Kim

Teshoo Lama (simply called “the lama” throughout the book) is introduced in the first chapter. He is a Buddhist lama, formerly an abbot, from the hill country to the north. The lama is engaged in a quest to visit the sites of the Buddha’s life, culminating in a search for the legendary Arrow River, where he believes he will attain enlightenment. Kim latches onto the lama, declaring himself the lama’s chela (disciple). In the early chapters, the lama’s quest gives a sense of directionality to the otherwise directionless impulses of the boyish Kim. The lama’s quest even allows Kim to describe his lingering questions about his father’s last words to him as a quest of his own. Further, the lama’s perspective on the world provides a foil to Kim’s wide-eyed exuberance, constantly reminding Kim that everything he sees is in bondage to the Wheel of Things.

The lama figures most prominently in the first and third sections of the book, being largely absent from the second section while Kim is enrolled at school. He does not vanish from the narrative entirely in those chapters (6-10), but he is mainly behind the scenes, funding Kim’s education and occasionally popping up in a brief scene here or there to check in on Kim. In the final third of the book, Kim and the lama resume their quest for the river. Although the lama often appears pessimistic about the state of the world, he appears to be brimming with hope for their journey. He regards their discovery of the river as a certainty now that Kim is back with him again.

Throughout the book, the lama functions as the voice of Buddhist doctrine, and Kipling deals with the Buddhist perspective with great sympathy. Of all the religions and cultures that hold a place within Kim’s narrative, the Buddhist voice of the lama comes across most clearly. The character of the lama experiences changes throughout the story, but they are all in line with the Buddhist experience. He is prone to reevaluate himself, his actions, and his preconceptions whenever something goes wrong and blame his missteps for the problem. His introspection and repentant spirit are matched, though, by his faith that their journey will ultimately lead them to the river in the end.

Throughout the book, these two characters stand in very similar roles, both serving as Kim’s native mentors in the British intelligence agency. Whenever Kim is deployed on a training mission in espionage, it is always either Ali or the Babu who oversees him. Both men also reflect the book’s interest in India’s religions. Ali is a Muslim, though one that appears not always to be entirely convinced of his faith. He regularly tells others that he thinks his doctrine calls them idolaters who will surely be damned but then immediately follows up with expressions of doubt or affection. The Babu, similarly, often appears as a Hindu (disguising himself as a hakim), but he, in fact, espouses agnosticism.

Mahbub Ali is a Muslim horse trader, first introduced in Chapter 1 in Lahore, and he uses the opportunities provided by his frequent travels and commerce to gain useful information and pass it on to the British. Hurree Babu, who is introduced in Chapter 9, also serves the British in intelligence gathering, in his case as part of the ethnological survey department. For the Babu, ethnological survey work is no mere cover for his espionage; he sincerely loves the work and hopes one day to be recognized for it as a member of a prestigious British ethnological society.

Mahbub Ali and Hurree Babu are secondary characters without much of a development arc within the story. They serve a purpose as mentors to Kim in his spycraft, but both retain their own perspectives throughout. For example, the Babu is the character who witnesses the lama’s discovery of the Arrow River but remains solidly agnostic: he depicts that scene as the lama falling into a brook and needing rescue, whereas, in the lama’s eyes, it is nothing less than plunging into the river of enlightenment.

European characters (other than Kim) do not feature prominently in the narrative. When they arise, as in the case of the regimental chaplains or Lurgan, it is usually just for a single chapter. Colonel Creighton is the exception to that rule, appearing here and there throughout the book, though always as a secondary character. His share of the narrative is comparatively smaller than either that given to Mahbub Ali or Hurree Babu, but the colonel’s role makes him an important character, nonetheless. He is first introduced in Chapter 2, when Kim delivers Mahbub Ali’s secret message to the British headquarters in Umballa, although neither Kim nor the readers yet understand his full role. Later on, after Kim is brought to his attention, Creighton takes on a more significant role.

Creighton, who heads the ethnological survey and intelligence activities for the British, is depicted as an exceptionally smart and capable man who, like Kim, loves the diversity of India’s cultures and the intrigue of “the Great Game.” He is cautious and measured in his approach, such that Ali often has to prod him to prepare for the next step in Kim’s training. In that regard, he is very much a British character in his temperament, but for the most part, he operates as a foil against the novel’s standard portrayal of the British. Over and over throughout the text, sahibs are portrayed as people who are generally clueless about the way things really work in India, to the extent that the native population can manipulate their prejudice to make things come out a certain way. Creighton, however, does not fall into this category of sahibs. Instead, he is presented as knowledgeable and in control. Still, he is very much the exception to the novel’s depiction of the folly of sahibs.