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The Widow
Colonel Creighton, nicknamed Creighton Sahib by Kim, is a high-ranking British intelligence officer in India. Though considered by many to be foolish for his economically unsound obsession with horses, Creighton is anything but a fool. In reality, Creighton’s whimsical presentation masks his status as the British spymaster in the Great Game: the man behind the strings, Creighton controls a vast network of British informants, including Mahbub, Hurree Babu, Lurgan Sahib, and eventually Kim. Though Creighton, like the other mentors, adopts a paternal attitude toward Kim, his is a paternalism of distance. He pays for Kim’s schooling and arranges his training with Mahbub, Hurree, and Lurgan, but he has limited one-on-one time with Kim. And despite their shared affinity for intrigue, he hardly connects with Kim on a personal level. There is also an overt transactional quality to his paternalism, with Kim himself acknowledging that, should he fail to live up to expectations, Creighton would likely have him killed. Though this is in part a product of Creighton’s detached status as spymaster, it is telling that Kim, while white, develops closer bonds to his “Asiatic” mentors.
Colonel Creighton Quotes in Kim
The Kim quotes below are all either spoken by Colonel Creighton or refer to Colonel Creighton. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 6 Quotes
He gazed imploringly at the clear-cut face in which there was no glimmer of recognition; but even at this extremity it never occurred to him to throw himself on the white man’s mercy or to denounce the Afghan. And Mahbub stared deliberately at the Englishmen, who stared deliberately at Kim, quivering and tongue-tied.
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Chapter 7 Quotes
‘Hai Mai! I go from one place to another as it might be a kickball. It is my Kismet. No man can escape his Kismet. But I am to pray to Bibi Miriam, and I am a Sahib.’ He looked at his boots ruefully. ‘No; I am Kim. This is the great world, and I am only Kim. Who is Kim?’ He considered his own identity, a thing he had never done before, till his head swam. He was one insignificant person in all this roaring whirl of India, going southward to he knew not what fate.
0110
It was absurd that a man of his position should take an interest in a little country-bred vagabond; but the Colonel remembered the conversation in the train, and often in the past few months had caught himself thinking of the queer, silent, self-possessed boy. His evasion, of course, was the height of insolence, but it argued some resource and nerve.
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Chapter 8 Quotes
‘I am very old,’ he thought sleepily. ‘Every month I become a year more old. I was very young, and a fool to boot, when I took Mahbub’s message to Umballa. Even when I was with that white regiment I was very young and had no wisdom. But now I learn every day and in three years the Colonel will take me out of the madrissah and let me go upon the road with Mahbub hunting for horses’ pedigrees, or maybe I shall go by myself; or maybe I shall find the lama and go with him. Yes; that is best. To walk again as a chela with my lama when he comes back to Benares.’
0110
Chapter 9 Quotes
He was a Sahib in that he wore Sahib’s clothes; the accent of his Urdu, the intonation of his English, showed that he was anything but a Sahib. He seemed to understand what moved in Kim’s mind ere the boy opened his mouth, and he took no pains to explain himself as did Father Victor or the Lucknow masters. Sweetest of all – he treated Kim as an equal on the Asiatic side.
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If permission be refused to go and come as he chooses, he will make light of the refusal. Then who is to catch him? Colonel Sahib, only once in a thousand years is a horse born so well fitted for the game as this our colt. And we need men.
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Chapter 10 Quotes
Then he stooped towards Mahbub’s feet to make proper acknowledgement with fluttering quick-patting hands; his heart too full for words. Mahbub forestalled and embraced him.
‘My son,’ said he, ‘what need of words between us? But is not the gun a delight?’
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Colonel Creighton Character Timeline in Kim
The timeline below shows where the character Colonel Creighton appears in Kim. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...one of the guests that night to be the Commander-in-Chief and the other to be Creighton.
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Chapter 6
...is brought back to the barracks, and the Englishman introduces himself to Father Victor as Colonel Creighton. Kim curses Mahbub, but Mahbub claims to have done him a “great service,” promising...
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Father Victor and Colonel Creighton discuss Kim’s past and the lama’s offer to pay for his schooling. Father Victor...
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Chapter 7
Kim dictates a letter to the lama begging him to meet him in Lucknow. Colonel Creighton confronts Kim, asking him to bring him his “cheroot-case” to his house that evening....
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...the first time on the nature of his identity, asking himself: “Who is Kim?” The Colonel sends for him and reveals Kim is to become a chain-man, a position which, the...
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...the help of a bazaar girl—and escapes, intending to visit the daughter of a schoolmaster. Colonel Creighton relates Kim’s disappearance to Mahbub who laughs it off, explaining that Kim has simply...
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Colonel Creighton wonders whether it is wise for Kim to go off alone, but Mahbub points...
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Chapter 8
...“fruit is ripe already.” After scolding him for his escape, Mahbub offers Kim information about Colonel Creighton and his plans for him, with the caveat that such information will put his...
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Kim recounts what he witnessed at Colonel Creighton’s house, and his subsequent false prophesying. Mahbub scolds him, and Kim acknowledges his mistake,...
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Chapter 9
...becomes a chain-man. The Babu leaves, and Lurgan explains that he also works for the Colonel, being among the top 10 agents in the world. Kim expresses regret at his youth...
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...faithfully awaits Kim’s return from school to continue his search for the River. Mahbub convinces Creighton to let Kim continue traveling during breaks so as not to turn him against them,...
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Chapter 10
...work, calls him “Son” and gifts him a .450 revolver, overwhelming Kim with emotion. On Creighton’s instructions, Kim returns to school, but three weeks later Mahbub and Lurgan convince the Colonel...
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Creighton, Mahbub, and Lurgan debate where to send Kim, with Lurgan suggesting he join a mission...
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Chapter 12
...Kim reflects on the Great Game and the debt he owes to the lama and Creighton and Mahbub.
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