The Jungle Book

Bagheera the panther is Mowgli’s friend and protector in the first three stories in The Jungle Book. Bagheera acts as a mentor to Mowgli, ensuring that he is adopted in the wolf pack and then advising him on how to survive Shere Khan’s attempts to kill him. Bagheera is a dangerous hunter and a fierce fighter, but he is gentle and kind to Mowgli. He calls Mowgli “little brother” and allows him to ride on his back and pet his soft fur. Bagheera demonstrates rhetorical prowess when he persuades the wolves at Council Rock to accept Mowgli, and he gives Mowgli a prudent warning that he will need to drive off Shere Khan with fire. Bagheera represents one of the wisest animals in the jungle, although he recognizes that Mowgli will understand more than him due to his human intelligence.

Bagheera reveals that he became wise due to his knowledge of humans gained through being raised in captivity. Bagheera has a bald spot hidden on his neck where he was once forced to wear a collar. He reveals that “[he] was born among men, and it was among men that [his] mother died in the cages of the King’s Palace at Oodeypore” (29). Like Mowgli, Bagheera was raised away from his own kind, and he explains that this gives him empathy for Mowgli’s situation. He warns him that “even as I returned to my jungle, so thou must go back to men at last” (29). Bagheera’s return to the jungle foreshadows Mowgli’s need to eventually rejoin human society, but also suggests that Mowgli will be wiser and more dangerous because of what he has learned from the animals, just as Bagheera learned from the humans.

Shere Khan is the villain of the first three stories in The Jungle Book. He is a tiger who was born “lame” in one foot, necessitating that he hunt for easy prey like humans and their cattle. Shere Khan is called “Lungri,” meaning “lame”, by Mother Wolf. His opportunistic hunting results in his being driven out of his territory along the Waingunga river and coming to the Seeonee hills. The wolves worry that the humans will eventually drive him out again, harming all of the animals in the jungle: “[T]hey will scour the jungle for him when he is far away, and we and our children must run when the grass is set alight” (3). Shere Khan is a dishonorable hunter, preying upon the weak and vulnerable, and he uses manipulative tactics in order to try to eat Mowgli. After failing to convince the wolf pack to hand over the baby, he exploits the fear that the younger wolves have of Mowgli’s human wisdom: “Shere Khan would flatter them and wonder that such fine young hunters were content to be led by a dying wolf and a man’s cub” (26). Shere Khan’s main ally is Tabaqui the jackal, a scavenger animal. Both tiger and jackal are depicted as dishonorable, cunning, and unreasonable, in contrast to the other animals.

Shere Khan is eventually killed by Mowgli’s stampeding buffalo, and his hide is cut off and displayed on pride rock. He dies because of his own greed and uncontrolled appetite, having hunted and eaten a pig before trying to hunt Mowgli. Because he is too heavy from this meal, he is unable to climb out of the ravine where he is trapped. Shere Khan represents the negative characteristics of people who only serve their own selfish desires without considering the impact they will have on the whole society. It is his lack of self-control that leads to his death, suggesting that his downfall was brought about by hubris, a fatal flaw. His death reflects the conventions of a fable that convey a moral to the reader.