67 pages 2 hours read

Kim

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1901

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During Reading

Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTERS 1-5

Reading Check

1. What is Kim’s nickname in the wards?

2. What legendary place does the lama hope to find?

3. What object does Mahbub Ali expect Kim to deliver to the British military in Umballa?

4. Which animal do the lama and Kim disagree about how to handle?

5. Which two words does the old soldier use to describe the police?

6. What does Kim see in the military camp that he recognizes?

7. Who feels “sorrowful” to learn that Kim will be joining the regiment as it continues its march?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What is Kim’s ethnic background? How does he use this to his advantage in daily life?

2. Who is the lama from Tibet? Describe how Kim’s and the lama’s lives are drastically changed in meeting each other.

3. How does Kim show his street smarts at the train station?

4. Summarize Kim and the lama’s journey on the train. How does Kipling use this setting as an opportunity to explain the Religious and Cultural Diversity of India?

5. What does Kim learn through eavesdropping on the man in Umballa? How does he use this information to his advantage later?

6. Summarize Kim’s encounter with the Kulu woman. What does she have in common with the lama, and what does she offer them?

7. Summarize Kim’s meeting with Reverend Bennett and Father Victor. How do these two men differ on their opinions of the boy?

Paired Resources

What Is India's Caste System?

  • This article from BBC discusses the caste system in India.
  • This connects with the themes of Personal Identity and Religious and Cultural Diversity.
  • Based on the text as well as the above resource, how important was the caste system in turn-of-the-century India?

Adaptations of Empire: Kipling’s Kim, Novel and Game

  • Meaning’s 2020 article, which explores colonialist overtones in the “Kim” video game, includes a map of Kim’s travels in the novel.
  • This discussion connects with the theme Life as a Game.
  • Based on the text as well as the above resource, what are the lasting effects of Kipling’s Kim on neocolonialist perspectives in contemporary society?

CHAPTERS 6-10

Reading Check

1. What does the lama promise to send to Kim each year?

2. In Chapter 6, to whom does Kim send a letter and request to “come and help [him]”?

3. According to Colonel Creighton in Chapter 7, what is there “no sin so great as”?

4. Whom does Kim prevent from being assassinated?

5. Who makes Kim promise him that he will attend school all year in return for being “free” during the holidays?

6. What amusing activity does Kim play with Lurgan Sahib and the Hindu boy?

7. What object does the Babu give Kim that will serve as a sign that he is a secret agent?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why does Kim hire a letter writer? Who does he write to, and what message does he convey?

2. Who is Colonel Creighton? How does his entrance into the plot change the course of Kim’s future?

3. How does Kim revere his new city of Lucknow? How does the ethnic background of the driver dictate the type of conversation Kim has with this person?

4. How does Kim save Mahbub Ali’s life? How does Mahbub Ali respond to this action?

5. What type of activity does Kim excel at while with Lurgan Sahib? How does this shape his future endeavors?

6. What are the Colonel, Lurgan, and Mahbub Ali’s plans for Kim’s future? What are the major points of agreement and disagreement?

Paired Resources

Kim (1950)

  • Director Victor Saville’s film adaptation of Kipling’s novel features prominent actors of the mid-20th century, including Errol Flynn.
  • This source connects with the themes of Life as a Game, Personal Identity, and Religious and Cultural Diversity.
  • Based on the text as well as the above resource, does Hollywood’s depiction of Kipling’s novel depart or stay true to the original text? Explain.

India-Pakistan Conflict: An Overview

  • Sil’s chapter in Asia in World History: The Twentieth Century centers on the conflict between India and Pakistan.
  • Study of this conflict connects with the theme of Religious and Cultural Diversity.
  • Based on the text as well as the above resource, how do Kipling’s references to the conflict between communities in the north of India allude to the disagreements between India and Pakistan in the mid-20th century?

CHAPTERS 11-15

Reading Check

1. Which aspect of Buddhism was the lama particularly focused on studying during the years he was separated from Kim?

2. Which two words does the Kulu woman use to describe women without the presence of a man?

3. When is “the Great Game finished,” according to Babu in Chapter 12?

4. Whom does the Russian refer to as “in petto India in transition—the monstrous hybridism of East and West” in Chapter 13?

