Rikki Tikki Tavi

Foreshadowing is a literary device in which a writer hints at later narrative developments. The poem with which “Rikki-tikki-tavi” begins is an example, as it previews Nag and Rikki-tikki’s fight to the death and hints that Nag may lose (“the hooded Death has missed” [1]). Notably, the climactic confrontation involves not Nag but Nagaina, allowing the opening poem to raise readers’ expectations while still keeping some surprises in reserve.

Less overt examples of foreshadowing appear in the frequent references to mongooses’ prowess as snake killers. On the first night that Rikki-tikki-tavi sleeps in Teddy’s room, Teddy’s father assures Teddy’s mother that Teddy is safer with Rikki-tikki-tavi than he would be with a guard dog: “If a snake came into the nursery now—” (3). The remark foreshadows all of the family’s close encounters with snakes—particularly the events of the following night, when Nag enters the parents’ bathroom. Another instance of foreshadowing involves Nag’s premonition of his own death the first time he sees Rikki-tikki: “[A]t the bottom of his cold heart he was afraid” (5). As it turns out, Nag is right to fear Rikki-tikki-tavi, and the passage hints at Nag’s approaching death.

Imagery is language that appeals to the senses. Kipling utilizes imagery to make the world in which Rikki-tikki-tavi battles cobras come alive for a Western readership unfamiliar with India and its animals. In the first meeting with the cobras, Rikki-tikki-tavi hears “a horrid cold sound” and then sees Nag, who rises “inch by inch out of the grass […] five feet long from tongue to tail” (4). The auditory and visual imagery creates tension by emphasizing Nag’s size and cruelty (his “coldness”); even Rikki-tikki-tavi seems slightly fearful of his first encounter. The later description of the cobras infiltrating the bungalow has a similar effect: After talking to Chuchundra, Rikki-tikki-tavi hears “the faintest scratch-scratch in the world,—a noise as faint as that of a wasp walking on a window-pane,—the dry scratch of a snake’s scales on brickwork” (9). Here, the sense of menace comes from the very quietness of the sound, which would be easy to miss.

Rikki-tikki-tavi’s eyes are a common focus of imagery as well. Whenever Rikki-tikki-tavi is angry, his eyes grow “red and hot” (6)—a description that emphasizes his passionate courage and clearly differentiates him from the “cold” cobras.