The first three Just So Stories explain how certain specific animal features came to be. “How the Whale Got His Throat” sets the tone for the collection of stories in a number of ways. It is a story about wit and intelligence overcoming brute strength and introduces the theme of The Lasting Consequences of Actions. The huge and powerful Whale, with his insatiable appetite, is first bested by the small ‘Stute Fish, who manipulates the Whale into eating the Mariner to save himself from being eaten. Then, the Mariner demonstrates his “infinite-resource-and-sagacity” (2) by using his very limited resources—a knife, his raft, and suspenders—to teach the Whale a lasting lesson and reshape the ecosystem of the ocean by ensuring that the Whale will never eat anything large again. In this way, the Whale is punished for his gluttony by having to satisfy himself with small-sized food portions from then on.

The story also establishes The Relationship Between Man and Animals, presenting man’s role in nature as bringing order and intelligence, with man playing a fundamental role in shaping the natural world. Many of the tales in Just So Stories are somewhat biblical in nature, illustrating a new but fully-formed world with animals and humans negotiating their place in the developing social hierarchy. The stories establish a hierarchy in which man is at the top and exercises dominion over animals and nature thanks to his technology (e.g., the knife and raft). The implication that such hierarchies are both natural and desirable reflects a worldview common in Kipling’s Victorian England. 

The story also introduces Kipling’s signature rhetorical devices, such as repetition, rhyming, and alliteration. Kipling’s Just So Stories were written as bedtime stories for his daughter, referred to throughout the text as “Best Beloved.” The stories read as if the narrator is telling them aloud, with devices like rhyming and alliteration giving the text a sense of rhythm. For example, when the Mariner is inside the Whale, Kipling writes, “he stumped and he jumped and he thumped and he bumped, and he pranced and he danced, and he banged and he clanged” (2), and so on. The sound of the words plays a key role, creating a singsong rhythm that both aids memorization for oral recitation and creates narrative variation for listeners/readers. Kipling also makes generous use of repetition, both of words and scenarios throughout his stories. In “How the Whale Got His Throat,” repetition is primarily used to highlight things of importance, such as the Mariner’s suspenders and his “infinite-resource-and-sagacity,” both of which are key to the story’s conclusion.

“How the Camel Got His Hump” continues the exploration of the relationship between man and nature, while also emphasizing the importance of Living with Morality and Integrity. Many of the Just So Stories are fables meant to impart some kind of moral lesson, with “How the Camel Got His Hump” cautioning against laziness and vanity, encouraging hard work and supporting others. Most of the animals, including the Dog, the Ox, and the Horse, quickly and obediently go to work for the Man, again establishing a sense of human intellectual superiority over the natural world. The Camel, however, refuses to cooperate. He is “most ‘scruciating idle” (5), lazy and vain, forcing the other animals to work harder because he won’t participate. His behavior illustrates how others can suffer from one individual’s laziness. As punishment, the Camel receives his hump. 

Similar to the Camel, “How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin” also offers a moral lesson, this time warning against being greedy and having bad manners. The Rhinoceros eats a cake he knows doesn’t belong to him. He is punished when the Parsee man, the cake’s rightful owner, puts crumbs in the Rhinoceros’s skin, making him scratch until his skin stretches in great folds. Like the Camel, the Rhinoceros and his descendants have to wear the evidence of his moral transgression for the rest of time. However, the narrator notes that the Rhino “has no manners now, and he never will have any manners” (8), similar to the Camel who “has never yet learned how to behave” (6), suggesting that the animals themselves might have failed to absorb the lesson of their bad behavior.

All three stories describe certain animals’ physical traits as direct consequences of their actions, imbuing them with important symbolism. Out of the three, however, the Whale’s story has fewer moral implications, as the Whale goes on to live the rest of his life quite happily, despite the fact he can only eat very small fish.