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In the Shadow of Empires: Power and Intrigue in Kipling’s Kim

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The study sheds light on Rudyard Kipling's Kim as a novel about espionage in British-ruled India, namely during the "Great Game" era of political, military, and imperial contention between Britain, France, and Russia in Central Asia. It highlights how the novel’ narrative minimizes the impact of regional resistance while highlighting the critical role espionage plays in upholding British supremacy and justifying colonial rule. Kim is an orientalist and he highlights the negative effects of colonialism and the positive effects of colonizers, ultimately advocating for British governance to be maintained. The study discovers the manipulation that Kim adopted to hide his identity and it aims to determine the historical and cultural relevance of the novel by examining its power and influence within the text. Kim, the main character, started as a spy to explore but became an intelligence agent and became more involved with the political and military systems of Britain.
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