The Virtual Coffeehouse

The line that first caught my eye concerning this topic was on page 94 when someone laughs at Kim's proclamation that the meaning of his Star is War,
"where a native would have lain down, Kim's white blood set him on his feet."
This line seems particularly strong as it implies the power of the Englishman over the people of India and the almost willing submisiveness that the natives show compared to that of the whites. In addition it also hints at the somewhat violent and ready to fight attitude that the British carried during their conquests of the colonies as well as during their administration of them. Finally, the laughing is what foces Kim to continue his tale to the village (whereas a dark-skinned person would have supposedly quieted down) which ends in him gaining influence over the listeners - much as English decrees had a strong influence over the Indian region.

We've discussed Kim as a boy's adventure story that is simultaneously a story about defining Great Britain's identity as a colonial power. How do these two elements come together in Kipling's novel? In other words, how and where in the novel do masculinity and empire intersect?

Masculinity and empire seem to go hand-in-hand. The English are the dominant force, also can be viewed as masculine in this time… and the Indians are the submissive force, a more feminine trait… also to point out that the English aggression and ‘ready to fight attitude’ (as Maria mentioned) is another masculine trait.[/quote]

When it comes to Britian and the idea of masculinity i think of them simultaneously and in connection with each other. Britian is a very dominant place where masculinity and manhood are the rule and you don't hear issues of women and femanism. Also as Danielle pointed out the British were fighters and they didn't back down they were there to fight and women were not because that was not the world at this particular time in history. Masculinity also of course goes with the issue of Kim finding his identity and the many things that he has to overcome and deal with to reach this manhood and adulthood in his life. When men had to fight in wars in Britian many were young children and an issue like the war made young children realize what manhood and masculinity stood for. Him struggles with this attempt to find his identity. Many of the other posts pointed out some great particular examples in the story where these two ideas go together. The chapter 5 i believe it was with the lama displays this idea greatly. I have a little more to read in the story so i hope that i will find some more examples to tie in with Britian and masculinity so that i will create a better understanding for myself then i have already done so.