The Jungle Book: Theme

There is more than one general theme in the jungle book. The first theme is the classic, "Let nature take it's course" theme. Throughout the story of Mowgli, and the stories of animals in the second half of the book, there are many references to the theme. "Of course the men get to know of it, and unless you can find an island where no men ever come, you will always be driven." In the main story of The Jungle Book, there is much commodity about the human boy's presence in the jungle, because of the human hunters that occupy the jungle. In the short stories at the end of the book, the theme is much more prominent, and much more explicit. For example, the entire story of "The White Seal", Kipling's first short story of the book, is based on the migration of a colony of seals because of the poaching that takes place on the beach where they live. This theme is prominent through the majority of the book. During the main story, the theme is Implicit, and in the short stories, the theme is more Explicit. This theme is universal, as it does not reference the story directly, and is used in many other pieces. The theme allows the reader to see life from the point of the animals of The Jungle Book and to sympathize with their problems. Much like "Planet of the Apes", this book causes the reader to end up rooting for the non-human side of the conflict very effectively. The theme is a very popular notion of modern life, with the new, 'Green' mentality of human beings. It delves deeper into the old prospect of retribution and the effects of a changing ecosystem.
The second theme in the Jungle Book is "What goes around comes around." The tiger Shere Khan attempted to kill Mowgli at the beginning of the story, which resulted in Mowgli hunting him down and killing him later on. After mowgli kills him for revenge, he is punished when he is forced out of the wolf pack and takes four cubs with him to hunt. "Man pack and wolf pack have cast me out, now I will hunt alone in the jungle." This theme is explicit. It is made clear throughout the book. The theme is universal as it is found in very many different stories and does not reference The Jungle Book itself. The theme causes the luck of the characters in the book to change drastically very quickly. In Rudyard Kipling's short story "Rikki-tikki-tavi", the snake that nearly killed the young boy is killed by Rikki, but then Rikki is targeted by the snake's husband. The luck of both these characters changed in a very short time, because they resorted to violent/evil means to get what they wanted. The theme is a form of 'karma', which causes a character's luck to be modeled after their contribution to society, positive or negative. The story promotes morality and makes a statement that revenge will most likely end up causing harm to both sides of the conflict. The book goes deeper into the theme and illustrates some very good examples of Karma.