Investigating the Importance of Anthropomorphism in Children's Literature Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book "Mowgli stories"

Abstract

Anthropomorphism in which animals are given human qualities originated in the literary genre of the animal fable. This has evolved through time from being basically moralistic stories for adults to stories directed specifically toward children. This genre may be found in literary works, toys, songs, electronic media, and so forth. It often includes animals as the main protagonists. The adoption of animals and other nonhuman characters in children's literature has become a well-known kind of amusement for kids, as well as a means of educating children about life lessons. It represents children's love of animals and provides several explicit and implicit messages about animal-human interaction. This study aimed to investigate how children's books may help youngsters improve their social abilities. Furthermore, the objectives were to describe the role and meaning of anthropomorphism in children's literature using the jungle book, as well as to integrate the impact of anthropomorphized characters on children's behavior while examining how the author uses the anthropomorphized characters to develop children's social skills. The study highlighted the value of anthropomorphism in children's literature, as well as how discussing societal concerns from a non-human perspective allows children to learn and develop their social skills appropriately. This study employs a narratological analysis for examining the selected text by Rudyard Kipling. The text educates kids about societal concerns that help shape their values by allowing them to independently analyze various notions of good and bad interactions with others. In conclusion, from the text analysis, children can discover more about social issues, particularly complicated ones, via their exposure to anthropomorphized children's literature, and the societal values they gain from the texts influence their social behavior.