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KIM’S HYBRID IDENTITY IN RUDYARD KIPLING’S KIM
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By:
SCOLASTICA PRESTI NATAYA
Student Number: 074214023

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA
2014

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KIM’S HYBRID IDENTITY IN RUDYARD KIPLING’S KIM
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters

By:
SCOLASTICA PRESTI NATAYA
Student Number: 074214023

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2014
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TINDAKANTIDAK
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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH
UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan di bawahi ni, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma

Nama

: Scolastica Presti Nataya

Nomor Mahasiswa

: 074214023

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan
Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul
KIM’S HYBRID IDENTITY AS SEEN IN RUDYARD KIPLING’S KIM
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan
kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,
mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan
data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau
media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta izin dari saya atau
pun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya
sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal 13 Agustus 2014
Yang menyatakan,

Scolastica Presti Nataya

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STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
I certify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has been
previously submitted for the award of any other degree at any university, and that,
to the best of my knowledge, this undergraduate thesis contains no material
previously written by any other person except where due reference is made in the
text of the undergraduate thesis.

Yogyakarta, August 29, 2014

Scolastica Presti Nataya

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There are no happy endings. Endings are the saddest part. So
just give me a happy middle and a very happy start.
- Shel Silverstein

Parents. Can’t live with them, wouldn’t exist without them.
- Nick Burd

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FOR MY FAMILY

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my gratefulness to Jesus Christ for the
love, care and blessing since the day I was born. It is because of Him that I have
the strength and hope to finish this thesis.
I would like to give my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Ni Luh Putu
Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum., for the time, guidance, care, and mostly for never
losing patience with me although I abandoned this thesis for two years. I also want
to express my gratitude to my co-advisor, Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum., for
the time spent reading and correcting my thesis. Special thanks goes to Anna
Fitriati, S.Pd., M.Hum., for being very attentive and observant during the very
long writing process. I would like to thanks all the lectures in Faculty of Letters
for all the knowledge they shared and to the administrative staffs in Faculty of
Letters, especially Mbak Ninik, who have been very helpful during my study.
I would like to sincerely thank my parents, Fa and Ibuk, for the chance to
live and all the forms of love they show. I thank Yudha for being the most
annoyingly caring little brother. I also would like to thank Kertosentono family
and HadiSumarto family for all the supports and love.
This thesis is done with the support of my beloved friends Pinky, Tubby, Iut,
Pibzter, Uun, Iyin, Zee, Hai, Moci, Ander, Dulski, Kampret, Charlie, and Aryo.
Many thanks to Mbak Widie for the constant reminder to do my thesis and the
grammar checking. I also would like to thank LENS CLUB, all committee of

‘JAKSA 2007-2011’, Pecis, and Poyeng for the experiences. I also thank all of
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friends in Sanata Dharma University, Boental, Mojo, Iren, Hyp-hyp, Kenan,
Victor, Herman, Audy, Sony, Samson, Mas Doni, Tije, Tian, Alwi, Acong, Adith,
Damar, Tombro, Asya, Sakha, Mbak Yas, Ucik, and Wowok. Thank you for every
time well-spent, you are my chosen family.
Scolastica Presti Nataya

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ....................................................................................................... i
APPROVAL PAGE ............................................................................................. ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ...................................................................................... iii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ......................... iv
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ................................................................... v
MOTTO PAGE .................................................................................................. vi
DEDICATION PAGE ....................................................................................... vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................ viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................... x
ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... xi
ABSTRAK............................................................................................................ xii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1
A.
B.

C.
D.

Background of the study....................................................................... 1
Problem Formulation ............................................................................ 4
Objectives of the Study ........................................................................ 4
Definition of Terms ............................................................................... 5