5. What does Babu view as “the great deliverer from the North”? (Chapter 15)

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What realization “was made plain to [the lama] in a hundred dreams”? How does this affect his plans? (Chapter 11)

2. Who does Kim meet while on the train with the lama? How does he use his new set of skills to aid this person?

3. Who surprises Kim while at the Kulu woman’s house? Explain why this person comes to see Kim.

4. Where do Kim and the lama alter their journey to? How do each of these characters handle the difference in terrain?

5. What altercation does the lama have with the Frenchman and the Russian? How does this shape the remainder of their journey?

6. What does the lama spend his time doing after the altercation? What conclusion does he come to?

7. Who is the Woman of Shamlegh? How does this woman’s presence cause Kim to reflect on the concept of gender?

8. Is Kim’s mission considered to be successful in the eyes of his mentors? What dilemma does the novel end with?

Recommended Next Reads 

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

  • Kipling’s 1894 collection of short stories centers on the relationships between animals and humans on the Indian subcontinent.
  • Shared themes include Life as a Game, Personal Identity, and Religious and Cultural Diversity.
  • Shared topics include British imperialism, the colonial gaze, and the setting of the Indian subcontinent.
  • The Jungle Book on SuperSummary

King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard

  • Haggard’s 1885 novel follows protagonist Allan Quartermain on an adventure across the African continent.
  • Shared themes include Life as a Game and Religious and Cultural Diversity.
  • Shared topics include British imperialism and the colonial gaze.
  • King Solomon’s Mines on SuperSummary

Reading Questions Answer Key

CHAPTERS 1-5

Reading Check

1. “‘Little Friend of all the World’” (Chapter 1)

2. Paper, writing utensils, and reading glasses (Chapter 1)

3. A paper/document (Chapter 1)

4. A cobra (Chapter 3)

5. “[T]hieves and extortioners” (Chapter 3)

6. A flag (Chapter 5)

7. The lama (Chapter 5)

Short Answer

1. Kim is a white child, orphaned from Irish parents. He “passes” as a native of the Indian subcontinent and dons different ethnic and cultural identities to complete a specific mission. (Chapter 1)

2. The lama from Tibet is a holy man who is searching for the River of the Arrow. He comes across Kim, who initially guides him to the Wonder House as well as helps him find food in the evening. In doing so, the two decide to join each other and make the journey to the sacred river. (Chapter 1)

3. In the overwhelming chaos at the train station, Kim identifies that the ticket cashier is scamming him with the incorrect ticket location. He demands that the man give him the proper location. (Chapter 2)

4. The second chapter focuses on the conversations between people of various genders, castes, religions, and ethnicities while on the early morning train across the Indian subcontinent. Kipling uses this chapter as an opportunity to present the varieties of different cultures and opinions of the region, with most of the narrative focusing on their habits, stories, and mannerisms. (Chapter 2)

5. He realizes that his message from Mahbub Ali was a coded plan of military action to limit unrest in the northern regions. He uses his information later in a conversation with the lama and locals of a village to establish his ethos as an individual of intelligence and convince his surrounding company that there is a forthcoming war. (Chapters 2-3)

6. At a pasao, Kim sees an older woman and realizes he has an opportunity to use her to his advantage. After making her acquaintance, he then introduces her to the lama. The two realize that they come from the same region of the northern Tibetan mountains. She requests that the lama and Kim walk with her and her caravan, as it is the same route as the one to his destination. (Chapter 4)

7. Reverend Bennett discovers Kim near the campsite and immediately believes he is “thiefing”; however, after finding Kim’s birth certificate and other important papers in the amulet around his neck, Father Victor believes that he is the son of former soldier Kimball O’Hara. The clergymen determine that Kim must stay with the regiment to attend schooling, and, after a difficult separation, the lama leaves and returns to the Kulu woman. (Chapter 5)

CHAPTERS 6-10

Reading Check

1. 300 rupees (Chapter 6)

2. The lama (Chapter 6)

3. “[I]gnorance” (Chapter 7)

