Discussion Topic
Shere Khan's actions against other characters in The Jungle Book
Summary:
Shere Khan, the tiger in The Jungle Book, acts as the primary antagonist, threatening and attempting to kill Mowgli, the human child. He also instills fear in the animal community, disrupts the peace of the jungle, and manipulates other animals to turn against Mowgli. Khan's actions drive much of the conflict within the story.
Does Shere Khan kill Akela in The Jungle Book?
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling is a wonderful work of fictional literature, and not many people realize that the entire book is not focused on Mowgli. The Jungle Book is actually a compilation of stories. Several of them deal with Mowgli, Akela, Shere Khan, and other beloved characters, but other stories focus on animals, such as Rikki-tikki-tavi, the heroic mongoose.
The Mowgli parts of The Jungle Book have gone down in greater fame than the other parts of the book, and this is likely due to the movie versions of the same title that focus on Mowgli's adventures. Multiple films have featured Mowgli, Shere Khan, and the others, and each film has taken its own liberties with certain plot points or character backgrounds.
In Kipling's book, Shere Khan does not kill Akela. In fact, in "Tiger! Tiger!," Akela helps Mowgli kill Shere Khan, and the elder wolf is still...
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alive when the book concludes. Akela will die inThe Second Jungle Book, which was published a year after the first. He dies from his wounds in a battle against the dholes, influencing Mowgli's decision to return to the humans. It is only in the 2016 film that Shere Khan kills Akela, throwing him off a cliff and assuming leadership of the pack.
Does Shere Khan kill Baloo in The Jungle Book?
Shere Khan does not kill Baloo in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. Despite being portrayed as a villain throughout Kipling's books and their movie adaptations, Shere Khan kills a surprisingly small number of characters. If and when he kills someone, it isn't usually a main or even named character. The Second Jungle Book is a good example of this. It starts off with a story called "How Fear Came," which likely takes place sometime during the events that occur in The Jungle Book. In the story, Shere Khan appears at the watering hole and brags to the other animals that he has just killed an unnamed person (or possibly people) an hour earlier.
The 2016 film version of The Jungle Book portrays Shere Khan killing Akela, which does not happen in the books. In fact, Akela helps Mowgli kill Shere Khan in the original story. Shere Khan also kills Mowgli's parents in this film. The 1994 film version, for its part, depicts Shere Khan killing a fair number of humans. In this adaptation, Shere Khan kills Mowgli's father, an unnamed soldier, and a sergeant named Claibourne. The closest Shere Khan comes to killing Baloo is in the 2016 film, where the tiger and the bear have a fierce battle. Baloo is left too wounded to continue fighting but ultimately survives. In the 1994 film, Baloo is shot by soldiers and left for dead, but the English physician Dr. Julius Plumford is able to save Baloo's life. To date, Baloo remains alive and well.