Known simply as Kim, the boy is so thoroughly enculturated in his surroundings that no one suspects him of being white. Kim is the story of young Kimball O’Hara, the orphaned son of an Irish regimental soldier living in British India in the late nineteenth century. Please note that the text uses outdated and/or sensitive geopolitical references such as Bombay and Ceylon. This study guide uses the 2002 Norton Critical Edition of Kim. While Kim is far more sympathetic in its treatment of native populations than were most of the colonial works of literature produced in the same period (even regularly depicting white Europeans as clueless in contrast to the wisdom, hospitality, and cleverness of Indians), it still bears the limitations of an outsider’s perspective on Indian culture. Most of the criticisms of Kim have to do with its depictions of colonialism. The story’s backdrop is the colonialism of British India in the late-19th century, with a focus on the geopolitical tensions arising between European powers in central Asia (a situation referred to in Kim as “the Great Game”). It is best described as a coming-of-age story, featuring a plotline driven as much by personal and cultural identity questions as by the events within the narrative. Its genre, however, is difficult to identify with precision, having elements of children’s literature but also transcending the normal bounds of that field. It is often seen as the masterpiece of Kipling’s fiction for its descriptive richness. Kim’s reception has been robust but mixed. Kipling kept writing until his final years in the 1930s, though none of his later pieces achieved the same level of popularity as the works he produced at the peak of his career. In 1910 he produced a volume of poetry that contained “If-,” a short piece that has earned a spot as one of the most beloved poems of all time. After receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907, Kipling turned most of his attention to writing poetry and short stories, genres that had also dominated his early career in India. Kipling described it as an indulgent fancy, a work of beautiful imagery and compelling descriptions, but largely plotless. Kim, however, was unique among his works. By the time Kipling produced Kim in 1900-1901, he was already one of the most popular novelists of his day.

Kipling’s writing career took off over the subsequent six years, and by 1889 he had saved enough money to relocate to London and pursue a literary life. He was sent back to England for schooling from age six to 16 but then returned to India, taking up a job as a journalist in Lahore, where his father worked as the curator of the cultural museum. Kipling had deep personal connections to India, having been born and raised in Mumbai (formerly called Bombay) until he was five years old.

Kipling book kim