Darwinian Evolution And An Egalitarian Cosmopolitan Vision In The Jungle Books

The Jungle Books has been widely regarded as an imperial allegory influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution.This Darwinian impact,however,is at odds with the Victorian understanding of natural selection,aiming to eradicate the hierarchical boundaries between humans and animals and to deconstruct the speciesism-based imperialism.This thesis attempts to explore in Victorian imperial animality discourse the book’s application of Darwinian concepts and consequent eradication of speciesism and its egalitarian cosmopolitan vision.The book first reveals that Victorian distortion of Darwin’s natural selection is a prime origin of imperialist ideology.This intentional distortion is demonstrated in human’s hunt for and enslavement of wild animals which reinforces speciesism and downgrades native Indians to the animal Other,which provides legitimacy to Britain’s imperial dominance.Many stories in the book use Darwin’s concept of “biological continuism” to dissolve speciesism,undermining the legitimacy of imperialism or racism.While the common biological origin of Mowgli and jungle animals stresses the brotherhood between humans and animals,the rational behavior of animals and their mastery of language challenge the notion of human exceptionalism and question the rationality of speciesism.Darwin’s concept of “intermediate link” contributes to the book’s egalitarian cosmopolitan vision.As a heterogeneous life in which humanity and animality coexist,the wolf-child Mowgli is the most important “intermediate link” in the book,i.e.a life form that exists during animal evolution into man.This heterogeneous life form transcends the human-animal boundaries,discards racial hierarchies,and embodies a quest for egalitarian cosmopolitanism.Therefore,The Jungle Books presents not entirely a discourse of imperialism,but an idealized world of equality and harmony that transcends the boundaries of species and races.