Plot.  The real plot does not begin to unfold itself until Carnehan, wrecked in body and mind, returns to the newspaper office and tries to report his experiences.  Thus nearly one half of the story may be called introductory or preliminary.  This is unusual with Kipling and with all other modern story writers.  The introduction justifies itself, however, in this case because, since a half-crazed man with weakening memory is to tell the real tale, his narrative would have to be supplemented by explanations on nearly every page unless the introductory part could be taken for granted.  Notice how often in reading Carnehan’s broken story you supply what he omits and interpret what he only fragmentarily says by reference to what has gone before.

Kipling has done more in this story than to present a character of limitless audacity.  He has impressed again one of his favorite teachings.  There is, he holds, a barrier between East and West that can never be crossed.  The West can go so far with the East but no farther.  Brave men of the West may conquer the East and rule it, but to take liberties with it is to uncover a vast realm of the unknown and to invite disaster.  In “The Return of Imray,” a good-natured Englishman pats the head of Bahadur Khan’s child and is killed for it.  Another Englishman, in “Beyond the Pale,” thought that he understood the heart of India, and here is his epitaph:  “He took too deep an interest in native life, but he will never do so again.”  Dravot could play king and even god in Kafiristan, but when he exposed himself ignorantly to an old racial superstition he met instant and inevitable destruction.

Characters.  Carnehan tells the story, but Dravot is the energizing character.  Captain James Cook, the discoverer of the Sandwich Islands, is plainly the original of Dravot.  Read the thirtieth chapter of the second volume of Mark Twain’s “Roughing It” (1872) and you will find Kipling’s story clearly outlined.  One cannot withhold a measure of admiration for this type of uncontrolled audacity.  Dravot was not bad at heart, he was only boundless, a type of the adventurer that has given many a fascinating chapter to history as well as to literature.  In “The Research Magnificent,” by Mr. H.G.  Wells, the hero, Benham, says:  “I think what I want is to be king of the world....  It is the very core of me....  I mean to be a king in this earth. King.  I’m not mad.”  His motive, however, is very different from Dravot’s.  “I see the world,” he continues, “staggering from misery to misery, and there is little wisdom, less rule, folly, prejudice, limitation ... and it is my world and I am responsible....  As soon as your kingship is plain to you, there is no more rest, no peace, no delight, except in work, in service, in utmost effort.”  The three weaknesses to be overcome are Fear, Indulgence, and Jealousy.  Both Dravot and Benham fail and the comment of each on his own failure is an autobiography.  Benham:  “I can feel that greater world I shall never see as one feels the dawn coming through the last darkness.”  Dravot:  “We’ve had a dashed fine run for our money.  What’s coming next?”]