In The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling uses life in the jungle as an allegory for life in India under British colonial rule. Through this, he provides a pro-imperialist lens to his readers, attempting to show the oppressive British regime as being just as natural and inescapable as the “Law of the Jungle.” The book’s menagerie of animals symbolizes the diverse social groups in India, each navigating the dangerous terrain of the British Raj.
Mowgli the “Man-cub” is at the center of this allegory. He stands at the crossroads of a human and animal identity. During the British occupation, there was a great deal of cultural intermingling between British and Indian societies and their customs. Mowgli doesn’t belong wholly to the “Jungle”—representing India—nor entirely to the “village,” which represents British dominion. This internal complication reflects the difficulty of finding one's identity has been brutalized and forced to change under colonization. Many Indian people at the time struggled with the presence of British colonial forces, finding themselves caught between their own traditions and the norms the colonizers imposed.
The “Jungle” of The Jungle Book is often read as a representation of India. India is—and was—a diverse and enormous country, governed by its own laws long before the British arrived. In this context, the animals within it, each with their distinct cultures, territories, and leaders, represent various peoples and communities within India. Some of these portrayals are flattering (Baloo, Bagheera) and some are decidedly less so (the Bandar-Log, for example). Mowgli, who is of the human world but grows up in the Jungle, allegorically represents British colonialists. He is an outsider who immerses himself in India’s “Jungle,” sometimes dominating it and at other times striving to understand and be part of it.
The animals whom the book portrays as “good” characters tend to follow the "Law of the Jungle" very carefully. This is because the Law, a code of conduct and ethics that the animals live by, mirrors British governance in India. It is a set of rules that oppresses the weak and keeps power in the hands of those who already have it. It is meant to impose order and stability, much like the colonial administration aimed to achieve. Bagheera is a “good” character largely because he encourages Mowgli to follow the rules of the society he lives in. "Bad" animals like Nag and Shere Khan violate the laws and behave unethically.
If the book is read as an allegory for British colonial rule, Shere Khan represents the anti-British resistance on the Indian subcontinent. His defiance against the accepted order and his insistence that Mowgli cannot remain in the Jungle reflect the conflicts between native Indian and colonizing British forces. Furthermore, the animals' respect for and fear of fire, or the "Red Flower"— a tool only humans can wield —represents the technological and military might of the British Empire. Kipling enforces the problematic and outdated assumption that there are inherent differences between the colonizer and the people they colonize.