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ..................................................... 6
A. Review of Related Studies.................................................................... 6
B. Review of Related Theories .................................................................. 8
C. Theoretical Framework ....................................................................... 15
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ................................................................. 16
A. Object of the Study .............................................................................. 16
B. Approach of the Study ......................................................................... 19
C. Method of the Study ............................................................................ 20
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ............................................................................. 21
A. The Depiction of Kim .......................................................................... 21
B. Hybrid Identity in Kim ........................................................................ 35
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ......................................................................... 46
BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................. 49
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ABSTRACT
SCOLASTICA PRESTI NATAYA. Kim’s Hybrid Identity in Rudyard Kipling’s
Kim. Yogyakarta: English Letters Department, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma
University, 2014.
Imperialism is the action of claiming and exploiting territories outside the
boundaries of one own country for various kinds of motives. British imperialism
spreads to many areas around the world and India is one of them. India holds an
important position in British imperialism due to its strategic location in the trade
traffic.
This undergraduate thesis discusses Kim’s hybrid identity in the novel entitled
Kim by Rudyard Kipling. The subject of the research is Kim, the major character in
the novel who lives in India during British imperialism. Therefore, theory of
character, theory of characterization, theory of post-colonialism, and theory of hybrid
identity are applied in this thesis. Post-colonialism approach is used to support the
analysis.
The writer formulates 2 problems in order to reach the conclusion of this study.
The first problem discusses the depiction of Kim through his experiences and the
characteristics as the major character in the story. The second problem discusses his
hybrid identity and how it shows.
The writer uses library research method to complete the data. The data consist
of primary data and secondary data. The primary data is the novel Kim by Rudyard
Kipling, while the secondary data is the supporting sources taken from dictionary,
essays, articles, internet, and several other books. There are several steps taken to
analyze the novel. The first is reading the novel Kim thoroughly and identifying the
problems. The second step is getting the references related to topic of imperialism,
Rudyard Kipling, theories of literature about character and characterization, and also
the post-colonialism theory. The third step is applying those theories to get the
answer of the problem formulation. The last step is drawing a conclusion.
The result of the study shows that Kim who is a white boy living in the way of
the native of India turns out to have hybrid identity. His parents die and he is left to
be brought up by a native Indian woman who sells secondhand furniture in the
market. Kim knows that he is a white boy of Irish descendant, but still he loves India
very much that he cannot separate himself from it. He cannot choose which one is his
true identity, thus his identity is torn between Britain and India.

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ABSTRAK
SCOLASTICA PRESTI NATAYA. Kim’s Hybrid Identity in Rudyard Kipling’s
Kim. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata
Dharma, 2014.
Imperialisme adalah tindakan menguasai dan mengeksploitasi wilayah yang
berada diluar batas Negara mereka sendiri dengan berbagai macam alas an dan latar
belakang. Imperialisme Inggris menyebar ke banyak Negara di seluruh dunia dan
India hanyalah salah satu dari negara-negara tersebut. India mempunyai posisi
penting dalam imperialism Inggris karena berada di
lokasi strategis jalur
perdagangan.
Skripsi ini membahas tentang efek dari imperialism Inggris dalam novel
berjudul Kim karangan Rudyard Kipling dilihat dari sudut pandang Kim. Subjek dari
penelitian ini adalah Kim, tokoh utama dalam novel, yang hidup di India pada masa
imperialism Inggris. Oleh karena itu,skripsi ini mengaplikasikan teori karakter, teori
karakterisasi, teori poskolonialisme dan teori identitas hibrid. Sementara pendekatan
yang digunakan adalah pendekatan poskolonialisme.
Penulis merumuskan dua pertanyaan agar nantinya bias mendapat kesimpulan.
Pertanyaan pertama membahas tentang perjalanan hidup dan karakterisasi tokoh
utama dalam novel, yaitu Kim. Pertanyaan kedua membahas tentang identitas hibrid
yang dialami tokoh utama dan bagaimana itu tercermin dalam dirinya.
Penulis menggunakan metode studi pustaka untuk melengkapi data. Data
tersebut terdiri dari data primer dan data sekunder. Data primer adalah novel Kim
karangan Rudyard Kipling, sementara data sekunder adalah data pelengkap yang
diambil dari kamus, esai, artikel, internet, dan beberapa buku lainnya. Ada beberapa
langkah yang diambil untuk menganalisa novel. Yang pertama adalah membaca
secara seksama dan mengidentifikasi masalah dalam novel Kim. Langkah yang kedua
adalah mencari referensi yang berhubungan dengan topic imperialisme, Rudyard
Kipling, teori sastra tentang karakter dan karakterisasi, dan juga teori poskolonial.
Yang ketiga adalah mengaplikasikan semua teori tersebut untuk mendapatkan
jawaban dari rumusan masalah. Langkah yang terakhir adalah menarik kesimpulan.
Hasil dari studi menunjukkan bahwa Kim, yang adalah seorang anak laki-laki
keturunan kulit putih yang dibesarkan dengan adat-adat lokal India membuatnya
memiliki identitas hibrid. Setelah orangtuanya meninggal dia dititipkan pada seorang
wanita yang menjual furniture bekas di pasar. Kim sadar bahwa dia adalah anak kulit
putih keturunan Irlandia, namun dia sangat mencintai India dan membuatnya tak bisa
lepas darinya. Kim tidak bias memilih mana yang merupakan identitas sejatinya, oleh
karena itu identitasnya terbelah diantara dua budaya, Inggris dan India.

