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Imperialism In Rudyard Kipling's The Man Who Would Be King

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Rudyard Kipling’s “The Man Who Would Be King” is a story involving imperialism. Kipling tells of the adventures of two men who go from British India to Kafiristan with the goal of becoming Kings of the area. Throughout the story, Kipling shows his feelings for the British Empire. Besides the positive benefits the Empire can bring to the opposing country, Kipling is unsatisfied with the British Empire in its entirety. To get his message across Kipling uses figurative language Kipling’s entire story is made up of figurative language. The story of Dravot and Peachy is an extended metaphor of the actions of the British Empire. This is seen though the parallels the two characters face and the history of the British Empire. When Kipling encounters the men at his office, months after …show more content…

The head of Dravot was shrunken; it was not nearly the size it had been before. Equivalently, after the disbandment of the British Empire the British lost majority of the territory they had acquired through imperialism. Again, Kipling is voicing his discontent with the British Empire because they had lost nearly everything they had worked for. Throughout the novella, Kipling persistently uses negative diction to narrate the story of Dravot and Peachy. Kipling remarks, “But the Empires and the Kings continue to divert themselves as selfishly as before.” His word choice of “selfishly” discloses his feelings toward the British Empire as he believes it is self- indulgent and only has interest in benefiting itself. Kipling does not believe the Empire is colonizing other countries to help those people, but forcing their culture and beliefs onto other areas for more power and control. Additionally,

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