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“One day, a high summer flood washed him out of the burrow where he lived with his father and mother, and carried him, kicking and clucking, down a roadside ditch. He found a little wisp of grass floating there, and clung to it till he lost his senses. When he revived, he was lying in the hot sun on the middle of a garden path, very draggled indeed…”
The story begins with Rikki-tikki being swept away in a storm and deposited in an unknown territory. His departure is essential to his coming of age because most bildungsroman narratives begin with the protagonist leaving the comfort and safety of home so that they can grow and develop in the unknown. The summer flood is the catalyst that sets Rikki-tikki on his hero’s journey from a curious young mongoose to a valiant slayer of snakes.
“He came down almost across [Nagaina’s] back, and if he had been an old mongoose he would have known that then was the time to break her back with one bite; but he was afraid of the terrible lashing return-stroke of the cobra. He bit, indeed, but did not bite long enough, and he jumped clear of the whisking tail, leaving Nagaina torn and angry.”
This quote occurs during Rikki-tikki’s first encounter with the snakes. Here, the reader sees that while Rikki-tikki is brave, he lacks the wisdom and life-skills of an older mongoose. As a result, Rikki-tikki makes a mistake and is unable to kill Nagaina. This is a crucial step in the young mongoose’s maturation into a hero; he will learn from his mistake and use this lesson to his advantage when he successfully fights snakes later in the text.
“Rikki-tikki had a right to be proud of himself; but he did not grow too proud, and he kept that garden as a mongoose should keep it, with tooth and jump and spring and bite, till never a cobra dared show its head inside the walls.”
This is the final line of “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.” Here, readers can see that our protagonist has grown into his hero status and matured into the protector of the garden. This is a very different Rikki-tikki than the one who initially arrived at the garden on the brink of death. Now, he protects Teddy and his parents, instead of depending on Teddy’s family to rescue him.