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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study
The novel Kim by Rudyard Kipling is hugely debated by many critics due
to its topic on imperialism. Some critics deplored the way Rudyard Kipling
presented the story in such a way which made imperialism looks innocent,
while some others agreed that imperialism actually gave benefits to the
country.
Edward Said, in his book Culture and Imperialism, described imperialism
as “the practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan
center ruling a distant territory”. It has different meaning from colonialism
which he described as “the implanting of settlements on distant territory” and
is almost always a result from imperialism (1994:9). Furthermore, Ania
Loomba in her book Colonialism/Postcolonialism stated that “imperialism can
function without formal colonies (as in U. S. imperialism today) but
colonialism cannot.” (2000:7)
British imperialism has spread to many areas all around the world, from
South Asia, Africa, to the Middle East. The need of human resources as trade
participants and labors make the British set eyes on these countries to become
their expansion. ‘In 1900, the British had already covered one-fifth of the
world with 400 millions subjects’ (Johnson, 2003:1). These vast coverage of

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the expansions enabled the British to establish a trade system, military power,
communications, and migratory patterns.
India played important role for the British. It became the crowning jewel
of the British Empire because it secured the British trade in Indian Ocean after
the East Indies was won-over by the Dutch (Johnson, 2003:23). For decades,
they had cooperated with India to establish trading post in the coasts without
military or governmental involvement. The British rules there relied fully on
the willing participants of Indians, whether as allies or as traders.
When people heard about British imperialism in India (ca. 1600 – 1947),
they automatically think about how Britain ruled over India in order to gain
advantages for their own country, and forgot the needs of the dominated
country. The strategy to rule India is by making some reforms in the country
which wiould benefit Britain rather than India (Hutchinson, 2010: 1). It is not
about how India needed them, but how they needed India for their own sole
benefit.
British imperialism in India had caused several positive and negative
effects. The positive effects are the banning of inhumane traditional practices
like child marriage and the dowry system which forces the bride’s family to
pay for all the marriage necessities, the development of transportation and
communication, the improvement of technology, education, and public health.
The negative effects include the increase of poverty as the British officials’
salaries were paid from India’s assets, and the crash of traditional industries
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Hybrid identity as one of the effects of British imperialism is a unique
occurrence; it comes as one of the effects of imperialism. People inside the
colony experience a mixture when their own culture meets another culture.
Leela Gandhi said that it is common to find hybridity in the context of a
colonized culture that has been destabilized (Smith, 2008: 4). The novel Kim
shows how a boy of an Irish descent could be confused by his own identity in
India. His identity as a white crashed with the native Indian culture which was
taught to him as his own culture. Kim’s ancestry is the only thing that defines
him as a white boy while he grew up as a part of Indian’s society.
Rudyard Kipling is a popular figure of not only English literature and
language but also in politics. Itil Asmon in his book Discover Kipling: An
Annotated Selection of Rudyard Kipling’s Verse stated that “His poems and
stories were enormously popular with many different audiences – political and
military readers, soldiers and sailors, middle classes and workers, engineers
and settlers, adult and children.” (2013:2) The wide range of audiences means
that Kipling’s works are beautiful and give influence toward the readers. Mark
Twain makes this statement stronger by saying that:
He was the only living person not head of a nation, whose voice is heard
around the world the moment it drops a remark, the only such voice in
existence that does not go by slow ship and rail but always travels first
class by cable (Gilmour, 2002).
Rudyard Kipling always wrote about things that are closely related to
every day’s life. One of the themes he wrote is the adventure of a boy during
the British imperialism era in India. India is important as a setting, it offers
what England cannot give. As M. Daphne Kutzer said:

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England, Kipling’s novel suggests, is full of rules and dullness and
stodginess and known quantities. Setting Kim’s story in India gives Kim
opportunities he could not possibly have in civilized England. The exotic
setting is essential to the story of a boy who grows to be a man but still
somehow manages to stay as a boy (Kutzer, 2002: 23).
Literature, in relation to imperialism, lends itself as a tool to express
opinion and to criticize the government. It presents one’s belief to persuade the
mass majority to open their eyes toward the ongoing events. From literature,
people will learn about the events and act accordingly to their interest. Kim is a
unique novel to display the effects of British imperialism because the major
character, Kim, has a duality of character. He was white but he had always felt
that he belonged to India; further he would be called White Indian. This
peculiarity of his character is something which will be interesting to be
investigated further.
Rudyard Kipling, who was born and spent his childhood in India, is the
first English writer who received the Nobel Prize in literature. Through Kim he
shows that hybrid identity is a unique effect of imperialism because it affects
those who are involved in it and it is different one from another.
B. Problem Formulation
In order to make the study organized, the research questions below are
formulated as the guide and limitation of the subject that will be discussed:
1. How is Kim depicted in the story?
2. How is hybrid identity portrayed in Kim?

