The Mark Of The Beast

The word epigraph comes from the Greek word epigraphein, which means “to write on.” An epigraph is a short quotation, saying, or poem from another author that appears at the beginning of a text. An epigraph helps frame a literary work: it may give the reader context for a story or hint at overarching themes in the piece.

In “The Mark of the Beast,” Kipling uses a native proverb as an epigraph to begin the story: “Your Gods and my Gods—do you or I know which are the stronger?” (241). The epigraph points to a major theme in the story, the conflict and disconnect between the English and native Indian cultures, and suggests the inability of the British to ever fully rule India.

An allusion is a brief reference by the writer or speaker in a literary work to something else: another literary work, a person, an historical event, a work of art or film, or something culturally significant.

Kipling includes several allusions in “The Mark of the Beast.” He refers to the 1878 Gilbert and Sullivan song “Carefully on Tip-Toe Stealing” from the comic opera HMS Pinafore when