The tone of “The Man Who Would Be King” is overall a humorous one. Though Kipling is trying to offer some serious commentary on colonialism, he does so through a funny and ironic story centered on two ineffective con artists whose absurd plan to become the rulers of a foreign country somehow works (before ultimately backfiring).
Kipling intentionally makes the characters of Carnehan and Dravot silly and unintelligent, contributing to the comical tone. Take the following passage, for example, in which Kipling introduces the contract between the two scheming men:
“Would two lunatics make a Contrack like that?” said Carnehan, with subdued pride, showing me a greasy half-sheet of notepaper on which was written the following. I copied it, then and there, as a curiosity —
This Contract between me and you persuing witnesseth in the name of God — Amen and so forth.
(One) That me and you will settle this matter together; i.e. to be Kings of Kafiristan.
The contract continues, but this excerpt alone demonstrates the humorous tone of the story. First, Carnehan asks the absurd question, “Would two lunatics make a Contrack like that?” while pulling out the contract for the narrator to review. The answer that Kipling hopes readers will think to themselves is: yes, two lunatics would make a contract like that. This is because the contract is almost a work of satire. First, the men write words that sound smart but are not actually correct legal language, such as “persuing witnesseth” and “Amen and so forth.” This language is followed by the first commitment the men make “to be Kings of Kafiristan,” an incredibly lofty goal for two unemployed non-Kafir men.
Overall, Kipling’s comical tone communicates the absurdity of unequipped and inefficient people believing that they can—and have the right to—take over the leadership of other nations. While Kipling believed that colonization was acceptable in cases where ethnic groups needed to be “civilized” (a thoroughly outdated ideology), he did not think that “uncivilized” people like Carnehan and Dravot should be the ones to do it.
