Tikki Bripi Theme Essay

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi Theme Essay

After reading the story of “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” I realized that the theme, or moral of a story, is that all people need to be brave at some point in their life. I think the lesson was well portrayed because the story’s author, Rudyard Kipling, had been able to clearly show that the protagonist, Rikki-tikki, represented bravery, while the antagonist, Nagaina, represented fearfulness. Since Nagaina failed, I think that Kipling was trying to show that if you do not stand up for yourself you will fail. Of course, other people could have other themes as well, such as saying, “A team is like a hydra, if you cut off one head, two more grow back,” because of Rikki-tikki’s

companions like Darzee and his wife, who backed him up in the story. In this essay though, I’m going to prove to you, the reader, that the intended theme for this story is about bravery and courage.
I found many cases to support my hypothesis.

One of the many examples I found was that Rikki-tikki is a mongoose, and the narrator of the story specifically said, “It’s the hardest thing in the world to scare a mongoose” and he showed little to no fear in the story. Even Teddy’s father said in the book, “Teddy’s safer with that little beast than if he had a bloodhound to watch him.” This suggests that Rikki-tikki would have watched over Teddy like a military sniper, not one moment off guard. I also noticed that throughout the story, whenever our hero faced one of the enemy snakes like Karait or Nag, he showed great courage, and defeated them . This clearly shows that since Rikki-tikki did not let fear control him, he was able to survive the entire

story.
Then there is, of course, Nagiana.

Throughout this story I found many instances that show her as the complete opposite of brave. One example I found was that throughout the entire story, she had her husband, Nag, doing of all the dirty work, like fighting Rikki-tikki and the humans. Nag was just a servant sent by his Queen, to do all he is ordered, without refusal. This shows that she was too afraid to do the work herself. Also when she finally got her egg back, she slithered away instead of staying to fight, because she was too afraid. The entire story, Nagaina fought for no one but herself. She was consumed by greed and fear, and because of this flaw, she failed to destroy Rikki-tikki.

These are only a few of the facts I have found in this story that support my statement. The theme of bravery and courage appears everywhere in this book. The face off between Nagaina and Rikki-tikki, for one. While Nagaina’s conversation with Nag, the way she convinced him to endure all the dangers within the cottage, also supports the theme. The brawl between Rikki-tikki and Nagaina is seen as bravery vs. cowardly plain and clear throughout the entire story. The theme is so clear that it would be simply impossible for a person not to see

it.
It is very clear that the story is about how bravery is needed to succeed in life. I just continually find more and more information to support that. I strongly believe in this theme, and I stand by my claim. This is paper is an example of real life bravery, because for some people it takes guts to argue, especially when no one else is there to support you. Many other examples of fearlessness can be found in everyday life. Military officers, pilots, public speakers, they’re all good examples of true valor. This story is not just some little kid’s story. This is a statement for people to stand up for themselves and others.