In “The Man Who Would Be King,” Carnehan and Dravot act as foils for each other, meaning that readers learn about both characters by comparing them to each other. While, at first, it seems like the men are more alike than different—they are both low-income white British “loafers” who engage in schemes to make money rather than finding consistent work—by the end of the story it becomes clear that Dravot is greedy and ambitious in a way that Carnehan is not.
This difference between the two men emerges in the following argument the two men have about whether or not to start looking for Kafir wives:
‘There’s another thing too,’ says Dravot, walking up and down. ‘The winter’s coming and these people won’t be giving much trouble, and if they do we can’t move about. I want a wife.’
‘For Gord’s sake leave the women alone!’ I says. ‘We’ve both got all the work we can, though I am a fool. Remember the Contrack, and keep clear o’ women.’
This discussion comes just after Dravot has ranted about how he doesn’t just want to control the people of Kafiristan but wants to forge an empire. In addition to his dreams of empire, he “want[s] a wife.” As Carnehan notes, they signed a “contrack” saying that they would “keep clear o’ women” and that they have “all the work” they need in running this foreign country. In other words, Carnehan is committed to remaining a moral authority in Kafiristan and ruling from a place of integrity, while Dravot wants to have as much power as possible while objectifying women in the process.
While readers today may wonder how it is possible to be a white British man colonizing another nation from a place of integrity or morality, at the time, people like Kipling earnestly believed that colonization was beneficial for non-European people who needed to be “civilized.” In presenting Carnehan and Dravot as foils for each other, Kipling is communicating his support for colonial leaders like Carnehan who colonize from a place of wanting to help, and his critique of leaders like Dravot who colonize from a place of wanting power, women, and status.
