38th Annual Student Research Conference
The Lama and Kim: Navigating and Negotiating Identity in Rudyard Kipling’s Kim
Isaac M. Hudson
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
In Kim (1901), Kipling delineates the adventures of Kimball O’Hara, a boy of Irish parentage born in India and orphaned at a young age. Central to the novel is Kim’s relationship with Teshoo Lama, a Tibetan Buddhist monk and father figure to Kim. The Lama comes to India in search of the Holy River, the River of the Arrow, to seek release from the Wheel of Life. The bond that develops between the Lama and Kim leads to their travels on the Grand Trunk Road, the Lama shaping Kim’s journey to self-discovery. Kim’s question, “And what is Kim?” persuades the reader of Kim’s unsaid response, as this paper will put forward, that Kim’s multilayered identity is a composite of both the Lama’s spiritual teaching and Kim's training for the British Secret Service.
Keywords: Kim, Rudyard Kipling, Kimball O'Hara, Teshoo Lama, Identity, Colonial India, The Great Game, British Secret Service
Topic(s):English
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Session: 204-4
Location: SUB Georgian A
Time: 11:00