How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #4
It was as he suspected. The Sahibs prayed to their God; for in the centre of the Mess-table—its sole ornament when they were on the line of march—stood a golden bull fashioned from old-time loot of the Summer Palace at Pekin—a red-gold bull with lowered head, ramping upon a field of Irish green. To him the Sahibs held out their glasses and cried aloud confusedly. (5.55)
As Kim watches the officers of the Irish Mavericks toasting their mascot, the red-gold statue of a Bull, he immediately assumes that they are engaged in some kind of religious ritual. In our section "Symbols, Imagery, Allegory," we talk about the significance of this spectacle to the novel's presentation of British manners, so here we want to emphasize the religious side of this scene.
Kim's assumption that this red-gold bull is the Sahibs' "God" is proof that he does not share the Christian education that many of Kipling's reading audience would have had. Father Victor tells Kim to go to St. Xavier's school and become a good Catholic, but we see no sign that Kim picks up any kind of Christian faith over the course of the novel, any more than he takes up the lama's Buddhist faith or the Islam of Mahbub Ali. Why might Kipling present Christianity from Kim's distanced, unfamiliar perspective?
Quote #5
'And I am a Follower of the Way,' he said bitterly. 'The sin is mine and the punishment is mine. I made believe to myself for now I see it was but make-belief—that thou wast sent to me to aid in the Search. So my heart went out to thee for thy charity and thy courtesy and the wisdom of thy little years. But those who follow the Way must permit not the fire of any desire or attachment, for that is all Illusion. As says ...' He quoted an old, old Chinese text, backed it with another, and reinforced these with a third. 'I stepped aside from the Way, my chela. It was no fault of thine. I delighted in the sight of life, the new people upon the roads, and in thy joy at seeing these things. I was pleased with thee who should have considered my Search and my Search alone. Now I am sorrowful because thou art taken away and my River is far from me. It is the Law which I have broken!'
'Powers of Darkness below!' said Father Victor, who, wise in the confessional, heard the pain in every sentence. (5.150-1)
This passage occurs just after the lama realizes at last that Kim is a Sahib, and that he will be going to a British school instead of continuing on the road with the lama. Why does the lama feel so broken up and disappointed here? What mistake does he say he has made by allowing himself to grow too close to Kim, his disciple? How do the lama's regrets in this passage influence his later behavior towards Kim?
Quote #6
He showed nothing of his mind when Father Victor, for three long mornings, discoursed to him of an entirely new set of Gods and Godlings—notably of a Goddess called Mary, who, he gathered, was one with Bibi Miriam of Mahbub Ali's theology. He betrayed no emotion when, after the lecture, Father Victor dragged him from shop to shop buying articles of outfit, nor when envious drummer-boys kicked him because he was going to a superior school did he complain, but awaited the play of circumstances with an interested soul. (7.25)
Kim has "an interested soul," but his interests really do not seem to be in religion. He can see the intellectual overlap between the Christian "Goddess" Mary and the Muslim "Bibi Miriam," but he doesn't appear too concerned with the differences between the two faiths, nor does he seem to prefer one to the other.
Indeed, for a book that focuses so much on spirituality, its main character has very little (if any) religious belief. What does Kim follow or believe in, if it is not religion? How do Kim's worldly beliefs differ from those of the lama, and how might they be similar?