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Similes
13. Her Majesty’s Servants
Explanation and Analysis—Our Own Wills:
Kipling uses a metaphor and intense situational irony to depict the highly regulated mechanisms of colonial rule in “Her Majesty’s Servants.” The Afghan Chief and the Viceroy’s Officer have the following conversation after the Animal Parade has gone by:
'But are the beasts as wise as the men?' said the chief.
‘They obey, as the men do. Mule, horse, elephant, or bullock, he obeys his driver, and the driver his sergeant, and the sergeant his lieutenant, and the lieutenant his captain, and the captain his major, and the major his colonel, and the colonel his brigadier commanding three regiments, and the brigadier his general, who obeys the Viceroy, who is the servant of the Empress. Thus it is done.’
‘Would it were so in Afghanistan!’ said the chief; ‘for there we obey only our own wills.’
This conversation is a metaphor for the way in which the British controlled India. The idea—one that Kipling is metaphorically addressing through the Viceroy's Officer here—is that of the British system of top-down rule. This is a power structure where everyone follows orders from the person above them. Although it led to enormous abuses of power in India, it was intended to make people behave in a controlled way, just like the animals in the parade. This exchange shows the British Imperialist belief that this strict control was the "natural" or right way to maintain order. Queen Victoria was also Empress of India at this point, making everyone else below her a "servant." Everyone, including the animals, is one of "Her Majesty's Servants."
The situational irony here comes from the Amir’s own inability to control his men. Normally, one would think that people could control and manage their own behavior better than animals. However, the Afghan chief is surprised to see that the animals are more organized and controlled than the people of his own country. His question, "But are the beasts as wise as the men?", shows his surprise and highlights the irony at play: this rigid, military precision from animals is not what he, or readers, would normally expect. Indeed, they make the "wilful" people of Afghanistan look chaotic by comparison.
Related Themes:
