The next story with Mowgli, "The Letting of the Jungle", was considerably darker than the other story or the Disney movies. He seeks revenge on the man village for persecuting and torturing a couple who took him in previously. The context of this story is a bit confusing to me, and I still don't understand if this man and woman are his biological parents or just a kind couple who took care of him when he returned to the village for a brief period. Either way, Mowgli asks Hathi and his sons to destroy the village and drive out the people who live there, thus "letting in" the jungle to grow in the village's place.
Throughout this story there is a constant identity strain for Mowgli. He does not fully fit in with his jungle brothers nor is he accepted by the man village. He claims to understand man to his wolf brothers, but detests them all the same. He speaks about how his senses are more heightened than other men, but will never match the jungle creatures'. There is much disdain for the humans and envy of the jungle animals in Mowgli's dialogue and inner thoughts.
Bibliography: The Second Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling,
Project Gutenberg
Image: Mowgli,
Wikipedia Commons
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