"The Jungle Book: An approach to wild children in Literature

Abstract

The paper introduces different stories about feral children being raised by animals, since the first works of Ancient Mesopotamia, to the novels in modern prose, and names some of the diverse cases of feral children raised by different animals found in real life. Then, it focuses on the real cases of feral children documented all over the world which Rudyard Kipling could have used as a source of inspiration, followed by the novels, stories and classical legends that have feral children raised by animals into its characters, all of them written before Kipling wrote The Jungle Book in 1895. Also, there is a brief summary of the life of Rudyard Kipling and an introduction and synopsis of both, The Jungle Book, and The Second Jungle Book. Moreover, it is mentioned the different settings Kipling used in the story that exist in India, as some cities, and some natural environments. Finally, it is mentioned a handwritten letter from Kipling where he recognises taken ideas from other sources to write the story of Mowgli.