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
When the procession stops, Kim goes for a walk with the lama. They discuss the widow, lauding her wisdom, but criticizing her for being overly talkative; Kim suggests “all women are thus.” While wandering, Kim’s eyes are drawn to a clump of mangoes in the center of an empty plain. As they approach, they spot two white soldiers and hide. The two white soldiers plant a flag, and Kim realizes the flag depicts a Red Bull on a green field—the sign of the Irish regiment, the Mavericks; Kim believes his horoscope has come to fruition. They stay to watch the regiment set up camp, the lama listening in awe to the regiment’s marching music.
Kim and the lama’s critique of the widow continues, though like before, it seems largely in jest. Still, it is notable that even the high-minded lama is not above such crude, sexist remarks, a symptom of a time and place in which such commentary is ubiquitous. This scene also highlights a chink in Kim’s otherwise superstition-proof armor. Despite his earlier insistence that his father’s prophecy was a fake, Kim is suddenly convinced of its plausibility.
Themes
Kim makes the lama wait while they watch the regiment chaplain, Reverend Arthur Bennett, talk to British officers; the lama laments the white man’s crudeness. Kim and the lama leave and return after dinner, reasoning that it is best to confront white men when they have eaten. The lama hides, and Kim, using tricks from sneaking around Lahore, evades the sentries, slowly working his way to the camp. Kim watches the sahibs—a term for whites—praying to the Red Bull. However, Reverend Arthur Bennet steps on Kim, capturing him and taking his amulet case of documents. Kim pleads for it back in English and Bennet, surprised, calls Father Victor for help.
Kim and the lama reveal their prejudice against white men, an ironic stance for Kim, being white himself. However, their criticisms seem largely cultural, targeted at the perceived practices and customs of the men. This is exemplified by their decision not to confront the white men until after they have eaten, a stereotype which suggests an animalistic lack of control in white men over their emotional or primal urges.
Themes
Reverend Arthur Bennett and Father Victor find the documents in Kim’s amulet, discovering him to be Kimball O’Hara’s son, a former member of their regiment. They interrogate him, and Kim tells them of his father’s death and his travels with the lama. Reverend Bennett and Father Victor bring in the lama, and Kim translates for them, informing the lama of his whiteness and the men’s plan to send him to an English school; unlike him, the men believe “once a sahib is always a sahib.” The lama is upset and demands Kim explain his role in their quest for the River, but the Englishmen dismiss his objections. Kim pretends to comply, but promises the lama—in Hindi—to escape after several days.
Captured by the Mavericks, Kim confronts Father Victor and Reverend Arthur Bennett’s colonialist views of racial identity. Unlike Kim, who generally sees race as a fluid, intersectional quality, the two men believe that “once a sahib is always a sahib,” an essentialist view of race which sees skin color as a person’s dominant identity marker (a sahib is a term used for white European men). This ideological contrast proves problematic for Kim, with the two men unsympathetic to his stated obligations to the lama; as a white boy, they believe he belongs with them.
Themes
The lama is pained by the thought of Kim’s departure and expresses surprise about his identity as a sahib, suggesting that no “white man knows the land and its customs as thou knowest.” Kim tries to reassure the lama, explaining his plan to escape, but the lama does not follow, bemoaning the loss of his discipline and blaming himself for his suffering; those who follow “the Way” must avoid affection and attachment, which he has failed to do. The lama asks what the white men, whom he believes “follow desire and come to emptiness,” plan to do with Kim and Father Victor tells him about various educational options.
The lama’s surprise at Kim’s whiteness testifies to the extent of Kim’s acclimatization to Indian culture, underscoring the socially constructed nature of race. Though he is white, his immersion in the land and its “customs” make him appear otherwise. This scene also highlights the lama’s growing affection for Kim, a symptom of the lama’s internal battle between his belief in spiritual detachment and his natural inclination towards earthly attachment.
Themes
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Before leaving, the lama has Father Victor write down the name of the best school and its cost, promising to send a letter in several days. The lama leaves and the men ask Kim more questions about his past. Kim embraces the new experience, reasoning that, once he gets bored, he can simply escape. Father Victor explains their plans to make a “man” of Kim at Sanawar, but Kim predicts they will not go to Sanawar, but instead to a war of 8,000 men. The men laugh at Kim, but he doubles down, promising them that they will see he is right when they arrive at Umballa.
Kim displays his characteristic open-mindedness here, deciding to embrace his captivity as a new opportunity. This attitude is a testament both to his unquenchable curiosity and his confidence in his thrift; he has no doubt in his ability to escape should he need to.
Themes