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C. Objectives of the Study
There are two objectives in this study to make the study development
well organized. The first is to find out the depiction of Kim in the story and the
second is to find out Kim’s hybrid identity due to the mixture of two cultures,
India and British.
D. Definition of Terms
There are several terms which need to be defined in order to gain a better
understanding of this writing. The first term is “imperialism”. The Norton
Anthology of English Literature defines imperialism as taking over and taking
advantages of the territories outside the boundaries of their own country for
various kind of motives. According to George Lichtheim, in his book
Imperialism (1971: 8), empire or imperialism is the act of dominating a country
or peoples and place them under its control.
The second term is character. According to M. H. Abrams in his book A
Glossary of Literary Terms 6th Edition, characters are the persons presented in
a dramatic or narrative work, who are perceived by the reader as having moral,
attitudes, and feelings which are displayed in their conversations and their
actions (Abrams, 1999: 32-34).
The third term is hybrid identity. Georg Simmel describes it as a person
who is in an indeterminate state of who he is. This person has a new identity
which is the result of the combination of two identities, the identity which he is
born with and the identity which develops as he grows (Smith and Leavy,
2008: 4).

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CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW

A. Review of Related Studies
There are several studies that will be discussed here. These studies are
needed in order to understand the novel from various point of views and later
on will complete the understanding of the novel.
The first is taken from the study done by Allison Crowe. She stated that:
Most Britons as well as Rudyard Kipling held view that as rulers the
British did not do everything correctly, but they felt they were the people
who had the knowledge, power, capability, and therefore responsibility
to help those they saw that could not help or protect themselves (Crowe,
2008:2).
As a dedicated citizen, Kipling encouraged the domination of Britain as
a developed country to “civilize” them. Their lack of developments
compared to the modern Britain had made India seems to be left behind and
people tend to look down on them.
The domination of Britain owed to the fact that they once was conquered
by the Norman. “Kipling regarded the Norman Conquest as a major event in
the history of translation imperii et studii: where once the English were
conquered, now they conquer: where once the English were educated, now
they educate.” (Williams, 2008: 108). Kipling felt that they, the British, owed
something which they must repay in some ways to balance the world. Thus,
ruling over India is one of the ways to pay the debt to the Norman.

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The second study is taken from Catur Utami Dewi’s undergraduate
thesis entitled “Parents Role, Its Contribution in Kim’s Indentifying Self in
Rudyard Kipling’s Kim”. In her writing, she said that
The deprivation of parents bring negative effects on the child’s
development of personality. For Kim, it affected his identity because he
could not identify himself completely as a British. The factor of identity
that could not be covered by Kim was in the factor of nationality
because the parental role was played by people from different nationality
(1997: vii).
In her thesis, Catur wanted to emphasize on the parental role that Kim
had received from several people whom he encountered in his life. Those
people come from different nationalities and backgrounds, thus giving
different values of life base on their nationality.
There are various themes which can be used to study Kim. Besides the
parental role theme, imperialism is also popular theme which can be found in
this novel. Edward Said in his Introduction to Kim challenged the reader on
how to read Kim. He said, “How then do we read Kim, if we are to remember
always that the book is, after all, a novel, that there is more than one history in
it to be remembered, that the imperial experience, while often regarded as
exclusively political, was also an experience that entered into cultural and
aesthetic life as well?” (1989) Furthermore, Said pointed out one thing that
“will strike every reader, regardless of politics and history”:
It is an overwhelmingly male novel, with two wonderfully attractive
men – a boy who grows into early manhood, and an old ascetic priest –
at its centre.. the women in the novel are remarkably few in number by
comparison, and all are somehow debased or unsuitable for male
attention; prostitutes, elderly widows, or importunate and lusty women.
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The theme of gender is also prominent in the novel, which has tickled
the critics to study Kim in a deeper ground. Somehow, the theme of gender is
always related to imperialism because it is one of the impacts of imperialism.
Those studies above are related to the same literary work but they
discuss different issues. In this analysis, the main issue is the hybrid identity
of Kim as the main character of Rudyard Kipling’s novel Kim. None of the
studies above discuss hybrid identity.
B. Review of Related Theories
In this study, the writer uses several theories to develop the analysis.
Those theories are:
1. Theory of Character
Character refers to “a reasonable facsimile of a human being, with all the
good and bad traits of being human” (Roberts and Jacobs, 1989: 56). A
character is a human being in a literary work who also has speech, thought
and behavior like the real human being.
According to M. H. Abrams in his book A Glossary of Literary Terms,
character is a person presented in a work and is interpreted by the reader
through his speech and action.
Characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work,
who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral,
dispositional, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say
and what they do (1993: 23).
The quotation above also explain that a character in a work is usually
interpreted by the reader through his dialogue, action, and motivation.
Motivation means the character’s temperament, desires, and moral nature for

