shere Khan through the voice of

Tabaqui the Jackal at the beginning of the novel. We are told that:

"Shere khan, the Big One, has shifted his hunting grounds."

This shows us that Shere Khan is perceived as the enemy. He is known

as the "Big One" and the capitalization here makes him seem more of a

threat. We see him as a predator who poses an imminent danger.

The wolves first talk about Shere Khan with the use of sarcasm. The

wolves are told by Tabaqui that Shere Khan "has shifted his hunting

grounds" which is very bad for the wolves and they state how lucky

they are by saying: "indeed we are very grateful to Shere khan."

This tells us that Shere Khan is disliked by the animals.

Shere Khan breaks the laws of the jungle. He disobeys the law because

there is no one big enough to deal with "the Big One".

She...

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... is no longer a boy but a man who knows the meaning of hate and

respect. Mowgli "promise" the wolves that he would "betray ye to men

as ye have betray me" this confirms his understanding of the wolves

and how his language changed and became more serious towards Shere

Khan and the wolves.

Shere Khan is established as the enemy in "Mowgli's brothers" with the

use of continual comparisons with other animals and with what the

other animals think of him. Conflict is started straight from the

beginning because of the Tiger's miss to catch his prey and his hate

of men when he meets Mowgli but not being able to kill him as he is

accepted by the wolves. Other animals tell Mowgli to fear Shere Khan

because of there own fear of him and his establishment by Kipling as

the enemy of Mowgli and other wolves who stand in his way.

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