VanDunk 1

Jaida VanDunk
Lynda Haas
Writing 37
February 21, 2015
Rikki Tikki Tavi Rhetorical Analysis
If a danger threatens us personally, fear motivates us to protect ourselves. If a
danger threatens another, it is less certain what motivates us to protect them. (Shelton
Rogers 366) Pathos is a rhetorical device that was first identified by Aristotle, used in
different forms of literature, media, etc. that is used to persuade the audience to feel a
certain way or recognize a point that the author is trying to make. Mary Shelton and
Ronald Rogers explain that the appeal to pathos is the arousal of emotion, specifically
by moments of fear and/or moments of empathy. Both fear and empathy are used in
Rudyard Kilpings short story from The Jungle Book, Rikki Tikki Tavi in order to convey
a sense of pathos. In"Rikki Tikki Tavi," Kipling's use of the rhetorical appeal to pathos
focuses readers on the positive relationships that can exist between man and nature, as
well as negative outcomes of these relationships.
Rikki Tikki Tavi is a young mongoose who is rescued by a family of three when
he is washed away from his home after a flood. Rikki Tikki quickly becomes a beloved
member of the family, but order is disturbed in the garden outside the familys home
when Nag and Nagaina, the mongooses natural enemy, decide that the only way to get
rid of Rikki Tikki is to kill the family that he has come to love. Kipling develops the bond

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formed between Rikki and his family through an appeal of pathos meant to evoke
empathy and fear.
In their essay, Fear-Arousing and Empathy-Arousing Appeals to Help: The
Pathos of Persuasion, Shelton and Rogers define empathy as an individuals
emotional arousal elicited by the expression of emotion (usually distress) in another
(367), Shelton and Roger argue that in order to evoke pathos through a sense of
empathy, the writing must hold specific components to properly appeal to the
audience.They suggest that pathos works in a two-step process which begins with (a)
taking the perspective of another in need increases empathic emotion, which in tum, (b)
increases motivation to help or protect another. Rikki Tikki has already lost his family in
a terrible flood, which is a situation that causes the reader to empathize with him. His
natural desire to protect the family after they have been so kind to him increases the
readers empathy to the point where they are involved in the story and feeling protective
of Rikki, hoping that his story will end well. The audience can empathize and
emotionally connect with Rikki because many have experienced this need to protect
with their own families.
Shelton and Rodgers also argue that pathos can also be evoked through a sense
of fear. Like empathy, the writing must hold specific components in order to properly
establish this fear. There are three important components that must be portrayed to
evoke pathos through fear; the first of these these components is the magnitude of
noxiousness of a depicted danger.(367) The depicted danger that is most likely to
occur is the anticipated attack on the family by Nag and Nagaina. The audience
becomes fearful for the families safety and are on edge while waiting to find out wheter

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or not Rikki is actually capable of saving the family.The second component in a story
that establishes fear in the audience is the probability the danger will occur(367). The
protective response occurred when Rikki didnt hesitate to utilize his natural abilities
and kill both snakes.The threat to the family is further increased after the death of Nag.
Before, the only motive to kill the family was to get rid of Rikki TIkki so that Nag and
Nagaina could protect their hatchlings, but now that Nagaina wants vengeance for the
the death of Nag, the threat to the family is intensified. The growing intensity in the
situation causes the audience to be more emotionally involved, because they are
scared of what might happen to the family. Rikkis act of following his natural instincts to
kill Nag and Nagaina resulted in his saving the family, therefore successfully
establishing the final component to evoking fear, which is the effectiveness of a
protective response in averting the danger. (367). After Rikki kills Nagaina the
audience is relieved and inspired a=by Rikkis ability to stand up fornhis family even
though his chances of killing the snakes were slim. Rikki Tikkis saving of the family
presents both upsides and downsides to his domestication by the family. Without Rikki
Tikki, the family would have been killed by the Nag and Nagaina. The idea that Rikki
can form such a strong bond with the family that he is willing to risk his life for them is
heartwarming and makes the bond between man and animal appear to be extremely
positive. This bond is so heartwarming because Rikki and the family are selflessly
taking care of each other and therefore establishing a true friendship. Sune Borkfelt
speaks positively on the domestication of Rikki Tikki by the family in Colonial Animals
and Literary Analysis: The Example of Kipling's Animal Stories, saying, Moreover,
animals seem to be better off in the service of humans, as is also stated in the story of

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Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, where we are told that every well-brought-up mongoose always

hopes to be a house mongoose someday. (562) The appeal to pathos makes the
audience empathize with Rikki Tikki and the family, because they are so happy together
and are protected by Rikki after saving him.
However, while Rikki Tikki saved the family, the snakes wouldnt have even tried
to hurt the family if they had not brought Rikki Tikki into their home in the first place,
throwing of the nature of the environment around them. In Behavioral Aspects of Animal
Domestication, Edward Price agrees that there are several benefits to the domestication
of animals, but that the domestication also disturbs the natural order of nature, saying,
and species. However, it is apparent that, with respect to animal behavior,
domestication has influenced the quantitative rather than qualitative nature of the
response Certain behaviors may have been altered because of man's role as a buffer
between the animal and its environment. (1) Domestication of animals is beneficial to
man for things like, protection, but it is also altering nature and even the animals
behavior.
Rikki Tikki Tavi holds multiple rhetorical elements, including pathos. Pathos is
easily expressed through Rikkis bond with the family that saved him and his natural
instinct to protect them when their lives are threatened. Although the bond is seen as
heartwarming and emphasizes the positive outcomes of a bond between man and
nature, the use of pathos through fear also expresses how the disturbance if nature by
domestication of animals can have a negative outcome as well.

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Work(s) Cited
Kipling, Rudyard. Rikki Tikki Tavi. N.p.: ICU Publishing, 1893. The Jungle Book. Print.
Price, Edward O. Behavioral Aspects of Animal Domestication. Vol. 59. N.p.: The
University of Chicago Press, 1984. 1-32. The Quarterly Review of Biology. Ser.
1. Web. 21 Feb. 2015.

<http://www.jstor.org/stable/2827868>.

Borkfelt, Sune. Colonial Animals and Literary Analysis: The Example of Kipling's Animal
Stories.

Vol. 90. N.p.: Routledge, 2009. 557-68. English Studies. Ser. 5. Web. 21

Feb. 2015.

<http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00138380903181023>.

Shelton, Mary L., and Ronald W. Rogers. Fear-Arousing and Empathy-Arousing

Appeals to Help:

The Pathos of Persuasion. Vol. 11. N.p.: n.p., 1981. 366-78.

Journal of Applied Social

Psychology. Ser. 4. Web. 22 Feb. 2015.