Shere Khan’s pelt represents the unbridgeable gap between humans and animals, as it is a show of human superiority. Shere Khan is the most fearsome beast in the jungle. He has a high degree of influence over the other animals, even though he does not follow the Law of the Jungle. Even the humans living close to Shere Khan fear him and tell superstitious tales about him. However, despite being arguably the most powerful animal in the jungle, Shere Khan is no match for Mowgli, a human child. In the climax of “Tiger! Tiger!’ Mowgli outsmarts Shere Khan and kills him. After, he skins Shere Khan, claims the pelt as his own, and displays it to the other animals of the jungle. When Mowgli displays the pelt to the animals of the jungle, he shows them that he is a fundamentally different class of being than they are. After all, he has reduced the most terrifying animal in the jungle to a pelt, a type of trophy only a human would take from an animal.
Shere Khan’s Pelt Quotes in The Jungle Book
‘Lead us again, O Akela. Lead us again, O Man-cub, for we be sick of this lawlessness, and we would be the Free People once more[,]’ [cried the Pack.]
‘Nay,’ purred Bagheera, ‘that may not be. When ye are full-fed, the madness may come upon you again. Not for nothing are ye called the Free People. Ye fought for freedom, and it is yours. Eat it, O Wolves.’
I am two Mowglis, but the hide of Shere Khan is under my feet.
All the Jungle knows that I have killed Shere Khan. Look – look well, O Wolves!
Ahae! My heart is heavy with the things that I do not understand.
Shere Khan’s Pelt Symbol Timeline in The Jungle Book
