Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Kim, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Mentorship and Parenthood
Race, Identity, and Colonialism
Connection vs. Detachment
Misogyny
Summary
Analysis
Having playfully displaced his friend, Chota Lal, Kim sits on the ZamZammah cannon opposite the Lahore Museum. The son of Kimball O’Hara, a deceased Irish soldier in India, and a similarly fated Irish nursemaid, Kim is technically white, though he has been raised by an Indian woman and is “burned as black as any native.” Accordingly, Kim often passes as a native, playing with local boys and earning the nickname “Friend Of All The World'' for his charming but mischievous antics around Lahore. The only vestige of his heritage is three documents from his father, including his birth certificate, and a misremembered story prophesying an encounter with a Red Bull on a green field.
Here, Kim’s complex cultural and racial heritage is detailed, as he’s ancestrally white but was raised as a native in India and thus passes as a native boy. This points to the socially constructed nature of racial or ethnic identity, a recurring theme across the novel. This scene also playfully points to the transitory nature of British colonial rule, suggesting that, just as Kim’s dominion upon the cannon will inevitably end, so too will Britain’s. Kim’s game, in other words, functions as a metaphor, and a warning, for the transitory nature of all conquest, undermining colonial notions of racial superiority.
Themes
Commenting on Kim’s companionship with Chota Lal, the son of a wealthy man, the narrator claims India is the “only democratic land in the world.” Kim spies a man unlike any he had seen before. Intrigued, Kim offers to guide the old man—who he learns is a Tibetan lama—to the Lahore Museum. There, the lama speaks with the museum curator, discussing the life of the Buddha and telling the curator about his journey to free himself from the “Wheel of Things” and visit the Four Holy Places. He also tells of his search for The River of the Arrow, a river whose waters are supposedly spiritually cleansing, but is disappointed the curator does not know its location.
According to the narrator, Kim’s friendship with Chota Lal, whose father is a wealthy man, is proof of India’s “democratic” nature: despite their different socio-economic status, Kim and Chota Lal consort on equal terms. This interpretation reflects not only the narrator’s active, biased role in the novel, but also the nuance of social hierarchy in colonial India. Though unstated, it is clear Kim’s status as white, the race of the colonizers, does not compensate for his poverty. Even in a British colony, whiteness does not immediately trump other forms of privilege.
Themes
The curator denies the lama’s request to join him on his journey, asking how he plans to travel. The lama plans to use trains, but laments the loss of his former chela, or disciple, to accompany him. The curator gifts the lama stationary and eyeglasses, and the lama gives him an iron pen case. The lama leaves, and Kim follows, seeing him as an exciting new experience to “take possession” of. Kim ingratiates himself with the lama, using his knowledge of the city to fend off police and collect food for him. They eat together and the lama falls asleep. Kim, smoking on a begged cigar, thinks deeply, suddenly coming to a surprising decision.
Here, Kim reveals his egoism, exemplified by the objectifying terms he views the lama in, seeing him as something to “take possession” of. The value Kim places on the lama, in other words, has nothing to do with the lama’s inherent value as a human, but rather what he can give to Kim. In this context, Kim’s generosity towards the lama reads as largely self-serving, raising the age-old question of whether good acts done for selfish reasons have ethical merit.
Themes
Kim and the lama arrive at Mahbub Ali’s house. Though Kim occasionally assists the horse-trader in espionage, Mahbub does not recognize him in his Hindu disguise. When Kim reveals his identity by using English, Mahbub interrogates him and Kim explains his new partnership with the lama. Mahbub is surprised that the lama knows almost nothing of Kim, but the lama claims no interest in the boy’s identity—i.e., his caste—saying that there is no such thing in the Middle Way. Mahbub sends the lama away and gives Kim a message to deliver in Umballa concerning the pedigree of a white stallion. He pays him several rupees to do so.
This section underscores the power of language in colonial India, a common theme across the novel. While Kim is unrecognizable in his Hindu disguise, as soon as he speaks English, Mahbub recognizes him for who he is. This points to the supremacy of language as a marker of identity; while appearance is transient and deceptive—after all, Kim looks dark-skinned— language seems to speak to more inherent qualities of identity.
Themes
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The narrator reveals Mahbub’s identity as an agent—codename C25—for the British government in India, explaining that the message given to Kim is intel related to espionage by five confederated Kings and a Northern Power. The narrator explains Mahbub's choice to give Kim the message, reasoning that the lama and the boy will not be suspected of espionage. Afterward, Mahbub goes to meet a girl, nicknamed the Flower of Delight, he suspects of being associated with a spy. Seduced by her, Mahbub becomes intoxicated and passes out. The girl searches Mahbub while another accomplice searches his stall. Witnessing the intruder’s search, Kim wakes the lama to leave, fearing danger.
This passage underscores the active role of the narrator in the novel, as well as Mahbub’s shortcomings as a spy. Despite his cleverness in having Kim deliver his message, reasoning that a lama and his disciple will not be scrutinized on the road, Mahbub easily falls prey to the seductive trappings of the “Flower of Delight.” In this context, Mahbub’s frequent criticism of women throughout the novel looks increasingly comical and unfounded, a product more of his own foolhardiness than of any inherent flaw in women.
Themes