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their speech and actions. Moreover, based on the role, character can be
categorized into two parts,
a. Major Character
A major character is the most important or central person within a story.
Usually, the story is always focused on this character from the beginning to
the end of the story.
b. Minor Character
A minor character appears in certain setting to support and become the
background of major character because they are not fully developed and just
help the major character to reveal his characterization to the readers (Abrams,
1981: 20).
2. Theory of Characterization
Murtagh J. Murphy in his book Understanding Unseens: an Introduction
to English Poetry and English Novels for Overseas Students, stated that there
are nine ways which the author usually uses to understand the characters easily.
Those nine ways are explained as follow:
a. Personal Description
The author can explain a character from his physical appearance such as
his body and his clothes (1972: 161). The reader will be able to visualize the
appearance of the character better through the personal description given by
the author in the novel, such as how fat or thin the character is or how tall or
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b. Character as Seen by Another
The author can describe a character by using the perspective of other
characters (1972: 162). The reader will assume this as the reflected image of
the character. Other characters give comment or thought for another character
and through these the reader will understand more of the character.
c. Speech
The author gives an insight into the character of one of the persons in the
book through what the persons says. Whenever a person speaks, convers with
another character, stating an opinion or a thought, he is giving the reader some
clues to his character (1972: 164). The reader will be able to figure out the
character’s point of view or opinion on things through his speech.
d. Past Life
Letting the reader learn something about a person’s past life can give the
reader a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s character. This can
be done by a direct comment by the author, through the person’s thoughts,
through his conversation or through the medium of another person (1972:
166). The character’s past experience will give an additional background
about him.
e. Conversation of Others
The readers can understand a character by noticing conversations of
other characters and things they say about him or her (1972: 167). The
character’s interaction with other will help the reader to see some of his
characteristics.

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f. Reactions
The author can give the reader a clue to a person‘s character by letting
the reader know how that person reacts to various situations and events (1972:
168). The character’s reaction toward the situations and events around him
may also give an insight about his characteristics.
g. Direct Comment
The author can describe or comment on a person‘s character directly
(1972: 171). This is perhaps the best way to understand the character’s
characteristics because the author himself describes him that way.
h. Thoughts
The author can give the reader direct knowledge of what a person is
thinking about. It can be seen by the readers but cannot be seen by other
characters in the story (1972: 171). It is the advantage of a literature because
in real life people cannot really read what other people is thinking.
i. Mannerism
The author can describe a person‘s mannerisms and habits, which may
also tell us something about his character (1972: 173). Having a knowledge
about the character’s manners and habits also help in figuring out his
characteristics.
It is important for the reader to pay attention on those ways of
presentation provided in the novel in order to get the whole picture of the

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character. The author rarely describes the character in one opening paragraph
but spreads the traits little by little along the story.
3. Theory of Postcolonialism
Edward Said is a significant figure in post-colonial theory. He is of
Palestinian origin who grew up in Jerusalem which is under British mandate.
Edward Said moved to America and become one of the most celebrated writer
and professor.
His book entitled Orientalism has come to be one important source of
post-colonial study. He used the term orient because it has unique place in the
Western experience. Edward Said stated that,
The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europe’s
greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of its deepest and
most recurring images of the Other. In addition, the Orient has helped to
define Europe (or the West) as its contrasting image, idea, personality,
experience (1979:1).
Based on the theory above, the Orient describes the people and the
countries subject to Western colonialism. They are considered as different
from the West that the image of the Orient often associated with the term
“exotic”. The literatures which were written in this era often romanticized
them which resulted in the increasing number of the Western to come to the
land and take part in it.
The relaxed atmosphere, friendly people, and somehow bizarre culture
attract the Western people to go there. It may be for vacation to escape from
their routines or for a chance to change their fate. Coming to the Orient and
work for the government regarded as a respectable position at that time.

