Week Two: The Jungle Book

This movie had some very interesting things to say about right and wrong. The journey of the story seemed to be about growing up and taking responsibility, but in the end the reason Mowgli goes to the man village is that there are girls there. I suppose one thing the movie seemed to portray that I don’t think we talked about in class last week was that there are perks to doing what you’re supposed to and consequences when you don’t.

In the “three little pigs” shorts we watched, the first two pigs didn’t prepare properly, and they were punished for it when the wolf came and blew down their houses. The third pig, however, was rewarded for his hard work with safety. In a lot of stories the reward is something that logically follows the task. If you outsmart the villain then you are rewarded with safety from the villain. However, the end of “The Jungle Book” seems to be implying that sometimes there are more rewards than just protection from harm.

Safety is definitely an issue in the movie. Mowgli refuses to listen to Baghira and runs off through the jungle on his own. He gets kidnapped by monkeys, hypnotized by a big snake, and hunted by a tiger. All of these things are frightening and dangerous, yet still the freedom of life in the jungle is more desirable to him than safety in a village.

It isn’t until they reach the village that Mowgli changes his mind. Throughout the story, it seems like Baghira is the voice of reason and responsibility—the adult voice—and Baloo is the voice of childhood and freedom.  Up until they reach the village, Mowgli is much more inclined to listen to Baloo. But when they reach the village, he sees a girl for the first time and seems to decide that there are some good things about growing up. So after that he listens to Baghira’s whispers to “go on” and ignores Baloo, who calls him to come back.

Teaching children about morality commonly involves portraying rewards and consequences. I think children often forget to consider the consequences before they do something wrong, or look forward to a reward for good behavior, so it’s beneficial for them to see consequences in the stories we tell them. At the same time, I don’t know if children really understand the morals of the stories until they’re older. I doubt Mowgli would have acted much differently in that last scene if he hadn’t had Baloo and Baghira telling him what to do. Going to the man village had to be his own decision. I remember the first time I realized that if you followed instructions, the adults would treat you better than they would if you disobeyed. I came to the conclusion on my own and it seemed like this brilliant, stunning revelation even though I’m sure someone had explained the concept to me previously.