Identity Crisis: Rudyard Kipling's Kim – A Postcolonial Perspective

Abstract

This paper highlights the problemtatics of identity formation in a colonial framework as embodied in Rudyard Kipling's Kim in which he supports the presence of the Raj in British India. The article examines Kim's identity crisis; his constant process of redefining and rethinking his identity (a British, an Irish, an Indian, a native, a coloniser, etc.), his confusing amorphous physical characterization, his ambivalent relationship with natives and colonizers, and his Hamlet-like indecision. Further, the article examines the influence of genetics on Kim's final decision and tries to explain the ramifications of the decision and foregrounds it in Kipling's own imperial interests in India.