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Orientalism can be seen as a formal Western establishment to justify the
act of dominating, settling, and having authority over the Orient. They
regarded themselves to have higher position than the Orient to teach them the
way of the West because the Orient does not share the same knowledge with
them.
Gayatri Spivak, one of the first generation of Indian intellectuals after
independence and a renowned post-colonial theorist, also notice this kind of
prejudice. She questions Immanuel Kant argument which says that it is
primarily cultivated and educated men who can make judgments about taste
and sublimity (Morton, 2004: 115). She inquires to know what about the other
groups or societies who do not have contact to the culture that Kant describes.
Every culture is different, each has its own distinctive point which
cannot be measured as higher or lower. The West is obsessed with
development and modernity, while the Orient preserve their culture in a more
secluded way.
Gayatri Spivak emphasizes that “production and reception of nineteenthcentury English literature was bound up with the history of imperialism”
(Morton, 2004: 111). She also argues that “literature provided a cultural
representation of England as civilized and progressive: and idea which served
to justify the economic and political project of imperialism” (Morton, 2004:
111-112). Every novel which is born in this era has a theme on British
imperialism in one way or another that it sets people opinion on the matter.

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People thought that British imperialism has done the right gesture toward the
Orient and they support their government for that.
4. Theory of Hybrid Identity
Hybridity occurs when two different things combine and resulted in
another form of thing. Keri E. Iyall Smith in her essay Hybrid Identities:
Theorical Examinations stated that “a reflexive relationship between the local
and the global produces the hybrid.” When two cultures meet, they blend and
cannot be inferred alone without the other. Each of the culture influences the
other to create something new that is distinct compared to the original two
(2008: 4).
Hybridity is one of the impacts of colonialism. In the colonial world, the
colonizer and the colonized interact with each other that their culture mixed.
Those individuals who inhabit the colonial world will experience a duality and
mixture. The duality and mixture they experience is what hybridity is all
about.
The mixture of two culture into one person caused a confusion inside
him/herself. William Edward Burghardt DuBois described this hybridity as
follows:
Resulting in a double consciousness. Double consciousness is distinct
because it explicitly embodies multiple identities instead of closing
identity group boundaries. Groups or individuals that occupy this space
experience a kind of “two-ness”, as two identities trying to exist within
one person (Smith, 2008: 7).
An individual can be called a hybrid when that individual experience
this “two-ness”. That person struggles to intermediate the two cultures that

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reside in him/her. The outcome of his/her validating act is that there will be a
new identity which is completely different.
Hybridity does not come as risk-free thing. There is always a side effect
of hybridity. The society in which hybridity happens may see it as a
contradiction due to its rare occurrence.
C. Theoretical Framework
The four theories above are used in analyzing the topic of the study and
answering the problems formulated in the first chapter.
Theory of character and characterization is used to answer problem
number one. It provides the information to understand the meaning of
character, the types of character, and any other indication to understand them
including their characteristics.
Post-colonialism and hybrid identity theory are used to answer the
second question. It provides the understanding of British imperialism and how
it causes hybrid identity.

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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is a novel by Rudyard Kipling entitled Kim. The work
first published as a serial in McClure’s Magazine in December 1900, then, in
October 1901 it appeared as a book form published by Macmillan & Co. In this
undergraduate thesis, the writer use the Reader’s Digest Edition published in 1990
with an afterword by John L. Cobbs and illustrations by Gary Aagaard. John L.
Cobbs is known for his works in Owen Wister’s biography, some criticism essays
and commentaries.
Due to its popular achievement by the readers, the novel was made into a
movie by MGM in 1950 and London Films television film was made in 1984. It has
been released in DVD version.
Phillip Mallet in his book Rudyard Kipling: A Literary Life said that this book
was to be Kipling’s last significant story about India (2003: 118). Henry James,
who previously hated the latest book by Kipling, rejoiced at Kim, and wrote urging
Kipling to “chuck public affairs, which are an ignoble scene, and stick to your
canvas and your paint-box” (2003: 117). Edward Said has argued that Kim’s easy
identification with different castes and creeds allowed Kipling to ‘have and enjoy
India in a way that even imperialism never dreamed of’.

