Rudyard Kipling is widely recognized as a strong defender of the British Empire. However, Kipling's prose piece, "The Man Who Would Be King," reveals a deeper ambiguity about the Empire, highlighting many of the flaws that underlay imperial expansion. In this piece two men, Daniel Dravot and Peachy Carnehan, grow tired of the stagnant and impractical governance of the British colonies in India. They set off on an ill-fated adventure to become kings in their own right. Furthermore, Kipling's work "The White Man's Burden" also addresses the mistakes in creating and governing an imperial empire. However, both works do this in very different ways. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay "The Man Who Would Be King" is the story of two men, Peachey Carnehan and Daniel Davrot, a pair of ignorant, drunken adventurers, confidence artists and blackmailers, who seek to establish themselves as god-kings of Kafiristan . Kafiristan is described as the eastern province of Afghanistan, on the southern slopes of the Hindu Kush mountains. The two men have no legitimate claim to this region, but Davrot becomes king by declaring himself a god by the extraordinary coincidence that the Masonic symbols on his robe match those of prophecy and local legend. However, when he tries to extend his power far away by taking a native girl as his wife, in open defiance of the natives' traditions and culture, the girl bites him and sheds blood, proving that he is not in fact a god. The mini-empire is founded on deception; and once Davrot is revealed to be "neither God nor Devil, but a man", he is attacked and ultimately killed by the natives. Kipling's point here is that a direct invasion of a native-foreign culture for the sole purpose of ruling, subjugating and exploiting is never a good thing and is doomed to fail. Daniel and Peachy were not trying to uplift their subjects, nor improve them or their situation; but he simply sought wealth and personal gain, as seen in the following quote: “The country is not half solved because those who govern it will not let you touch it. They spend all their blessed time governing it, and you can't lift a shovel, or chip a rock, or pan for oil, or anything like that without the whole government saying, "Leave it alone and let us govern it." Therefore, as it is, we will leave him alone and go away to some other place where a man is not crowded and can come alone... we will go away to become king. This comes following an argument between Daniel and the narrator, a representation of Kipling himself, about how petty labor and the rule of the British Empire do not allow a man to create wealth. The two see the empire as a means to generate wealth. personal wealth, not as an exercise in political, social and cultural development. It could perhaps be argued that it is this quality that makes Peachey and Davrot unfit to rule and that ultimately leads to their ruin. If their intentions had been less altruistic, they would not have lied and presented themselves as gods, but as leaders who wanted to improve people. Instead they ruled through fear and submission, as did the British Empire. They prepared for the fall when their lie was exposed. Likewise, real-life British imperialist tendencies almost always fell apart as superficial altruism faded beneath the typical need to subjugate and exploit native populations. In contrast, “The White Man's Burden” is an appeal to the “White Man.” ” to the center of the empire to bring civilization.