What the Story is All About The novel “Kim” by Rudyard Kipling is an adventure story revolving around a young man named Kimball O’Hara. The story begins by highlighting the young boy, Kim, meeting Lama and deciding to follow him in quest of his religious fulfillment as a disciple. On page 14, “…Kim followed like a shadow” (Kipling 14). What Lama is talking about has totally mesmerized Kim as he sees Lama to be totally different. He (Kim) decides to investigate him (Lama) as he would for a strange festival in Lahore city. Lama is searching for the River of the Arrow, which he believes will provide him the salvation he wants and cleanse him of his sins (Kipling 29). Kim is an Irish boy living in India, born to a father who was a soldier. He grew up as an orphan as his father and mother died when he was at a tender age. Kim wanders with Lama into Lahore where they look at the Buddhist relics as Lama seeks to get off the ‘Wheel of Things’. Kim is fascinated by Lama while Lama, on the other hand, feels that Kim is sent to him as a disciple or ‘chela’ (Kipling 29). As Lama seeks the prophecy made by his father, this quest leads Kim into another strand of the novel – His recruitment in the British secret service. Besides some interruption of their friendship, Lama and Kim remains friend even when Kim is attending school. However, the recruitment in the secret service allows him to participate in the ‘great game’ of spying to fight Russians. The Novel is mainly about friendship of Teshoo Lama and Kim, also between Kim and colonel Creighton. Women also play a crucial role in the novel, but they feature as providers and prostitutes though there is some mention of respectable women, the widow of Kulu … “Kim’s mother was Kulu” (Kipling 288), and there is also Shalegh. Kim is captured when he found some secretes. Kim holds the native culture and the soldiers have British mentality. There is a unique way of showing clash of culture as used by the author. Even as he thinks of escaping back to Lama, Kim is imprisoned and forced to wear what he describes as “Horrible stiff suit” (Kipling 288), the form of clothing he says “rasped his arms and legs” (Kipling 288). Kim finally meets Colonel Creighton, a man he can revere, a father-figure and a man similar to Lama. The colonel recognizes the intelligence and exceptional skills Kim had, and he markedly influenced Kim’s life as he seeks to define himself. Kim trained as a spy. Kim and Lama are interdependent since that was an excuse for Kim to travel around India and an ideal cover up to spy, whereas Lama mostly depended on Kim to solicit shelter and a shoulder to lean on literally. The climax of the story is when Kim sets to intercept two foreign spies, one French and Russian, working in Himalayas. Kim and Babu both secret agents are crucial in preventing the spies. Lama brings the espionage mission to success because as Kim fought one of the spies who had provoked Lama tearing his diagram, Kim stumbles into the spies secrete documents. The fight ends Lama’s quest as he finds the river of the Arrow and Kim hands the secret documents to authorities. Levels of Meaning in Kim Kim is a novel that can be described to have had multiple levels of meaning. The novel is a drama about Kim who is ambitious and having his way. The book is also an