Rikki Compare And Contrast

Snakes and mongooses have hated each other since they were brought to this world. However, the reason they fight for is very thoughtful and advantageous. In Rikki-Tikki-Tavi written by Rudyard Kipling, Rikki is a mongoose that was taken into care by Teddy and his loyal family. This is mainly due to the reason that Rikki was washed up a storm that collapsed his house. On the other hand, Nagaina is a vicious cobra who is the wife to Nag, and the mother of many babies. Although, Rikki and Nagaina are fierce rivals who are very different, but they fight for protection of themselves and their families. At the same time though, the ways they reach protection is quickness for Rikki and sheer power for Nagaina. Rikki and Nagaina are similar in how

The author writes a brief point how Rikki usually fights, “The victory is only a matter of quickness of eye and quickness of foot—a snake’s strike against the mongoose’s jump” (Kipling 413). To win many battles, Rikki has a keen eye and has to make many quick moves to evade the cobras. This will allow him to get more opportunities of getting the finishing blow. Additionally, it shows that Rikki has to be light and agile to win these battles. On the contrary, the author states something different for Nagaina, “Nagaina was coiled up on the matting by Teddy’s chair, within easy striking distance of Teddy’s bare leg, and she was swaying to and fro, singing a song of triumph” (Kipling 419). However, Nagaina, uses her sheer power to win battles. Nagaina is huge in size able to hurt the enemies in severe pain and maybe resulting in death. She is a smart cobra, so she knows when to attack or evade any attacks towards her. Also, she is a cobra who brings fear into the hearts of many beings as here, Teddy was scared. Therefore, Rikki, a mongoose, has to be light on feet while Nagaina has the qualities that make a very powerful