How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #7
Mahbub was anything but asleep. It annoyed him vehemently that people outside his tribe and unaffected by his casual amours should pursue him for the life. His first and natural impulse was to cross the line lower down, work up again, and, catching his well-wishers from behind, summarily slay them. Here, he reflected with sorrow, another branch of the Government, totally unconnected with Colonel Creighton, might demand explanations which would be hard to supply; and he knew that south of the Border a perfectly ridiculous fuss is made about a corpse or so. He had not been troubled in this way since he sent Kim to Umballa with the message, and hoped that suspicion had been finally diverted. (8.96)
Mahbub Ali is loyal to the British Indian government, yes, but that doesn't mean he totally agrees with all of the fine points of English law. His surprisingly positive attitude toward murder not only indicates a cultural difference between him and the government he serves, but also indicates the legal compromises that the State has made to find allies among the local residents of India.
Quote #8
'Do not be afraid.' Kim spoke as though he could have vanished on the moment. 'My lama has said that he will come to see me at the madrissah—'
'A beggar and his bowl in the presence of those young Sa—'
'Not all!' Kim cut in with a snort. 'Their eyes are blued and their nails are blackened with low-caste blood, many of them. Sons of mehteranees—brothers-in-law to the bhungi [sweeper].'
We need not follow the rest of the pedigree; but Kim made his little point clearly and without heat, chewing a piece of sugar-cane the while.
'Friend of all the World,' said Mahbub, pushing over the pipe for the boy to clean, 'I have met many men, women, and boys, and not a few Sahibs. I have never in all my days met such an imp as thou art.' (8.131-5)
Mahbub Ali initially objects to the idea of the lama with his begging bowl hanging out with Kim's school friends, but Kim points out that, despite appearances, many of his schoolmates have "low-caste blood"—in other words, they are of mixed race.
This conversation between Kim and Mahbub Ali indicates a weird complexity in Kim's racial politics. Mahbub Ali objects to the idea of a poor person of color going to Kim's British-run school, but Kim points out that many of the students at his school are secretly mixed race, which means that the lama shouldn't be out of place there. He is suggesting that there is a difference between appearance and blood, and that the appearance of a Sahib can sometimes hide "low-caste blood."
The implication that mixed-race origins is something to be ashamed of—something that people must disguise—is proof of how racist Kipling's imperialist assumptions can be. Mahbub Ali compliments Kim for being an "imp" because he doesn't take his fellow students's race for granted. But we think that Kim's eagerness in looking for signs of other people's "real" race (as though race is something "real" and "natural" that means something in-born and unchangeable about a person's character) is dangerous and prejudiced.
Quote #9
Kim looked intently [at the broken jar]. Lurgan Sahib laid one hand gently on the nape of his neck, stroked it twice or thrice, and whispered: 'Look! It shall come to life again, piece by piece. First the big piece shall join itself to two others on the right and the left—on the right and the left. Look!'
To save his life, Kim could not have turned his head. The light touch held him as in a vice, and his blood tingled pleasantly through him. There was one large piece of the jar where there had been three, and above them the shadowy outline of the entire vessel. He could see the veranda through it, but it was thickening and darkening with each beat of his pulse. Yet the jar—how slowly the thoughts came!—the jar had been smashed before his eyes. Another wave of prickling fire raced down his neck, as Lurgan Sahib moved his hand.[…]
The jar had been smashed—yess, smashed—not the native word, he would not think of that—but smashed—into fifty pieces, and twice three was six, and thrice three was nine, and four times three was twelve. He clung desperately to the repetition. The shadow-outline of the jar cleared like a mist after rubbing eyes. (9.49-54)
When Lurgan is trying to assess how good Kim is at seeing beyond appearances, he attempts to hypnotize him into believing that a broken jar has become whole again; Kim is the first person who has ever resisted Lurgan's hypnosis without practice or training. Kim has a natural skepticism that makes him a great spy.
But we are also interested in the subtle racial implications of this passage. While Kim is trying to hold on to his rational knowledge that the jar is broken, no matter what Lurgan is suggesting, he finds himself saying the English word, "not the native word," which helps him to remain conscious. Why would thinking in Urdu make it harder for Kim to resist hypnosis? What might Kipling be implying with this detail?