On The Self-categorization In Rudyard Kipling’s Kim

Rudyard Kipling is a fabulous British novelist and poet. And he is the first one who won the Nobel Prize in the history of English literature. Kim was written twenty years after Kipling’s leaving from India. Based on the background of British Raj, this novel told an adventurous story between the lama and Kim, the orphan of a young colour-sergeant of an Irish regiment. Kim traveled with the lama to help him to find a river which could wash away all sins of anyone who took bathes inside. Kipling’s delicate emotion has been set into the description of the exotic Indian landscape and its colourful people under the domination of Britain. By using Kim’s adventure as an example, Kipling truly recorded the self-categorization process of Indian people in the late 19 th century.John C. Turner is one of the most influential psychologists in Europe. In his masterpiece Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-Categorization Theory(1987), he brings up the theory about social groups. The self-categorization theory is about the social psychological process of social groups, and also a theory about the relationship between individual and group. The protagonist Kim is a white orphan who is born in India. He has different styles in communicating with people of different jobs, castes and nations. As a kid with double identities, what’s his psychological process when he is dealing with the relationships among others? The self-categorization theory can be significant in analyzing the context.Based on the understanding of self-categorization theory, this thesis will focus on studying people’s social behavior in British Raj from three levels: individual, group and society. By combining the theory and novel, this story will be analyzed from three aspects: As a British boy born in India, how does he complete his self-categorization process by himself? What are the associations among Kim, the lama and the British Raj groups and how do these effects work on their social behavior? The first chapter focuses on analyzing Kim’s self-categorization during his growing up. Kim spends his little life on the streets of Lahore freely. After being sent to receive education inBritish school by the colonel of the army that his father used to serve for, he becomes alone and begins to think about what he is. In chapter two, Kim meets with the old lama from Tibet and decides to travel with him. These two are in different ages, from different places and have different education backgrounds. But they are both chasing for their own dreams. The old lama is looking for a river which can help him to get rid of the wheel of fate, while Kim is trying to find the Red Bull on a green field.Superficially, their dreams are completely different. But according to the self-categorization theory, their behavior is affected by certain psychological reasons.Chapter three is the part to elaborate how the association between individual and group is built and how it affects others’ social behaviors.In Kim, the majorities of local Indian people do not have the sense of fighting against British colonial rule hidden behind the cover of native states, but rather enter into an alliance with British colonial governors to protect Indian Raj from the north force. It is a reflection that how successful British colonial education was in India. It’s too peculiar to be ignored. From rejecting leaving the lama and going school to finishing school outstandingly and becoming a helper in the Great Game, Kim’s changes on mentality level straightly affect his thoughts and actions. The exotic Indian landscape and its colourful people are the most characteristic features of this novel. Through describing the warm and harmonious features in India, Kipling shows us his vision that Indian culture and British culture can be integrated together. In another word, he expresses his deep love for these two cultures.