In The Jungle Book, what is the law of the jungle?

In Rudyard Kipling’s famous story The Jungle Book, he depicts a young boy, Mowgli, living all alone in the middle of a jungle, working alongside the animals. In the story, Mowgli lives in a pseudo-society within the jungle, and the society is governed by the “Law of the Jungle." This law essentially is that of the animals, the strong kill the weak, and you will get retribution for the bad things you do.

It is a simplistic and animalistic idea that essentially just means nature is wild and dangerous. Mowgli learns to live in this environment and is able to survive in spite of these troubles. He is intelligent and resourceful, which keeps him safe, but the chaotic law of nature makes it a very dangerous place indeed.

What's the main idea of The Jungle Book?

Most people find it somewhat surprising that The Jungle Book is seven short stories. Most of them are unrelated to each other, and some of them are not even in the jungle. Most people assume that The Jungle Book is the story of Mowgli and his adventures with jaguars, monkeys, snakes, etc. For the purpose of this answer, I'm going to take the book as a whole. I don't believe all readers will agree that there is a single main idea. Different readers are going to find certain themes more central than other themes. For me, there has always been a large focus on the theme of family. Mowgli might not be a wolf, but that doesn't change the sense of family and belonging that he experienced with them for many years. The wolves themselves are representative of a family unit as well. They are a pack animal. Rikki-Tikki feels a sense of belonging with the family that rescued him, and he fights to protect them. That leads to another strong theme present throughout the stories: the theme of courage. Mowgli bravely faces the unknown as well as Shere Khan himself, and Rikki-Tikki places himself in grave danger when he goes down the snake hole.

What is the message of The Jungle Book?

The Jungle Book, though a collection of short stories, carries similar messages throughout its various adventures. Some stories are about Mowgli, a man's cub that is adopted by a wolf pack, while others are about a heroic mongoose or an old elephant. Despite the variety, the stories do carry similar messages to readers. One of these messages is that family is more than blood relation or even species relation. Mowgli is adopted by a wolf pack. He is different from the pack, but the pack also makes it clear that Mowgli needs to adhere to pack rules and traditions. He is treated like a regular member of the family, despite not being born of the pack or an actual wolf. We see this family message repeated in the story about Rikki-tikki-tavi. He is adopted by a human family and risks his own life to protect the humans rather than stay out of the snakes' way.

Another message in The Jungle Book is about the environment and the importance of caring for it, as we humans are only a small part of the whole. The book does a wonderful job of showing readers how humans are a single species among many that are present on Earth. We have unique skills that other animals do not have, but other species have unique skills that we do not have. Each creature has a unique place within the environment or biosphere, and because we are a piece of a whole, we need to help care for and maintain the whole.

What is the message in "The Law of the Jungle" from The Jungle Book?

We can learn a lot from wolves.  Pohnpei did a good job explaining the benefits of wolf responsibility and how humans can learn a lot from their wolf society in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book as a whole and "The Law of the Jungle" specifically.  Let's take a look at some specifics of the poem that show the rights and responsibilities of wolves (and people).

Interestingly enough, Kipling begins with the responsibilities and ENDS with the rights!  Both are almost always contained in the first line of a stanza.  Let's begin with what Kipling does:  responsibilities.  There are many, but here are a few important ones

Ye may kill for yourselves, and your mates, / ...
But kill not for pleasure

The Kill of the Pack is the meat of the Pack

The Kill of the Wolf is the meat of the Wolf.

If humans need to learn one thing it is not to kill "for pleasure."  Wolves, according to Kipling, have the same responsibility.  You will see quickly that rights and responsibilities begin to blend together.  While the pack has a responsibility to help kill, they all have the right to eat it.  However, if one wolf makes a kill, he can eat it on his own.

Now, Kipling believes, it is finally time to discuss the rights of the wolf.

Pack-Right is the right of the meanest
Cub-Right is the right of the Yearling
Lair-Right is the right of the Mother.
Cave-Right is the right of the Father --

Here we learn that the meanest wolves are left the best meat. Further, the young are able to eat as much as they want when they want in "full-gorge."  No wolf can deny a young cub this right.  We also learn that mother wolves have major rights, too, called the "lair-right."  This, again, is about food for the young, actually.  A mother is allowed to take any "haunch" for her young so that they can eat before they can claim it for themselves as cubs.  Finally, the wolf fathers have rights, too.  Fathers are welcome to actually ignore the call of the pack and hunt for their own family.

Thus, you can see that the message of the poem is that wolves have responsibilities before rights.  Humans should have the same.