The Jungle Book

The motif of language appears throughout The Jungle Book, and Rudyard Kipling depicts learning languages as a key skill for living in a successful multicultural society. Throughout the stories, Kipling often uses terms drawn from other languages in his prose, creating a multilingual style that reflects the setting of these stories. Similarly, the names of the animal characters are often Hindi or Persian words that refer to the animal species in question.

Mowgli in “Kaa’s Hunting” is saved twice by his ability to speak in the languages of different animals: first when he speaks to the kite bird and again when he speaks to the cobras. The phrase that he can translate into multiple languages, referred to as the Master Words, reminds the animals of his kinship to them, metaphorically represented as a bloodline in the phrase “we be of one blood, ye and I” (50). Language translation allows Mowgli to claim kinship with other animals, preventing them from harming him and allowing him to secure their help. Kaa remarks that because Mowgli has both “a brave heart and a courteous tongue,” (84) he will succeed in the jungle.