Uncle Tom

Character Analysis
Uncle Tom is notable for his superhuman religious faith, his gentle nature, and his unfailing honesty. But
hes also notable for being a stereotype a childlike "noble savage," an idealized figure in sentimental
fiction, whose finer emotions have not been destroyed by the negative influences of civilization. Bear in
mind that one tenet of sentimentalism is that we are all born good, and human society makes us evil.
While it may seem like a compliment that Uncle Tom is worthier than the free people around him, it can
also be seen as incredibly patronizing to claim that the reason that hes so great is that he is somehow
"closer to nature," almost animal-like in his simple loyalty and innocence.
"Gunga Din"
Summary
The poem is told by a British soldier; he is expressing admiration for a native water-bearer who loses his
life not long after he saves the soldier's.
The soldier tells his audience that they might talk about beer and gin while they are stationed out here,
and partake in small fights, but they can only lick the boots of "'im that's got it". In India's sunny land
where he served England, the finest of the "blackfaced" crew was Gunga Din, a regimental bhisti (water-
carrier). Everyone always ordered him to get them water and called him names, such as "You squidgy-
nosed old idol, Gunga Din!"

His uniform was nothing much to speak of, and his only field equipment was a goatskin water-bag and a
rag. When the soldiers would lie about in the heat, sweating, they would call out "O brother" to Din, and
call him a heathen, asking him where he had been and threatening to hit him unless he filled up their
water bottles quickly.
He did not seem to know fear; whenever the soldiers fought, he would be fifty paces behind with his
water-skin on his back. He would wait for them until they were allowed to retire. The soldier muses that
despite Gunga Din's dirty skin, he was white on the inside, especially when he went to tend the
wounded after they had been fired upon. The men called out "Din!" "Din!" when the carriages ran out,
and called for "ammunition mules" and Gunga Din.
The soldier says he can never forget the night when he was struck with a bullet and was "chokin' mad
with thirst". Gunga Din, grinning and grunting, was the first to find him. He lifted up the soldier's head
and staunched his wound and gave him the only water he had, even though it was green and slimy. This
was still the best drink the soldier had ever tasted. He remembered his words there was a man with a
bullet in his spleen groveling on the ground, and "For Gawd's sake git the water, Gunga Din!"
Gunga Din carried him away, but the native was struck with a bullet. Right before he died he got the
soldier inside and said he hoped he had enjoyed his drink. The soldier comments that he will meet
Gunga Din in the future, in the same place where he squatted on the coals and gave drinks to "poor
damned souls". He will get a swig in Hell from the native, and, he concludes, Gunga Din is a better man
than he.
Analysis
This poem, included in Barrack-Room Ballads, and Other Verses, is one of Kiplings most popular verses.
It is written in the same cockney dialect as Tommy, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, Danny Deever, and others. It
consists of five stanzas with rhyming lines. There is a lot of dialogue, as Kipling includes the words that
the soldiers would shout out to Gunga Din. The name of the poem is familiar to many readers because
of the 1939 film about three British soldiers (two of them played by Cary Grant and Douglas Fairbanks,
Jr.) and their water-carrier fighting a malicious band of Thuggee Indians. It is also the name of a song by
The Byrds and the inspiration for an episode of the TV show Mr. Magoo.
The poem details the respect and admiration for a bhishti water-carrier on the part of a British soldier. A
bhishti is the traditional water-carrier of South Asia, including India; they usually carry their water in a
goatskin bag. It is rather interesting that Kipling expresses such blatant admiration for this figure, even
going to the lengths of titling the poem after him, because it is common to ascribe to Kipling only the
beliefs about "Oriental" peoples as found in the noxious "White Man's Burden". Indeed, Kipling's views
on native peoples are complicated; even though there is clearly racism at play in this poem and in "The
Ballad of East and West", there is also a frank portrayal of admiration.
The poem's speaker describes Gunga Din in a very racist way: the native comes from a "blackfaced crew"
and is a "squidgy-nosed old idol". He is a "'eathen" who is simple and stupid a "good, grinnin', gruntin'
Gunga Din". This is a very disturbing portrait. However, the British soldiers are also depicted in an
unflattering light. They are loud and coarse, full of insults and threats. They rely on Gunga Din for the
basest sustenance, but cannot help but yell and mock, albeit in a (mostly) good-natured fashion. Using
the traditional sense of black and white as depicting good and evil, Kipling uses Din's portrayal of
blackness to contrast with his inner virtue: "'E was white, clear white, inside", which can be taken as
both an insult to the members of Din's race, whose blackness signifies evil, and the narrator's fellow
men for the low behavior that negates their own whiteness. At the close of the poem the narrator
suggests both Din and the soldiers are doomed to hell.
The speaker of the poem owes Gunga Din for much more than just the normal sips of water, however;
he is carried out of harm's way by the native and thus owes him his life. Unfortunately the native's
heroic act is his last, for "a bullet came an' drilled the beggar clean". The soldier is very grateful to Gunga
Din and ends the last stanza of the poem by proclaiming him a "better man than I am, Gunga Din!"
Again, the poem is complicated by the reality of imperialism and the overtones of racism, but the
soldier's tribute to the man who saved his life is touching nonetheless.

Gunga Din, the Indian water carrier of a British regiment is a quietly courageous man. Throughout the
Indian Mutiny of 1857 Gunga Din loyally serves the British regiment, risking life and limb to bring the
men water. Although often berated and downtrodden by those he serves, Gunga Din rises above the
degradations and stereotypes thrown at him by the British troops to become a hero amongst those
men. His tragic death while rescuing a fallen British soldier is the epitome of self sacrifice and courage
that is so rarely seen in today's society.

Kipling's beautiful poem paints a somewhat bleak portrait of India post colonisation, while at the same
time portraying the remarkable strength of human spirit. Post colonisation, the reader is presented with
images of war, of injury and of death. The second story hidden underneath Kipling's poem is one of
mutinous Indian natives, waging war against the British colonising power.

The poem itself presents the all-too-common colonising view of 'them' versus 'us': "Of all them
blackfaced crew". Coming from the point of view of a British soldier, the poem presents the opinion of
the superiority of the European colonisers and, therefore, the inferiority of the native, dispossessed
peoples.

Even their regimental water carrier, Gunga Din, is still seen as inferior and as being 'one of them': "You
squidgy-nosed old idol, Gunga Din". Despite the fact that Gunga Din is working alongside the European
powers, he is still considered to be native, nave, childlike, all the terms the colonising powers
associate with the culture being colonised. Gunga Din is still the individual in need of help from the
British.

Because they view him as inferior, the British feel it is their right to treat Gunga Din in any way they
wish. Calling him names, threatening him, it all accompanies the idea that they are the colonising
power, and he is the colonised.

However, having established all that, Kipling's text then addresses the idea of both cultures finally
coming together and forming a mutual respect for one another. The British soldier whose life is saved
by Gunga Din comes to see him, not just as an Indian water carrier, but as a brave and courageous man,
regardless of his race. In a post-colonial world, this could be seen as an ideal outcome: recognition of
people as people, no matter where they come from or where they have been.

Kipling's Gunga Din is a beautiful poem illustrating not only the ferocities associated with colonising any
country but also portraying the courage and bravery of one man, and the acclaim and recognition that
results from this, despite the attitude of the soldiers to his Indian heritage. To the reader, the poem
illustrates the issues associated with colonisation, but also the hope that can arise post-colonisation;
hope for a better world where all people are treated as they deserve to be regardless of their cultural
heritage.