Rikki-Tikki-Tavi the War Story

Kipling’s Rikki Tikki Tavi has all the necessary parts of a battle story.   It is full of battles, war tactics, good, evil, motive, song, and drama.


A battle story needs a gripping introduction, one that hints at the battles to come and one that brings the reader in with an exciting anticipation.   This story first begins with a poem of the brave Rikki Tikki angrily chasing death with a lust to kill.   It right away shows the necessary bravery and strength of the protagonist/hero and the might and evil of the antagonist.   The lines like…


Eye to eye and head to head


This shall end when one is dead





…start the book with the promise of great fights between two great forces.   The first paragraph is also cleverly written to further exaggerate the greatness of the hero and the battles that he has won.


This is the story of the great war that Rikki tikki tavi fought single handed, through the bathrooms of the big bungalow in Segowlee cantonment





After the introduction the plot begins by bringing the hero Rikki to the setting by a coincidental occurrence.   His home is flooded and he is washed away and near death when a family finds him and nurses him to health.   Again here Kippling shows the bravery of the hero, “It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a mongoose.”   Rikki Tikki is thankful to the family and like all good heroes he is loyal and decides to protect them.


Then enters evil, which creates the conflict for which all battling and killing takes place in battle stories.   Rikki is exploring the yard one-day and discovers two birds mourning the loss of an egg that was eaten by the evil snakes ruling the jungle.   Just then the head snake Nag appears.   Rikki already dislikes him as he is good-natured and loyal like all good heroes and Nag ofcourse has eaten his friend’s egg.   This is a very important scene, the introduction of the antagonists.   Nag is introduced with a boisterous...