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Mahratta
The Great Game was a 19th-century rivalry between the British and Russian empires over colonial influence in Central and South Asia. Though never an official war, the Great Game was a protracted conflict carried out through espionage, diplomacy, and minor skirmishes.
The Great Game Quotes in Kim
The Kim quotes below are all either spoken by The Great Game or refer to The Great Game. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3
Quotes
Kim warmed to the game, for it reminded him of experiences in the letter-carrying line, when, for the sake of a few pice, he pretended to know more than he knew. But now he was playing for larger things — the sheer excitement and the sense of power.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8
Quotes
‘I am very old,’ he thought sleepily. ‘Every month I become a year more old. I was very young, and a fool to boot, when I took Mahbub’s message to Umballa. Even when I was with that white regiment I was very young and had no wisdom. But now I learn every day and in three years the Colonel will take me out of the madrissah and let me go upon the road with Mahbub hunting for horses’ pedigrees, or maybe I shall go by myself; or maybe I shall find the lama and go with him. Yes; that is best. To walk again as a chela with my lama when he comes back to Benares.’
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‘Is he by chance’ – he lowered his voice – ‘one of us?’
‘What is this talk of us, Sahib?’ Mahbub Ali returned, in the tone he used towards Europeans. ‘I am a Pathan, thou art a Sahib and the son of a Sahib. Lurgan Sahib has a shop among the European shops. All Simla knows it. Ask there… and, Friend of all the World, he is one to be obeyed to the last wink of his eyelashes. Men say he does magic, but that should not touch thee. Go up the hill and ask. Here begins the Great Game.’
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Chapter 11
Quotes
‘I was made wise by thee, Holy One,’ said Kim, forgetting the little play just ended; forgetting St. Xavier’s; forgetting his white blood; forgetting even the Great Game as he stooped Mohammedan-fashion, to touch his master’s feet in the dust of the Jain temple. ‘My teaching I owe to thee. I have eaten thy bread three years. My time is finished. I am loosed from the schools. I come to thee.’
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Chapter 14
Quotes
‘Thy Gods are lies; thy works are lies; thy words are lies. There are no gods under all the Heavens. I know it… But for a while I thought it was my Sahib come back, and he was my God.’
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The Great Game Term Timeline in Kim
The timeline below shows where the term The Great Game appears in Kim. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 7
...off alone, but Mahbub points out he will have to when he joins the “ Great Game .” Creighton is unsure, but Mahbub reassures him Kim will show up in a month’s...
(full context)
Chapter 8
...Kim that the man is said to perform magic, telling him that “here begins the Great Game .”
(full context)
Chapter 12
...his report. Reflecting on E23’s quick thinking, Kim realizes how new he is to the Great Game .
(full context)
...on the road for the sake of the lama. That night, Kim reflects on the Great Game and the debt he owes to the lama and Creighton and Mahbub.
(full context)
Chapter 14
...temptations of women, wondering how men are ever supposed to follow the Way or the Great Game .
(full context)
