Summary of gentle men of the jungle
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The theme of the Gentlemen of the Jungle
The Gentlemen of the Jungle is a philosophical tale whose characters are animals; that is a fable – in the tradition of Esope or La Fontaine's work. The similarity between this short story and classic fables is obvious, at least to some extent, as is shown by many typical expressions, such as "once upon a time" or "lived happily ever after". The Gentlemen of the Jungle tells us the story of a man living alone in the jungle with many animals. This man is fooled by an elephant that pretends to be his friend and a dispute begins therefore between them. The lion, king of the jungle, offers the man the opportunity to state his case before a Commission entirely composed of animals, whose impartiality is consequently doubtful, to such an extent that the elephant is declared innocent and the man has to give up his hut and build another one somewhere else. The same scene happens again and again: the man builds other huts, which are successively confiscated by a rhinoceros, a buffalo, a leopard, a hyena and other animals. So he decides to take extreme measures, manages to gather all the animals together in a big hut, then sets the hut on fire and burns it completely ; so much so that he finds himself alone and tranquil, having got rid of the cruel animals and being ready to enjoy a costly peace. The story finishes with a moral maxim, as in every parable: "Peace is costly, but it's worth the expense". The author has treated the themes of injustice, abuse of power and racism in a colourful, simple and sober style, but the moral is clear and brilliant.
Title and ‘The Gentleman of the Jungle’
A fable is a common genre in literature that uses animals as characters in a story where there is a moral lesson at the end. This lesson is clearly integrated into the story so that readers understand it immediately. The animals have to meet the general requirement of what animals are like: Lions are brave; wolves are cruel, horses proud and foxes cunning.
Aesop fables are the inspiration of this genre, and they were handed down throughout centuries orally and not written down until the 16th century. Aesop was originally a slave, but worked his way upward as a talented teller in Phrygia, Greece.
‘The parable’ is slightly different from a fable in that it contains a secret meaning that is hidden in the language itself, and one which is not automatically understood in the story. ‘The Gentleman of the Jungle’ seems to be more advanced than a fable as it requires the reader to understand the intricacy of the language and its connotations in order to understand the moral lesson. The lesson was sometimes dangerous in fables as they addressed controversial social issues and conflicts. Aesop was probably killed in the end because of his talent to teach and make people think independently. ‘The Gentleman of the Jungle’ is also a political fable as it raises controversial issues in modern society. Kenyatta made a reference to this conflict when he said that ‘the relations between Kikuyu and the Europeans can be well illustrated by this Kikuyu story’
The title refers to the British ‘Gentleman’ who always plays fair and who is just and has moral integrity. The contrast between this and ‘the jungle’ is that of primitiveness and lack of social and political development. The implication is an imbalance between the terms where one is superior and the other inferior.