The Gun Zam-Zammah
The gun Zam-Zammah is a real cannon that actually does stand in front of the Lahore Museum. It was made in 1757 on the orders of Ahmed Shah Durrani, a.k.a. the Conqueror of Thrones (we wish that wa...
The Red Bull On A Green Field
The book pretty much hands us this symbol: the Red Bull on a green field is the design on the late Kimball O'Hara, Sr.'s regimental flag. The woman who looks after Kim (sort of—she mostly lets hi...
The Spectacles From The Keeper Of The Images At The Wonder House
We'd like to start with a bit of an aside. It feels important to say that the mere fact that the lama calls the Lahore Museum the "Wonder House" (as do all of the local people in the book) and that...
The River Of The Arrow
The Teshoo lama starts out from the very first chapter of Kim on a personal quest. He explains to the curator of the Wonder House that the Buddha once took part in a test of his archery skill. His...
The Train And The Grand Trunk Road
Kim is full of opposites that actually complement each other: the lama and Kim; Kim's dual influences from India and formal English education; and even the Babu and Creighton. Kipling seems to be t...
Kim's Amulets
Kim has not just one, but two amulets. The first one is a little bag put together by the woman who looks after Kim when his parents die. It has three documents, all of which belonged to Kimball O'H...
The Great Game
Have you guys ever played Risk? It's a great game (pun totally intended). There is a board with a world map on it, each player gets a certain number of armies, and your goal is to take over the ent...
The Great Wheel Of Things
The lama often refers to the Great Wheel when he is talking about this world—the world of the everyday. According to Buddhist belief, every soul in creation is caught up in an endless cycle of re...