The Image Of The 'Te-rain' in Rudyard Kipling's 'Kim'

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject History Europe - Germany - 1848, Empire, Imperialism, grade: 1,3 (A), Georgetown University (History), course: Novels Of Empire (Colloquium), language: English, abstract: 1. Introduction There is no other institution in Rudyard Kipling?s Kim, which has a comparable importance for the description of India than the railway. It serves not only as a location for the plot, but as a symbol for the power and the progress of the British Empire in India. On the following pages these roles of the 'te-rain' will become investigated: After a view on the history of the railway in colonial India, its importance for the story and as a metaphor of the colonial Empire will be discussed. The conclusion will deal with the question how Kipling?s introduction of the train in his novel fits together with his inter-pretation of Empire.