Clash of Loyalties: Kipling’s Men in Conflict

Abstract

Kipling’s divided self and his agonized quest for a union of the two parts has attracted as much biographical commentary as any aspect of his life, and these same features, pouring effortlessly into his work, have drawn their share of critical notice, especially in connection with overtly schizophrenic creations like Kim. However, not much attention has been paid to the first stirrings of this deep-rooted identity crisis in Soldiers Three. The conflicts experienced by the soldiers are hackneyed in conception — the seductions of home versus the arduous glories of the military — and rather facile in execution. Nevertheless, they fit smoothly into the overall picture of adolescence that Kipling was to develop.