Kotick Character Analysis in The Jungle Book

Kotick is a seal who is the son of Sea Catch and Matkah. At a young age, he witnesses humans clubbing and skinning his friends. Horrified at the discovery, Kotick spends his life searching out a sanctuary where seals can live without the threat of humans. Kotick is highly motivated, and he searches far and wide to accomplish his goal. In doing so, he grows strong, and eventually he finds the sanctuary he is looking for.

Kotick Quotes in The Jungle Book

The The Jungle Book quotes below are all either spoken by Kotick or refer to Kotick. 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:

‘I haven’t been doing anything but fight since the middle of May. The beach is disgracefully crowded this season. I’ve met at least a hundred seals from Lukannon Beach, house-hunting. Why can’t people stay where they belong?’

Related Characters: Sea Catch (speaker), Kotick

Page Number and Citation: 105

Explanation and Analysis:

Here, Sea Catch, Kotick’s father, expresses his exasperation at the current state of Novastoshnah. His concern that people will not stay where they belong suggests an interest in the status quo that is typical of the stories in The Jungle Book. However, one of the notable aspects of “The White Seal” is that it is not as dedicated to maintaining the current structure of society as much as the other stories in the collection. In this story, Kipling portrays Sea Catch’s desire to maintain the status quo as misguided. Meanwhile, Kipling portrays Kotick’s journey to discover a better, safer place Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum v

Ten minutes later little Kotick did not recognize his friends any more, for their skins were ripped off from the nose to the hind flippers – whipped off and throw into a pile of the ground.

Related Characters: Kotick

Page Number and Citation: 115

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote comes from the scene where Kotick follows a group of humans and watches as they kill his friends. Prior to this experience, Kotick did not know that humans preyed upon seals, and he is shocked when he witnesses the deaths of his friends. This scene from "The White Seal" sticks out among the stories in The Jungle Book in its explicit portrayal of humans as antagonists. Kipling’s language in this passage is graphic and grotesque, and its purpose is to make the reader sympathize with Kotick and his friends. In “Her Majesty's Servants,” Kipling will similarly encourage readers Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesc

Of course it was not all done at once, for the seals need a long time to turn things over in their minds, but year by year more seals went away from Novastoshnah, and Lukannon, and the other nurseries, to the quiet, sheltered beaches where Kotick sits all the summer through, getting bigger and fatter and stronger each year, while the hollus-chikie play round him, in that sea where no man comes.

Related Characters: Rikki-tikki-tavi, Mowgli, Sea Catch, Kotick

Page Number and Citation: 129

Explanation and Analysis:

These are the closing words of “The White Seal,” and they describe the seal haven Kotick found in the Bering Sea. “The White Seal” is one of the few tales in The Jungle Book with a happy ending (although “Lukannon,” the song that follows, arguably calls into question how long that happiness will last). This passage marks the completion of Kotick’s coming-of-age story as grows into a mature seal after accomplishing the goal he set out to achieve at the start of the story. He proves his father, Sea Catch, wrong and validates his position that seals can live free Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia ea

I meet my mates in the morning, a broken, scattered band.

Men shoot us in the water and club us on the land;

Men drive us to the Salt House like silly sheep and tame,

And still we sing Lukannon – before the sealers came.

Related Characters: Kotick

Page Number and Citation: 131

Explanation and Analysis:

“Lukannon” is the song the seals in the Bering Sea sing as an epilogue to previous story, “The White Seal.” In the song, the seals discuss how humans destroy anything that brings them happiness. Indeed, the seals in “The White Seal” do feel defeated by human beings, and before the arrival of Kotick, they gave up fighting against them. The question this song brings to the forefront is whether such feelings still remain among the seals at the end of the story. After all, the seals have achieved happiness before, only to have humans interfere and take that happiness away. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim

Kotick Character Timeline in The Jungle Book

The timeline below shows where the character Kotick appears in The Jungle Book. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...year while on Novastoshnah, Matkah gives birth to a pure white seal, which she names Kotick. As a young seal, Kotick grows up on Novastoshnah. He learns what it means to... (full context)

Human and Animal Relationships Theme Icon

One day, Kotick swims to a small island with a group of his seal friends. However, while he... (full context)

Kotick gets away from the humans as fast as he can. Eventually, he comes across a... (full context)

Kotick finds Sea Vitch and asks him if there is an island where humans will never... (full context)

When Kotick expresses his concerns to his father, Sea Catch tells him he should become a great... (full context)

Kotick leaves his home in search of the sea cows or an island where humans have... (full context)

Kotick is dissatisfied with the answers he receives, but there is nothing else he can do.... (full context)

Reinvigorated, Kotick decides to continue his search. He heads west of Novastoshnah, where he finds a group... (full context)

Once again, Kotick returns to Novastoshnah and tells his fellow seals what he found. However, the seals do... (full context)

Even though Kotick never learned to fight like Sea Catch, all his swimming made him grow strong, and... (full context)

Kotick Character Analysis

Kotick Quotes in The Jungle Book

7. The White Seal Quotes

8. Lukannon Quotes

Kotick Character Timeline in The Jungle Book