Kim
May 26, 1987
A review of "Kim" by Rudyard Kipling.
Copyright © 1998 Property of Deborah K. Fletcher. All rights reserved.
Kim opens with an introduction of the title character, Kimball O'Hara. He is a white boy who has been raised by an East Indian woman, and who has learned to survive on the streets of Lahore. He is cunning, and wise for his age.
Before long, the second main character enters. He is a lama from Tibet, who is on a holy journey to find a river of healing. Kim joins him in his quest, also hoping to find his own destiny, which was left for him in a prophecy.
All of this occurs within a few hours before the Wonder House of Lahore in India. The entire story takes place in similar cities, villages, mountains, and plains of that region in the time when England still held India as part of the Empire. It is set in a time of magic and superstition, and a time of war and intrigue.
The main conflict in Kim is the Great Game, which is a matter of survival for the boy. It is triggered by the lama's quest, and leads him to his late father's old regiment. Kim is educated, then enters government service, all because he found a red bull on a green field and learned his own identity.
The secondary conflict is the search for the lama's river. This takes Kim and the lama all over India, and brings Kim a great deal of growth and learning.
The climax for Kim is when he enters government service as a political spy and becomes deeply involved in the Great Game. This is the point where he begins to be a man, and to be held accountable for his own actions.
The climax for the lama is almost at the end of the novel, when the lama falls into a river and finds that he has found his river of healing. This happens at the point where Kim finally collapses from exhaustion, and everything begins to come together, because Kim has finally found proof to condemn the Indian kings who have been causing trouble throughout India.
The end of the book follows immediately after the second climax, and Kim goes on to play the Great Game. The lama knows that his sins are ended and is at peace.
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