An essay on Lispeth
The story begins with a description of the environment. On just a few lines the narrator makes us aware of the both the surroundings and the social environment. The story is set in the Kotgarh Valley, and we are let into a community of farmers. The fields are put under with maize and opium poppies. We are introduced to an area far away from everything and an area where agriculture provides the basis of all life. The social environment is split up into two parts. On one side we have the hill people who are Hindu, and on the opposite we have the Mission who are Christian. Lispeth is born by Hindus, but after their staple food maize fails Lispeth is brought to the Mission, and she is baptized. In this way we learn how poor the area must be if the only way to secure one’s daughter’s life is to give her up.
After this introduction the plot commences. The story line is told straight forward, and the point of view is a 3rd person narrator. The first person narrator has a limited view, because he doesn’t know what goes on inside the different characters’ heads. Actually you can at times argue in favour of the point view being a 1st person narrator, because we from time to time have an “I” telling the story. The story is told by a 3rd person narrator describing the events from one character’s point of view.“,I do not know; but she grew very lovely. When a Hill-girl grows lovely, she is worth travelling fifty miles over bad ground to look upon.”(Lispeth: p.33 l.16-18) This author comment makes us wonder if Kipling maybe has experienced it himself. He has perhaps as a young man in India travelled 50 miles to see a Hindu girl whom he loved. The 1st person narrator gives credibility to the story by saying “I”. The story is told years and years later as if it has been told by Lispeth to the narrator. Through the story the author comes with comments.