Civility and Morality in Civilization

When reading Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, one could look at the Jungle as a "city" and the animals as its inhabitants, its civilization. A civilization is "the type of culture and society developed by a particular nation or region or in a particular era" (American Heritage 246). Each animal in The Jungle Book represents a different part of the "city." In a city, there are the lazy people, the hard workers, the thieves, the cheaters, the criminals, etc. It is all the same with the Jungle. Kipling uses the Jungle and the animals to represent human civilization, and sees civilizations and cultures as being threatened by "danger." A danger is an "exposure or vulnerability to harm or risk" (American Heritage 334). This danger can be represented by many different things: war with other nations or lack of food, for example. As a civilization gets older and older, part of that culture is lost, and even that could pose as a danger. …