Article Analysis of the Man Who Would Become King

Introduction

The Man who would become King is a story by Rudyard Kipling about two men who set out to become Kings in Kafiristan which is a fictional place that represents Afghanistan. The narrator takes the position of a newspaperman who met the two men while in India. The two men are Peachy Carnehan and Daniel Dravot. The story begins with the newspaperman took a business trip to India. While in the train, the newspaper man met Peachey who has broad shoulders and impressive eyebrows that were unbroken. Peachey's eyebrows formed a straight line across his forehead. Peachy requested the newspaperman to deliver a message to his friend. The newspaperman agrees to the request and goes to meet a red-bearded man who turns out to be Dravot. As the newspaperman later finds out, the two men were plotting to blackmail an Indian official into giving them money. He delivered the message but then decided to report the two men to the relevant authorities; an act that was supposed to get the two men deported. However, later that evening the newspaperman returned to his office only to have Peachy and Daniel badge into his office demanding a drink. After some introductions, the two men revealed their plans to rule Kafiristan to the newspaperman and the agreement they made to each other. The author uses mise en abyme to argue for the theme of friendship, arrogance and racial superiority.

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The author uses the story to present three ideas. The first is the idea of friendship. Peachy and Daniel are complex individuals, but their strong friendship neutralizes their complexity. In the story, Daniel realized his mistake and the trouble he had brought upon his friend Peachy, he asked for his forgiveness, and Peachy responded by saying, "Fully and freely do I forgive you Dan" (Kipling 1876). In that section, Daniel was being taken to a rope bridge that hanged over a ravine. At this point, the local men had found out that Daniel and Peachy were not Gods and they had decided to execute the two men. Daniel's actions to forcefully try and marry a local girl caused a series of events that exposed the two friends as humans rather than Gods. Despite the trouble that Daniel had brought to him, Peachy remained loyal to his friend and showed love and sympathy to Daniel.

Arrogance is the other theme that the author shows is the narrative. The subject of arrogance is displayed through Daniel's actions. Daniel shows pride from the early parts of the story. The newspaperman reported Daniel and Peachy to the authorities and returned to his office. Daniel showed up in the office uninvited along with Peachy. He goes ahead to demand a drink by saying, "We'd like some drink..." (Kipling 1858). The newspaperman didn't take offense in the arrogance displayed by the two friends. It was the onset of a series of arrogant actions that would lead Daniel to his death. Daniel also allowed and even encouraged the local men to view him and his friend Peachy as gods. Even then, after he accepted the god status, he failed to act like one by insisting on marrying a local girl against her will and the objections of the local community. The locals believed it was an abomination for gods and mortals to intermarry. Daniel's decision to marry also went against his contract with Peachy which stipulated that they stay away from alcohol and women. Despite Peachey's attempt to convince Daniel not to marry, he proceeded with the wedding. As the wedding ceremony was about to begin, the bride bit Daniel so hard that he started bleeding in front of the entire community. The blood was enough to convince the locals that the two were mortal men instead of gods.

In narrative contains several allegories of racial superiority. The narrator through the newspaperman describes India as a hole that is unpleasant to live in. The narrative goes ahead to allude to racial superiority when Peachy and Daniel decide to go and rule over Kafiristan. They naturally assume their ethnic and cultural superiority over the locals because of their guns. Even after managing to become Kings, they disregard the culture of the locals by acting contrary to the customs of the local people. In page 1869 of the story, Davort says,". And I know that you won't cheat me because you are white people-sons of Alexander- and not like common, black Mohammedans" (Kipling). By that line, Davort had implied that white people are honest because of their color while the black people were dishonest due to their dark skin color. They also complement the people by saying they have become "quite English" which is a reference to the superiority of the Englishmen.

The setting of the narrative is colonial India. That was a time when slavery was still practiced in most parts of the world, and the British empire had several overseas colonies. Despite the racial tone present in the narrative, it still carries an exciting storyline that makes various appeals to the readers. The author leaves some room for the reader to construct their version of the story. The author does this by using ambiguity. For instance, it is not clear whether the locals chopped Dan's head or the rope of the bridge, either way, his body fell. The ambiguity in this part of the story is a culmination of the imagination that the author has been building since the beginning of the narrative. The reader gets a chance to be engaged in the story by developing their version of events which still end up being correct.

The author makes some appeals to the readers. The most common appeal is the appeal to the readers' empathy. In the last section of the narrative, the author takes on a sad tone to describe Peachey's experience in Kafiristan. "They took him down-poor old Peachey that hadn't done them any harm," (Kipling 1876). In that line the author describes what the locals of Kafiristan did to Peachy after he had spent a day, crucified between two pine trees. The author's tone suggests that the locals were not justified to act in that manner. He paints Peachey as an innocent person who had no part in the events that unfolded in Kafiristan. Unlike Daniel, Peachey had not wronged them in any way. Their decision to crucify him lacked any sympathy. The author also appeals to the readers' logic. The use of logic is present at the beginning of the narrative after the narrator had agreed to deliver the message to Daniel. The newspaperman uses logical thinking to figure out the consequences of conspiring with the two strangers. The narrator reasoning is that cases of blackmail never end well for the perpetrators. He concludes that such an association will be bad for the British newspaper and he decides to report the matter to the local authorities. The author convinces the readers that the narrator did the right thing by indicating the narrator's line of thought that foretells a chain of events depending on his decisions. All these appeals work towards building the larger picture of arguing for the theme of friendship, arrogance and racial superiority.

Works Cited

Kipling, Rudyard. "The Man Who Would Become King." Kipling, Rudyard. The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales. Allahabad: A H Wheeler & Co, 1888. 1869-1858. Print.