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Rudyard Kipling was one of the most popular writers in England in the late
19th and early 20th century. He was the first Englishman to receive Nobel Prize in
Literature (1907) and to this day he remained the youngest recipient. Kipling was
sounded out for the British Poet Laureateship and for a knighthood, but he declined
them all.
Douglas Kerr, a literary critic, wrote, “He is still an author who can inspire
passionate disagreement and his place in literary and cultural history is far from
settled. But as the age of the European empires recedes, he is recognized as an
incomparable, if controversial, interpreter of how empire was experienced. That,
and an increasing recognition of his extraordinary narrative gifts, make him a force
to be reckoned with. (Kerr, 2006)
The novel tells a story about a boy named Kim during British imperialism in
India. He made a journey with a Tibetan Lama he met in front of the museum, who
was looking for the River of the Arrow. This River of the Arrow was supposed to
be the place where the arrow that Buddha threw fell to, it could wash away all sins
and free the humans from the Wheel of Life.
Kim was fascinated by the Lama’s story because they shared a similar magical
quest. There was also a prophecy about him which said that he would meet a red
bull in a green field, and he felt connected to the Old Lama. Kim learned that the
Lama had just lost his chela (pupil), and since he seemed to be unable to fulfill his
own needs by himself, Kim volunteered himself to become the substitute.

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Kim was an orphan, thus he thought that accompanying a Lama through a
pilgrimage around the land would bring him some new knowledge and experiences.
Besides paying some services for the Lama, Kim who also acted as a spy under the
guidance of a horse trader, Mahbub Ali, could use the pilgrimage as a disguise. Kim
could easily go to places without attracting many suspicions. At that time, it is
common that people do pilgrimage all across the land to find enlightenment.
Together, Kim and the Lama, started their journey to find their individual
quest. Kim promised to assist the Lama to find his River, and in return the Lama
assisted Kim to find the red bull in the green field. Although Kim respected and
started to grow fond of the lama, Kim never told the Lama that he worked as a spy
or where he sometimes disappeared during their rest time in the journey.
Kim sometimes left the Lama when he had a spying job to do. Before he left,
he made sure that the Lama was well taken care of. The Lama usually left to
meditate or sleep after he took his meal, which made him unaware of Kim’s
absence.
Once Kim’s prophecy about the red bull was fulfilled, Kim was sent to a
school to pursue his education as a white man. He had to be parted with the Lama
during his school time. Although it was hard for the Lama to be separated from his
chela, he insisted that Kim get the best education provided for a white man in India.
For the best education for his beloved chela, he thought that it was appropriate that
he paid for all the fees.

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This action shows that the relationship between the Lama and Kim is
beneficial for each other. Not only Kim acted as the chela and served the lama, but
the Lama also took care of his disciple. Mutually taking care of each other is a
relationship which rarely happens between a Lama and his disciple.
B. Approach of the Study
To get a better understanding in analyzing this work, an approach is needed in
this writing. As the topic of the study is about British imperialism, the appropriate
approach to analyze this work is the post-colonial approach.
As a theoretical approach, post-colonialism probes the reader to think through
the way the colonial messages are presented in literary texts. Aniaa Loomba states
that postcolonial studies have been preoccupied with the issues of hybridity,
creolisation, mestizaje, in-betweenness, diasporas and liminality, with the mobility
and cross-overs of ideas and identities generated by colonialism (1998: 173).
Hybrid identity as the main issue in this writing is included in the
postcolonial studies. Kim as the main character of the novel is confused by the two
cultures he is facing everyday which makes him experience a feeling of inbetweenness or hybrid. Sometimes he is Indian and sometimes he is British.
. As a British who grows up in Indian culture, Kim struggles to keep himself
balance in every cultures. People under colonial authority can mimic everything
from other culture, thus colonial ‘hybridity’ in this particular sense is a strategy
premised on cultural purity, and aimed at stabilizing the status quo (1998: 173-174).

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In order to maintain the status quo, the authority must understand the subject of
authority through the blending of cultures. The postcolonial approach is the best
approach to be applied in the analysis because it connects hybrid identity and its
background.
C. Method of the Study
This study uses library research method and internet research method. The
writer takes the data from the library and the internet, then combine them to get the
necessary information.
The primary source is the novel Kim by Rudyard Kipling (Reader’s Digest
Edition, 1990) with an afterword by John L. Cobbs and illustrations by Gary
Aagaard. The secondary sources are articles, reference books, undergraduate thesis
discussing Kipling’s novel and the theories needed to analyze it.
The procedure taken in analyzing the work is by first reading and re-reading
Kim in order to get a better understanding on the content of the novel. After the
writer understands the novel, the second step to take is to formulate the problems,
and the third step is to collect the data related to this research, while the fourth is to
analyze it.
The next step is to apply the theories and the approach to answer the problems
formulation. The first is by using the theory of character and characterization to
determine the characteristics of the character. The second is by applying the theory
of post-colonialism and theory of hybrid identity to find out the hybrid identity in
Kim.

