In The Jungle Book, animals in the Jungle only refer to fire through a metaphor, calling it the "Red Flower." This “flower” consistently reappears as a motif that points to Mowgli being more than an animal. For example, when Bagheera instructs Mowgli to go and fetch some fire, he says:
‘Go thou down quickly to the men’s huts in the valley, and take some of the Red Flower which they grow there, so that when the time comes thou mayest have even a stronger friend than I or Baloo or those of the Pack that love thee. Get the Red Flower.’
By Red Flower Bagheera meant fire, only no creature in the Jungle will call fire by its proper name. Every beast lives in deadly fear of it [...]
In this passage, fire is made to seem less threatening, as the narrative refers to it as a “flower” that belongs to “man.” This euphemism evokes the brightness and warmth of flames without mentioning their destructive qualities. Bagheera also tells Mowgli that the “red flower” grows “in pots” outside human dwellings, as though it were a plant the boy could take a cutting of. The ability to control fire in The Jungle Book is something not even the wisest animals can understand, and so fire marks a fundamental separation between animals and humans.
Here, Bagheera tells Mowgli that he must bring fire to the Council. If he does so, he will have a more powerful ally against Shere Khan than the bear, the big cat, or the wolves. Bagheera is intelligent enough to plan to use fire as a weapon, but he has to have Mowgli retrieve and handle it. Knowing how to make, control and use fire marks the “Man-cub” as different, but it’s also one of the only things that allows the “naked” Man to stay at the top of the jungle’s food chain. When Mowgli is compelled to return to the humans, one of the first things he does is “sleep by the red flower.” This is an act the animals cannot imagine doing comfortably, but Mowgli delights in the warmth. The more Mowgli aligns himself with fire, the more aligned with humans he becomes.
When Shere Khan speaks to the Council of Animals, Bagheera demonstrates his extreme dislike of the tiger through an idiomatic metaphor:
Bagheera lay close to Mowgli, and the fire-pot was between Mowgli’s knees. When they were all gathered together, Shere Khan began to speak – a thing he would never have dared to do when Akela was in his prime. ‘He has no right,’ whispered Bagheera. ‘Say so. He is a dog’s son. He will be frightened.’
Bagheera’s sentiments toward Shere Khan are made very clear in this passage. He uses the idiom "dog’s son" critically here, suggesting that Shere Khan is easily startled and secretly fearful. In many cultures, including in India where the story is set, dogs are not always regarded with the same fondness as in western contexts. They can be seen as lowly, scavenging, or even dirty creatures. By terming Shere Khan a "dog’s son," Bagheera isn't merely assigning a casual descriptor but is invoking a profound insult.
Furthermore, the metaphorical use of "dog" intensifies the disdain in this moment. To liken a regal, powerful Bengal tiger to a dog is to significantly downgrade its status. It’s also important that it’s Bagheera who says this. As a panther, Bagheera is another member of the big cat family. By calling Shere Khan a “dog’s son,” Bagheera rejects him from this category and assigns him to one he detests.
In the face-off between Mother Wolf and Shere Khan in “Mowgli’s Brothers,” the narrator uses vivid visual and auditory imagery, a simile referring to the weather, and a metaphor to enhance the scene’s intensity:
The tiger’s roar filled the cave with thunder. Mother Wolf shook herself clear of the cubs and sprang forward, her eyes, like two green moons in the darkness, facing the blazing eyes of Shere Khan.
The imagery here is sharp and powerful. Mother Wolf’s eyes glow "like two green moons" as she springs in front of her cubs. In contrast, Shere Khan’s eyes “blaze” ferociously, as if lit by fire. Shere Khan is motivated by greed and hatred and Mother Wolf by unconditional love, which is reflected in the way Kipling describes their eyes. Shere Khan’s eyes “blaze” with manic energy, while Mother Wolf’s “glow” with steady light. This difference is also emphasized by the simile Kipling uses to describe Mother Wolf’s eyes. They are peaceful, like “two green moons” in the darkness of the den, unshaken by Shere Khan’s “blazing” presence.
The metaphor of Shere Khan’s roar “filling the cave with thunder” makes the scene’s auditory imagery match its feverish visual action. This scene takes place in the wolves’ home, typically a safe haven. The “thunder” of the roar shatters this sense of safety, prompting Mother Wolf to jump into the fray.
