The Gentleman of the Jungle is a political allegory in which animals are used to represent colonial powers and African natives. The story is based on an elephant that takes over a man’s hut under the guise of protection, showing how the colonists took control of African land.
Summary of The Gentleman of the Jungle By Jomo Kenyatta
In the story, the author has written about the injustice done by the Europeans to the African people. Like, How the Europeans convinced the African people to sign wrong treaties and how they took away their lands after signing the treaties.
The story begins with an elephant who was once a friend of a man. One day, there was a very strong storm in the forest, the elephant went to his man friend who had a hut at the edge of the forest, the elephant requested his friend the man to let him put his trunk inside his hut so that he could escape from this storm. Since the elephant, who is a friend of man, was in a bad condition, the man allowed him to put his trunk inside his hut.
The elephant first put his trunk into the hut, then his head, pushed the man out into the rain, and sat down in his hut. The elephant said to the man, “Your skin is tougher than mine, so you can survive the rain and the storm.” The man began to babble, and the animals in the nearby forest heard his voice and came to the hut to find out what was happening.
The elephant and the man were arguing with each other, the king of the jungle the lion went to them and said to them, don’t you know that I am the king of the jungle, then how can anyone dare to disturb the peace of my kingdom? The elephant replied to the lion that no one is destroying the peace of the kingdom, we were just discussing whose hut it is and who will live in it.
After seeing all this, the lion orders his ministers to form an inquiry commission. Then the lion tells the man that he has done a good job by befriending his men, especially the elephant who is the respected minister of this kingdom.
The lion told the man not to complain and wait for the inquiry commission to arrive. He assured him that he would be given a full opportunity to speak and he would be happy with the commission’s decision. The man was happy to hear the lion’s advice and was confident that he would definitely get his hut back.
The elephant obeys the lion and appoints other ministers for the inquiry commission. Mr. Rhino, Mr. Buffalo, Mr. Crocodile, Mr. Fox and Mr. Leopard are appointed to the inquiry commission in which Mr. Fox acts as the chairman and Mr. Leopard acts as the secretary to the chairman.
Seeing only animals in the inquiry commission, the man protested why no one from his side was called in the inquiry commission. On this, the man was told that no one from his side is educated enough to understand the rules of the Jungle. They told the man that he don’t need to worry because the members of the inquiry commission are known for their honest decisions.
After this the commission started its work, they called the elephant, the elephant started saying that it is his duty to think good about his friends, he started lying that the man had called him to protect his hut from the storm. The elephant further said that by sitting in the hut, he has used the vacant space in an economical manner. Hearing the elephant’s words, Mr. Hyena and other elder animals were called from the forest and all of them supported the elephant. After this, the commission called the man, the man was about to start his side of the story when suddenly the members of the commission stopped him.
The commission members asked the man, was the undeveloped area of the hut occupied by someone else before the elephant? The man replied, no. After this the commission announced that they have heard both the parties. The commission members ate food with the money of the elephant and gave their decision.
The members of the commission came to the conclusion that the fight between the elephant and the man was due to the misunderstanding of the man which was caused by his narrow thinking. The commission further said that the elephant does its duty by doing good to you. Finally, the commission gave its final decision that the elephant can retain its possession of that hut and at the same time they allow the man to build his hut anywhere in the forest.
In this case the elephant wins against the man, even though the man was right and the elephant was wrong. The man had no choice and was afraid that if he protested against the commission, they would attack him with their claws and teeth. So the man did what the commission suggested him to do. But as soon as the man built his second hut, Mr. Rhinoceros occupied it.
The committee was called again, and the same thing happened as before: the committee takes their decision in favor of Mr. Rhino. The same thing happened to the man again and again: every time he built a new hut, the animals began to move in.
But the man decided that he had to find a new way for himself as the inquiry commission was of no use to him. One day early in the morning the man built a big and nice hut and as the man was building the hut, the animals started gathering there one by one. Mr. Rhinoceros, Mr. Elephant, Mr. Leopard, Mr. Lion, Mr. Buffalo and Mr. Crocodile arrived at the hut and began arguing and fighting with each other for the hut. Seeing the right opportunity, the man set the hut on fire and all the animals inside hut burned in it.
He leaves saying that “Peace is expensive, but it is worth the expense”. At the end of the story, he started living his life peacefully and happily.
Through this story, the writer has shown how in the 19th century Europeans used to torture African people and snatch away their land through wrong treaties. In this story, the writer has represented the animal community in the manner of the European community and the man in the manner of the African community.
English 
हिन्दी