KIM XX -- chapter 14: JUST IS THE WHEEL and SO THE TWINGING SCARS

by Mary GrandPre

If, let's just say, I am attempting to tread the Wheel--or even escape it--and if the Wheel is indeed just, I can probably expect some comeuppance for my "passionate" thoughts regarding this book.  Should I take shelter?  Might I expect to be reborn a snake or some other unclean beast?  Of course, perhaps the gods don't like this book either, but then--o, dear! --I'm still no better off, because then haven't I been wasting not only my time but yours?  Maybe there's still time to salvage my situation.  Maybe the last chapter will be so surpassingly excellent as to redeem (for lack of a better word) the previous fourteen.  I doubt it, though.  Does that make it impossible?  At this rate, I will never attain Nirvana.

• I like "The Woman of Shamlegh"; she's got depth, dimension, and is easily the most interesting character since, I think, the priests at the military camp or Mr. Lurgan, if not of the entire book.  Even better, there's only one chapter left of the book, so it's unlikely Kipling will have time to ruin her!  (Sorry.  That was mean.)
• "Umm," said Kim thoughtfully, considering the past. "It may be that I have acquired merit also. . . . At least she did not treat me like a child."  Is this what this whole thing's been all about?

(I wonder if the Lama's scar is shaped like a bolt of lightning.)

Kim XVIII -- chapter 12: TO SEE ONESELF IN A CLEFT STICK

"The Wheel of Things"

1. Were somebody else writing this book, I'd be less inclined to think there's nothing to what I'm about mention, but, as it's digging me, here it is: what do you make of the use of a serial number, essentially, as designation for and in place of a name for the young spy Kim saves?  Does the lack of name alter our perspective of the character?  Why not have Kim--and this would not, I think, be out of his character--press the young man for his rightful name and thence use it?
2. "...by the curse of the Queen's stone ... and by an assortment of Gods with wholly new names."  (haha)
3. new word (as always, new, anyway, for me): ruck: n. a crease or wrinkle (as in fabric, cloth), or crowd of people; v. to compress into untidy folds.  Off-hand, I wonder if this word might apply to the waves and bowing of very old panes of glass.
4. Potential for a complication!  Will Kipling take advantage of the opportunity he's created for himself?  It seems to me that the misjudgment by the Lama on Kim early in the chapter could open up a conflict.  Will this have lasting effect on Kim or the relationship between him and [one of] his [many, though this the first] master[s]?
5. Kim, as Friend to all the World, lives in more than world.  In particular, of course, is his duel citizenship to that of the Sahibs and of the Lama.  What do you make then of the Lama's words, "No matter what thy wisdom learned among Sahibs, when we come to my River thou wilt be freed from all illusion," inasmuch as it may indicate a required choice, and therefor abandonment of one World for another, of Kim, especially as it was the Lama who essentially paid for Kim's tuition to the Sahib's world?
6. "Let us get to the yolk of the egg":  What is this chapter even about?
7. On racism (this time brought up by Kim's discussion with Huree Babu): I'm feeling the need to defend, at least for the moment, and maybe by some personal tendency toward devil's advocacy, against accusations of Kipling's racism.  Can it be racist to indicate, and often as dominant label, race and caste if this too is the manner by which individuals of the story--time and place--identify themselves?  Would it have been even possible for Kipling to avoid the potentially racist labels (and why would he, as there was little cultural reason for him to do so)?
8. On finger-snapping (an aside): There are, obviously, I think, two or three general applications of the finger-snap (aside from musical), that is [1] the "darn-it", [2] the "hurry-up" or otherwise indication of velocity, and [3] the less-common-to-US impatience, irritation, or disagreement (that of finger-snapping under another's nose, for example).  The first two, and their derivatives, I've seen and used most of my finger-snapping life.  The third, however, I've only observed in connection to British and other European cultures, until my son (6-years-old) mentioned an observation of his from a student in his kindergarten class: a girl, of apparently long-term family residency in the USA, snaps her fingers under the nose of anyone she disagrees with when she corrects that person.  Thoughts or other applicable experiences?
9. "There is no hurry for Hurree" (haha).
10. "He believed that the dung of a black horse, mixed with sulphur, and carried in a snake-skin, was a sound remedy for cholera; but the symbolism interested him far more than the science."
11. How often Kipling appears to fully narrate the unimportant or disinteresting while glossing over the stuff I think I'd actually enjoy reading!
12. What does the Lama require of Kim in return for the latter's paid tuition for his three-year sahib's education?

KIM IV -- chapter 2.2: "The Good-Tempered World"

Start reading at: "'Let thy hair grow long and talk Punjabi,' said the young soldier jestingly to Kim, quoting a Northern proverb. 'That is all that makes a Sikh.' But he did not say this very loud."

"om mani padme hum"

1. How will the Lama know when he's found the River [of the Arrow / of His Healing]?
2. Interesting, Kim's perspective: "The Good-Tempered World."
3. We don't know much yet about Kim's Red Bull, but try comparing what we do know to "Nandi."
4. The relationship between Lama and Kim is, to me, odd.  Kim, supposedly and according to the Lama, and to a degree Kim, is the chela, yet it is the Lama who relies entirely upon Kim, as guide, facilitator, tutor-of-the-world, etcetera.  What is Kim's reliance upon the Lama, and/or how does Kim benefit from the partnership?
5. Well that was fast and easy!  Kim didn't even have to search in order to find the Englishman he sought:  Deus ex Machina or simply a cutting-to-the-chase?
6. Kim's expert delivery and culling of secrets plus the India's British-rule culture of war predict what for Kim?
7. The Lama's quest and his pursuit of it make me think of pilgrimages in general.  Any extended travel abroad, and that only for more than sightseeing-pleasure-seeking, is a sort of pilgrimage, akin to that of the Lama, whether the pilgrim so intends it or not.  Thoughts?
8. Red is (as far as I can discover) considered the color of the rising sun and new beginnings.  Consider this against the color of Kim's bull.
9. What if everyone were "freed from the Wheel of Things" (not according to Kim, though his answer is at least humorous, but according to you)?

Nandi