In this passage from "Kaa's Hunting," Bagheera uses a metaphor to warn Baloo to be gentle with the “Man-cub”:
‘Well, look to it then that thou dost not kill the Man-cub. He is no tree-trunk to sharpen thy blunt claws upon."
Just before this, Bagheera and Baloo had a conversation in which the panther expressed annoyance at Baloo's strategy of punishing Mowgli. He is upset about Baloo hitting—or “cuffing”—Mowgli during their lessons, since the boy is now covered with bruises. Baloo tells Bagheera that he thinks he only hits Mowgli very softly. The bear continues that he feels it’s better for Mowgli to be disciplined by him instead of an animal that doesn’t care for him. Bagheera is frustrated and tells him in the quotation that, regardless of this, Baloo has to be more careful.
Bears in the jungle scrape their claws along the bark of trees to keep them sharp. When they do so, the bark of the trees often rips off, leaving large gouges in the wood. In this metaphor, Bagheera is telling Baloo that he can't treat Mowgli in the same casual way as a tree. He mustn't damage Mowgli, so he has to be gentle with him, as he's delicate compared to the big predators. Even if Baloo only has the best intentions when he is trying to discipline Mowgli—Bagheera implies—the human child is still extremely soft and breakable.
In this passage from "Wait for the Wave," Kotick employs a metaphor when speaking to his mother about nesting. He evokes the image of waves to describe his desire to wait another season before marrying and settling down:
Matkah, his mother, begged him to marry and settle down, for he was no longer a holluschick, but a full-grown sea-catch, with a curly white mane on his shoulders, as heavy, as big, and as fierce as his father. ‘Give me another season,’ he said. ‘Remember, mother, it is always the seventh wave that goes farthest up the beach.’
During exchanges like this with his mother, Kotick is trying to buy himself more time for his adventures and resist marrying, which he feels would trap him. He tries to persuade his mother that this is a good thing using this metaphor, in which he relates persistence and experience to waves on a beach. Kotick is expressing his desire to wait for just the right opportunity before marrying and making irreversible decisions.
The expression “seventh wave” comes from a folkloric belief that every seventh wave is the biggest and strongest of a set of seven. Kotick believes that just as the seventh wave is worth waiting for because it’s more impactful, his mother should wait for his “seventh wave” and give him more time. It also implies that by waiting and being patient, he would be in a position to make a better choice of a wife.
Kipling uses a metaphor and intense situational irony to depict the highly regulated mechanisms of colonial rule in “Her Majesty’s Servants.” The Afghan Chief and the Viceroy’s Officer have the following conversation after the Animal Parade has gone by:
'But are the beasts as wise as the men?' said the chief.
‘They obey, as the men do. Mule, horse, elephant, or bullock, he obeys his driver, and the driver his sergeant, and the sergeant his lieutenant, and the lieutenant his captain, and the captain his major, and the major his colonel, and the colonel his brigadier commanding three regiments, and the brigadier his general, who obeys the Viceroy, who is the servant of the Empress. Thus it is done.’
‘Would it were so in Afghanistan!’ said the chief; ‘for there we obey only our own wills.’
This conversation is a metaphor for the way in which the British controlled India. The idea—one that Kipling is metaphorically addressing through the Viceroy's Officer here—is that of the British system of top-down rule. This is a power structure where everyone follows orders from the person above them. Although it led to enormous abuses of power in India, it was intended to make people behave in a controlled way, just like the animals in the parade. This exchange shows the British Imperialist belief that this strict control was the "natural" or right way to maintain order. Queen Victoria was also Empress of India at this point, making everyone else below her a "servant." Everyone, including the animals, is one of "Her Majesty's Servants."
The situational irony here comes from the Amir’s own inability to control his men. Normally, one would think that people could control and manage their own behavior better than animals. However, the Afghan chief is surprised to see that the animals are more organized and controlled than the people of his own country. His question, "But are the beasts as wise as the men?", shows his surprise and highlights the irony at play: this rigid, military precision from animals is not what he, or readers, would normally expect. Indeed, they make the "wilful" people of Afghanistan look chaotic by comparison.
