Rikki Tikki Tavi

“This is the story of the great war that Rikki-tikki-tavi fought singlehanded through the bath-rooms of the big bungalow in Segowlee cantonment.”

After quickly establishing the story’s setting, the narrator suggests that its primary conflict will be a battle between Rikki-tikki-tavi and the snakes. There is an ironic and lightly comical gap between the narrator’s characterization of the story’s events as a “great war” and the mundane, domestic nature of the setting, but the story does not frame this as detracting from Rikki-tikki-tavi’s heroism.

“I suppose he’s so tame because we’ve been kind to him.”

Teddy’s mother’s decision to take in Rikki-tikki-tavi as a “house-mongoose” is the story’s inciting incident. The family’s kindness to him leads to their protection, as Rikki-tikki-tavi seeks retribution against the snakes that plan to do the family harm. Nevertheless, Teddy’s mother’s assessment of Rikki-tikki-tavi’s motivations isn’t quite right; Rikki-tikki-tavi has his own reasons for allowing the family to adopt him.

“It is the hardest thing in the world to frighten a mongoose, because he is eaten up from nose to tail with curiosity. The motto of all the mongoose family is ‘Run and find out’; and Rikki-tikki was a true mongoose.”

This quote touches on major themes of courage and Family Loyalty and Legacy. What makes Rikki-tikki-tavi a “true” mongoose is not his species but rather his adherence to the species’ motto. The fact that he retains his wild instincts proves essential when confronting the snakes, raising questions about The Possibility of “Taming” Nature.

“Teddy’s safer with that little beast than if he had a bloodhound to watch him.”

Teddy’s father’s knowledge of mongooses and their willingness to attack snakes assures Teddy’s mother of Teddy’s safety with Rikki-tikki-tavi. The comparison to a bloodhound—a much larger (and, for Western readers, more familiar) animal—helps readers understand how formidable the mongoose is despite its small size.

“It was Darzee, the tailor-bird, and his wife. They had made a beautiful nest by pulling two big leaves together and stitching them up the edges with fibres, and had filled the hollow with cotton and downy fluff. The nest swayed to and fro, as they sat on the rim and cried.”

This imagery-filled description juxtaposes the care with which the birds have made their nest—syntactically mirrored in the length of the sentence detailing it—with the couple’s grief. The simple, straightforward description of that grief echoes the abruptness of their fledgling’s death and is meant to bring the reader up short, much as the sight does Rikki-tikki-tavi.

“You eat eggs. Why should not I eat birds?”

Nag and Rikki-tikki-tavi begin a short-lived philosophical argument about whether or not it is morally acceptable to kill the young of another species. This argument foreshadows Rikki-tikki-tavi’s destruction of the cobra eggs, Darzee’s decision not to help destroy the eggs (which remind him of his own), and Nagaina’s attempt on Teddy’s life. Though the story does not explore Nag’s question further, it introduces a note of moral relativism that complicates the story’s depiction of colonialism and of nature, suggesting that different “kinds”—peoples, species, etc.—will inevitably adhere to their own customs and that there is nothing wrong with that.

“If you read the old books of natural history, you will find they say that when the mongoose fights the snake and happens to get bitten, he runs off and eats some herb that cures him. That is not true. The victory is only a matter of quickness of eye and quickness of foot,—snake’s blow against mongoose’s jump,—and as no eye can follow the motion of a snake’s head when it strikes, that makes things much more wonderful than any magic herb.”

The narrator here alludes to a misconception about mongooses: that they can heal themselves of a cobra bite by consuming a particular plant. The fact that stories about what the narrator terms a “magic” herb appeared in works of natural history (i.e., science) perhaps reflects the Orientalist lens through which the British public tended to view India. In the colonial imagination, places like India were strange and mystical, making fanciful stories like this one easier to believe. Regardless, the narrator debunks the story to make the mongoose’s abilities seem more impressive; far from having to cure themselves, mongooses rarely get bitten at all.

“Be careful. I am death!”

Karait here claims an epithet that the opening poem associates with both Rikki-tikki-tavi and Nag/Nagaina. Karait’s small size makes this seem like a boast, but as the narrator goes on to explain, it actually gives him an advantage in a fight by making it easier for him to turn and bite his attacker. In this sense, Karait is a mirror image of Rikki-tikki-tavi, who is likewise deadly despite his size.

“Teddy’s mother picked him up from the dust and hugged him, crying that he had saved Teddy from death, and Teddy’s father said that he was a providence.”

After Rikki-tikki-tavi first saves Teddy’s life, his place in the family is secure. In claiming that Rikki-tikki-tavi is a “providence,” Teddy’s father implies that God brought the mongoose to them, perhaps reflecting the colonialist belief that imperialism was a divinely sanctioned mission.

“So long as the bungalow is empty, we are king and queen of the garden; and remember that as soon as our eggs in the melon-bed hatch (as they may to-morrow), our children will need room and quiet.”

Nagaina’s plans are meant to elicit fear: An “empty bungalow” would mean that Teddy and his family are all dead. The suggestion that the baby cobra eggs could hatch the following day is also ominous, foreshadowing a final confrontation between Rikki-tikki-tavi and the cobras.

“[Rikki-tikki-tavi] made sure he would be banged to death, and, for the honour of his family, he preferred to be found with his teeth locked.”

The story again frames killing snakes, even to the mongoose’s own detriment, as a point of honor for the species and for the mongoose’s own family in particular. This is notable, as it reaffirms that Rikki-tikki-tavi’s loyalty remains principally with his own “people” rather than with Teddy’s family—or, by extension, the colonizing power.

“You’re safe enough in your nest there, but it’s war for me down here.”

In the midst of Darzee’s triumphant song of victory, Rikki-tikki-tavi angrily exclaims that he is still fighting: Nagaina lives and her children may hatch at any time. The tone of his exclamation is frustrated and dutiful, as Rikki-tikki-tavi believes that he is honor-bound to kill these cobras, and he sees Darzee as all talk and no action.

“Rikki-tikki put his paws one on each side of the egg, and his eyes were blood-red. ‘What price for a snake’s egg? For a young cobra? For a young king-cobra? For the last one—the very last of the brood? The ants are eating all the others down by the melon-bed.’”

Rikki-tikki-tavi distracts Nagaina by holding her final egg hostage, highlighting the importance of family even to the villainous cobras. Rikki-tikki-tavi’s “blood-red” eyes are a recurring symbol of his anger and indicate that he “means killing” just as much as Nagaina: The two are evenly matched opponents.