4. Ali (Chapter 8)

5. Mahbub Ali (Chapter 6)

6. The Jewel Game (Chapter 9)

7. An amulet (Chapter 10)

Short Answer

1. Kim hires a local scribe to write to Mahbub Ali that he had delivered the message but was caught by a local regiment. Once Mahbub Ali arrives, he informs Kim that it would hurt his reputation to simply take Kim from his schooling. (Chapter 6)

2. Colonel Creighton is an ethnologist who takes an interest in Mahbub Ali and Kim’s story. After learning that the boy now has money to attend school in Lucknow, Creighton offers to accompany the boy there. (Chapter 6)

3. Kim is significantly impressed with his new city of Lucknow, saying it is only Bombay that would surpass Lucknow in the beauty of “her garish style.” The narrator notes that since the driver is from Lucknow, he takes honor in the description of the city, while “an English guide would have talked of the Mutiny.” (Chapter 7)

4. Overhearing a conversation between two assassins for Mahbub Ali, Kim uses his quick thinking to report them to the police as thieves and have them arrested. Mahbub Ali is impressed and grateful; however, he believes that for the boy’s safety, it is best to lodge him for the remainder of his holidays with Lurgan Sahib. (Chapter 8)

5. While staying with Lurgan Sahib, Babu recognizes Kim’s talents in impersonation and urges Lurgan to support Kim as a fieldworker for British espionage. Kim continues with his schooling for the following three years, but his mentors are eager to introduce Kim to their work. (Chapter 9)

6. Each of Kim’s mentors wants Kim to be involved in espionage work for the British empire; however, they differ on the extent of his involvement and whether he is mature enough for espionage work. In the end, they allow him to join the lama on his pilgrimage to the Road while also collecting some information. (Chapter 10)

CHAPTERS 11-15

Reading Check

1. The Wheel of Life (Chapter 12)

2. “[D]umb and useless” (Chapter 12)

3. “When everyone is dead” (Chapter 12)

4. Babu (Chapter 13)

5. Russia (Chapter 15)

Short Answer

1. The lama becomes convinced that without Kim, he would “never find [his] River.” He then decides he and Kim “will go out again together” in their search. (Chapter 11)

2. While on the train, Kim realizes that he is with agent “E23,” who tells him the story of how he narrowly escaped from the hands of enemies on various charges but has left an important letter at Chitor. Kim uses his skillset in changing E23’s appearance to “an all but naked, ash-smeared, ochre-barred, dusty-haired Saddhu” to protect the agent and allow him to safety. (Chapter 11)

3. While at the Kulu woman’s house, Kim is surprised to see Babu, who is disguised as a “hakim.” Babu visits Kim to tell him that they are “proud” of his work with the E23 agent, as well as bring him news about the changing situation in the north that now involves Russian agents. (Chapter 12)

4. Based on the information from Babu, the group alters their journey to the north, where the lama is from. Although Kim is young, he struggles with the mountainous terrain; however, the lama, despite his age, feels at home and can maneuver around the location with considerable ease. (Chapter 13)

5. When the lama denies the Russian the sale of his Wheel of Life, the Russian becomes violent, hitting the lama and causing him to fall. Onlookers are horrified, and chaos ensues; however, Babu uses this as an opportunity to take the documents of the foreigners. (Chapter 13)

6. The lama spends most of his time meditating upon the incident, in particular the way that he violently acted. He determines that he acted with anger because he was not on the proper religious way. (Chapter 14)

7. The Woman of Shamlegh is a local woman who temporarily hosts Kim and the lama as well as provides the Frenchman’s and Russian’s documentation to Kim. She acts flirtatiously and coyly with Kim, causing him to question the role of women in his life as a distraction to his duties: “How can a man follow the Way or the Great Game when he is so-always pestered by women?” (Chapter 14)

8. At the Kulu woman’s house, Babu takes the documents that Kim successfully stole and offers him a permanent place as a spy for the British government. At the same time, the lama has a vision that he has reached the river, and he determines that he would like to bring Kim there. The final scene of the novel does not definitively answer which path Kim takes. (Chapter 15)

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