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MaddyKuhn
Mrs.Stanford
ENG234
2May,2016
TheImportanceofOneIndividual
Somemaythinkthatoneindividualcannothaveaneffectonanythingorchangeone
singlething.InthesetwopoemsbyRudyardKipling,
GungaDin
and
Recessional,
readerswill
seetheimportanceofonesingleindividual.Inthisworldsomepeoplecan'tsurvivewithoutthe
existenceofanotherbeing.Fromachilddependingonamotherorjustafrienddependingona
friendeverybodyhasthatonepersontheyneedtogooninlife.Ifnotforthatonepersonmany
wouldnotbeabletofunctionandsurvive.Everybodyneedsthatoneshouldertheyleanon.
Throughoutthesetwopoemsreaderscanseetheimpactonesinglepersoncanhaveonothers.
RudyardKiplingwasanEnglishauthorbornonDecember30th,1865,inBombay,India.
Kiplingwasmostfamousforhisworksof
TheJungleBook
and
JustSoStories
alongwith
beingwellknownforthesepiecesKiplingwontheNobelPeacePrizeinLiteraturein1907.
RudyardwaseducatedinEnglandbutthenlaterreturnedtoIndiain1882.ThroughtheKiplings
yearsoflifehefacedmanydifficulttimesfromthelossofhismother,losinghischildren,and
sufferingfromanulcerthateventuallytookhislifeonJanuary18,1936.(LongmanAnthology)
Kiplingspoem,
GungaDin,
istoldfromtheperspectiveofaBritishsoldierwho
expressesadmirationforanativewaterbearer,aftergivinghisownlifetosaveasoldier's.Thus
goingbacktotheideastatedearlieraboutdependingonanother.InIndiaslandwherethe
soldierservedEngland,theblackfacedcrewwasGungaDin,thewatercarrier.Allofthesoldiers

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gavehimorderstogetthemwaterandcalledhimrudenames.GungaDindidn'twearanything
tooextravagantandhisequipmentwasuselesstohisprotection,allhecarriedwasawaterbag
andarag.Whenthesoldierswereinneedofwaterandsweatingandlyingintheheattheywould
callouttoGungaDinandifhedidn'tgettherefastenoughtothethreatenedhimifhedidn'tfill
uptheirbottlesfastenough.
Whenthesoldierswouldgointobattle,GungaDinwouldbe50pacesbehindthemreadytotend
toeachofthemwithhiswateronhisback.Thesoldiertellingthestorysaidhecanneverforget
thenighthewashitwithabulletandwasparchedforthirst.GungaDinwasthefirsttofindthe
soldierheliftedhisheadandstaunchedthewoundthenproceededtogivethesoldiertheonly
waterhehadwhichwasgreenandslimy.However,thesoldiersaidthiswasthebestdrinkhe
hadeverhad.AsGungaDincarriedhimawayhewasstruckwithabullet,howeverGungaDin
gotthesoldierinsidebeforesayinghislastwords,Ihopeyouenjoyedthedrink.Thesoldier
statedthathewillmeetGungaDinagainandthatGungaDinisabettermanthanhe.
Inthispoem,thespeakerdescribesGungaDininaracisttypeofway,whenhecalled
himablackfacedcrewbecauseGungaDinisnative.Howeverthesoldiersarealsonot
portrayedinthebestwayeither.Theycomeacrossbybeingarrogantandselfishandfullof
threats.ThesoldiersrelyonGungaDinfortheirneedofwater,andtohelpthemwhentheyare
wounded.ThespeakerofthepoemowesGungaDinmuchmorethanjustsipsofwater.
UnfortunatelyGungaDinsheroicactiondidn'tlastlongwhenhewasstruckbyabullet.The
soldierstatesthathimandGungaDinaredoomedtoHell.Thispoemrepresentstheimportance
ofoneindividualbyGungaDinbeingtheonlysourceofwaterforthesoldiersandcaringforthe
woundsthesoldiersobtainduringbattle.WithoutGungaDinthesoldierswouldhavenowayto

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getwateroutonthebattlefieldandwhentheywereinjuredGungaDinwastheonewhocared
forthesesoldiersevenwhentheywerecrueltohim.Hestuckbytheirsidesnomatterwhat.
RudyardKiplingspoem,
Recessional,
thespeakercallsouttoGod,whichistheleaderof
theirbattlelinewhoholdsthepowerovertheland.Whentheshoutingfadedaway,andthekings
andcaptainsleft,allthatwasleftwastheGodsancientsacrifice.Thenaviesreturnhomeand
thewargoesoutandthespeakercallsout,Lestweforget.Ifmenaredrunkwithpowerthey
wishtobeholdandstartspeakingirrationallywithouttheintentionofGod,thespeaker
implores,Lestweforget.Thespeakercallsforthelordtoshowmercyonhispeopleevenwith
alloftheirsins.
Inthepoem,atthebeginningthespeakerspeaksoftheGodofourfathersandpointing
outthatheisthelordofall.ThespeakerasksiftheGodwillbewithhisspiritandproudcountry
men,unlesstheyarevainonthelord'sname.Theshowstheimportanceoftheirlordandhow
everythingtheydorevolvesaroundwhattheirGodwillthinkofthem,thusreconnectingbackto
theideaoftheimportanceandeffectsonepersoncanhaveonsomebody.Withoutthesepeople
havingsomebodythatwatchesoverthemandsomebodythattheydesiretomakehappythey
wouldhavenopurposetodogoodintheworld.
Inconclusionthesetwopoemsbothrepresenttheimportancethatonepersoncanhaveon
lives.In
GungaDin,
thewatercarrierwasimportantbecausewithouthimthesoldierswouldn't
getthehydrationtheyneededorthatso,diedwouldn'thavelivedaslongifitwasn'tforGunga
Dinsavinghimafterhegotshot.In
Recessional,
theLordwasimportantbecauseeverybody
basedwhattheydidaroundhimandwhattheywouldthinkofhimthusmakingthemmakebetter
choicesintheirlifetime.Everybodyhasonepersontherevolvetheiractionsaroundordepend

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forsurvivaloninthisworld.Withoutthatoneperson,theotherwouldnotbeabletogoonwith
theirlifeasgoodastheycouldhavewiththatoneperson.Everybodyneedssomebodytolean
on.

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WorkCited
Kipling,Rudyard."GungaDin."
TheLongmanAnthology:BritishLiterature
.4thed.Vol.2B.
Boston:Longman,2010.1742745.Print.TheVictorianAge.
Kipling,Rudyard."Recessional."
TheLongmanAnthology:BritishLiterature
.4thed.Vol.2B.
Boston:Longman,2010.1745.Print.TheVictorianAge.