Discussion Report, Group __________________ Reporter:__________________________

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1. What do the Mowgli stories suggest about the issue of belonging, of finding a home/tribe/family/identity? Does Kipling suggest an essentialist view of identity, a shifting view, or something in between?  An "essentialist" view suggests that everyone has an intrinsic personality which is revealed or developed by experience but without his becoming in any sense a "different person."  A shifting view suggests that no one has a basic "nature," especially not one that is inborn or fixed; rather, each of us occupies different "subject positions" in different circumstances, and our sense of individual identity is really just the sum of the experiences we happen to have had.

2. How do the Mowgli stories relate to the poem called "The Law of the Jungle," in JBII? That is, the "laws" of the jungle are presented as (a) true and unchanging and (b) a necessary means of survival in the jungle. How does that relate to Mowgli's experiences? To what extent is the "jungle" a parallel to human environments, as we see them in these books?

3. Ever since The Jungle Books came out, children have been pretending to be Mowgli and other characters in the books.  This is not true of any of the previous books we have read, with the possible exception of Treasure Island.  It IS true of other books read by children, for instance Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim's Progress, and Robin Hood.  What gives this story "play value"?

4.  "Rikki Tikki Tavvi" has been made into a film, as have others of Kipling's short stories, including "The White Seal."   How can a short story generate an entire movie, even, in the case of "The Man Who Would Be King" and others, feature-length films?  What is the difference between a short story and a chapter in a novel where the chapters are episodes?  Are the Mowgli stories related to each other as the chapters in an episodic novel are, or in some other way--perhaps as volumes in a series?

5. What do the Jungle Books suggest about how a child learns and what is good or bad teaching?  Consider both Mowgli and other "children."

6. Wolves, being pack animals, have a hierarchical society, and the leader who can no longer defeat his rivals dies or at least must leave the pack. To what extent do the Jungle Books endorse, and to what extent do they qualify or challenge, this idea of society? In other words, what sort or sorts of "leadership"
does Kipling portray? Do you agree with him?