Mowgli - the famous hero of the eponymous work by Kipling. Children read this book at primary school age, a beautiful cartoon is placed on it, the name of Mowgli has become a household name. This is the name of children who, for whatever reason, are brought up outside of human society. True, they usually do not at all look like the bold and intelligent Mowgli, who skillfully used both human and wolf language, freely existed in the jungle and was able to get comfortable in the village community.
In “Mowgli” there are two worlds for the hero: a forest and a village. Moreover, noble and interesting heroes live in the forest, while in the village there are mainly a
gray mass of people. People at Kipling are deprived of nobility, dignity, behave almost like banderlogs. Mowgli himself did not know who they were for quite some time. Acquaintance was unexpected, even somewhat dangerous. One of the stories about Mowgli is dedicated to this.
Many of Kipling's works are written about animals. Moreover, he, as our
famous fabulist I. Krylov, attributes to them human merits and demerits. Each beast is a special, complex and
interesting person. After all, it’s not for nothing that Balu’s loyalty, the proud and wise Bagira, the leisurely Kaa, the leader of the Akella pack, the treacherous tiger Sherkhan and the sneaky jackal Tabaki are remembered for a long time. There are banderlogs, who they are and whether they have any positive qualities, it becomes clear almost immediately after meeting with their pack. Banderlogs are monkeys who try to behave like people, but that’s exactly what exposes the people themselves. All their actions are meaningless, they are subject to moods and influences, do not have their own law, and they do not recognize the
law of the jungle . The people of the jungle despise them so much that no one even wants to answer the question of Mowgli: "Banderlog? Who is it?"
If you seriously think about the meaning Kipling put into his books, it becomes clear that under the guise of banderlogs he portrayed the crowd. It is the crowd that behaves just like this herd of monkeys. There are no personalities in the crowd, no bright characters, it gives in to an instant impulse: rage, inspiration or fear. Therefore, when asked why banderlogs were needed, who they are and whom they symbolize, one can safely answer: this is a crowd.
In the book "Mowgli" everything is built on the opposition. The jungle and the village, banderlogs with their complete chaos and a completely ordered flock of wolves, the cunning and meanness of Sherkhan and the nobleness and mercy of Akella. This is a children's book, so such a contrast, the division of the world into two camps (good and bad) is quite appropriate. It is with these categories that younger students think, for them it is natural. A picture of the world unfolds in front of them, peculiar, of course, but very similar to ours. In any case, the problems in him are the same: study, helping friends, curiosity, disobedience and its deplorable consequences. Before the readers are bright
heroes: Bagheera, Kaa, Banderlog, Mowgli, Sherkhan and others.
Of course, this is an adventure work, one of those where you do not need to look for too deep meaning. True, sometimes it seems that Kipling wanted to say a little more than is customary to see in this story. Children should definitely read this book.