Rudyard Kipling

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (December 30, 1865 – January 18, 1936) was a British author and poet, born in India. He is best known for the children's story The Jungle Book (1894), the Indian spy novel Kim (1901), the poems "Gunga Din" (1892), "If— " (1895), and his many short stories.

Death and legacy

Kipling kept writing until the early 1930s, but at a slower pace and with much less success than before. He died of a brain haemorrhage in January of 1936 at the age of 70.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(His death had in fact previously been incorrectly announced

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

in a magazine, to which he wittily wrote: "I've just read that I am dead. Don't forget to delete me from your list of subscribers.")

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Following his death, Kipling's work continued to fall into critical eclipse. Fashions in poetry moved away from his exact metres and rhymes. Also, as the European colonial empires collapsed in the mid-20th century, Kipling's works fell far out of step with the times. Many who condemn him feel that Kipling's writing was inseparable from his social and political views, despite Kipling's considerable artistry. They point to his portrayals of Indian characters, which generally supported the colonialist view that the Indians and other colonised peoples were incapable of surviving without the help of Europeans, claiming that these portrayals are racist. Examples cited to demonstrate this racism include the mention of "lesser breeds without the Law" in "Recessional" and the reference to colonised people in general as "half-devil and half-child" in the poem "The White Man's Burden". However arguments countering the belief that Indians can not live without the west could clearly be seen in The Jungle Book where a native boy, Mowgli, is able to happily live in a dangerous environment. Kipling's antisemitism is clear in the brief episodes about Punch and The Times in the last chapter of Something of Myself.

Related Topics:
Indian - The White Man's Burden - Mowgli - Antisemitism - Punch - The Times

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kipling's defenders point out that much of the most blatant racism in his writing is spoken by fictional characters, not by him, and thus accurately depicts the characters. An example is that the soldier who speaks "Gunga Din" calls the title character "a squidgy-nosed old idol". However, in the same poem, Gunga Din is seen as a heroic figure. They may see irony or alternative meanings in poems in the author's own voice, including "The White Man's Burden" and "Recessional".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Despite changes in racial attitudes and literary standards for poetry, Kipling's poetry continues to be popular with those who see it as vigorous and adept rather than jingling. Even that very different poet T. S. Eliot edited A Choice of Kipling's Verse (1943), although in doing so he commented that "he could write poetry on occasions - even if only by accident!". His stories for adults also remain in print and have garnered high praise from writers as different as Poul Anderson and Jorge Luis Borges. Nonetheless, Kipling is most highly regarded for his children's books. His Just-So Stories have been illustrated and made into successful children's books and his Jungle Books have been made into several movies, the first by producer Alexander Korda and the others by the Walt Disney Company.

Related Topics:
T. S. Eliot - 1943 - Poul Anderson - Jorge Luis Borges - Alexander Korda - Walt Disney Company

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the death of Kipling's wife in 1939, his house, Batemans in Burwash, East Sussex was bequeathed to the National Trust and is now a public museum to the author. There is a thriving Kipling Society in the United Kingdom, and a boarding house at Haileybury is named after him.

Related Topics:
1939 - Batemans - Burwash - East Sussex - National Trust - Museum - Haileybury

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~