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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS

Kim as the main character becomes the main discussion in this chapter.
First, the writer gives the information of Kim’s depiction, the general description
such as the physical appearance, the social settings in which he lived, his life
experiences, and his characteristics. After the general image of Kim is displayed,
the writer gives the details of the hybrid identity as revealed by Kim.
A.

The Depiction Of Kim
The character of Kim is unique. This boy had a life which was extraordinary

as compared to other kids who lived in those days and at that age. As a boy, Kim
saw many things and traveled to many places which were uncommon for a boy at
his age. These things marked him as interesting and special.
Kim lived in India. The beauty of the land captivated his heart, and he could
not imagine any other place to live except this land. India is an exotic place which
holds the tradition as a part of its enchantment to attract people and make them
stay.
The diamond-bright dawn woke men and crows and bullocks together. Kim
sat up and yawned, shook himself, and thrilled with delight. This was seeing
the world in real truth; this was life as he would have it – bustling and
shouting, the buckling of belts, and beating of bullocks and creaking of
wheels, lighting of fires and cooking of food, and new sights at every turn of
the approving eye. The morning mist swept off in a whorl silver, the parrots
shot away to some distant river in shrieking green hosts: all the well-wheels
within earshot went to work. India was awake, and Kim was in the middle
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22

of it, more awake and more excited than anyone, chewing on a twig that he
would presently use as a toothbrush; for he borrowed right- and lefthandedly from all the customs of the country he knew and loved (Kipling,
1990: 78).
India is a multicultural land. During the British settlement, there are various
kind, of people coming across the country. Besides the local people of India and
the British men, other people from the neighboring countries also come to visit
India. This is because India had many sacred places which attracted people to do
pilgrimage, such as the Gunga River which was said to be able to wash away the
sins or sickness, and Kapilavastu, the birth place of Buddha.
Kim was an Irish boy who grew up in India. The Europeans who lived in
India are called “sahib”. His parents were all dead, and they left him alone in the
care of a woman who kept a secondhand furniture shop in the market. Kim loved
to go around places in the city. Thus, his complexion was not really white but
burnt black as any local people of India.
There was some justification for Kim – he had kicked Lala Dinanath’s boy
off the trunnions – since the English held Punjab and Kim was English.
Though he was burned black as any native; though he spoke the vernacular
by preference, and his mother tongue in a clipped uncertain singsong;
though he consorted on terms of perfect equality with the small boys of the
bazaar; Kim was white – a poor white of the very poorest. (Kipling, 1990:
9).
As a poor kid, Kim used to beg for food in the market stalls. The woman
who took care of him is addicted to smoking opium which sometimes caused her
to forget to provide food in the house, so Kim would ask for food to the people
who were charitable, and ate with his friends on the street.

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23

This woman, Kim’s guardian was the one who told Kim of his ancestry. The
woman also told Kim about the prophecy his father said that one day Kim would
meet a red bull in a green field, and which would help him identify himself.
It would, he said, all come right some day, and Kim’s horn would be exalted
between pillars – monstrous pillars – of beauty and strength. The colonel
himself, riding a horse, at the head of the finest regiment in the world, would
attend Kim – little Kim that should have been better off than his father. Nine
hundred first-class devils, whose god was a red bull on a green field, would
attend to Kim, if they had not forgotten O’Hara – poor O’Hara that was
gang foreman on the Ferozepore line (Kipling, 1990: 10).
Kim knew everybody in the town and everybody knew him. One of his
acquaintance was a notable horse dealer called Mahbub Ali. The horse dealer was
a middle-aged man who did not like his grey hair to show, so he dyed them red
with lime. Kim respected Mahbub Ali as he always gave Kim something to do
and gave food and money as the payment.
Kim had had many dealings with Mahbub in his little life, especially
between his tent and his thirteenth year, and the big burly Afghan, his beard
dyed scarlet with lime (for he was elderly and did not wish his gray hairs to
show), knew the boy’s value as a gossip. Sometimes he would tell Kim to
watch a man who had nothing whatever to do with horses: to follow him for
one whole day and report every soul with whom he talked. Kim would
deliver himself of his tale at evening, and Mahbub would listen without a
word or gesture. It was intrigue of some kind, Kim knew; but its worth lay
in saying nothing whatever to anyone except Mahbub, who gave him
beautiful meals all hot from the cook-shop at head of the serai, and once as
much as eight annas in money (Kipling, 1990: 25).
Mahbub Ali acted as a guardian to K