Rikki Tikki Tavi

The eyes of both Rikki-tikki-tavi and the cobras are a motif that develops the characters’ personalities and fighting styles, beginning in the introductory poem: “Eye to eye and head to head […] This shall end when one is dead” (1). This poem calls Rikki-tikki-tavi the “Red-Eye” in reference to his eyes glowing when he becomes angry. Each time this happens, it signals another battle scene. The color red often connotes violence (i.e., blood), but it is also associated with passion and warmth. This latter meaning is relevant, particularly given that the story also likens Rikki-tikki-tavi’s eyes to fire—specifically “hot coals.” This suggests Rikki-tikki-tavi’s intensity of feeling—his strong commitment to duty and his righteous anger on the family’s behalf—which the story compares favorably to the coldness of the cobras, who are shrewd and lacking in empathy.

Nagaina’s eyes also feature; they are a source of potential power over Darzee’s wife, who avoids looking at them for fear of freezing under the cobra’s gaze. Teddy and his family are similarly motionless when Nagaina confronts them on the veranda, though this is partly in an attempt to avoid provoking her. The motif harkens to a longstanding myth that snakes can hypnotize their prey and amplifies the sense of menace and evil the story associates with the cobras. Unlike Rikki-tikki-tavi, they do not “fight fair” but rather immobilize their victims.