# Mr. Rudyard Kipling — Heretics character guide

> Mr. Rudyard Kipling in Heretics by G. K. Chesterton.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Rudyard Kipling, Mr. Kipling, Kipling, a Mr. Rudyard Kipling

**First appearance:** 0004-iii-on-mr-rudyard-kipling-and-making-the-world-small

## Snapshot

An unconventional poet by divine caprice who longs above all to be a conventional one, celebrating his people's destiny as Poet Laureate.

## Who they are

Chesterton admires Kipling's arresting art while noting the paradox that the gods gave him originality, which is disagreement with others, and he desires divinely to agree with them. The tension is between the raw imperial energy of Soldiers Three and the respectable laureate posture Kipling reaches for. He stands with Shaw and Wells as proof that the boldest modern artists turn out to be the most didactic, smuggling dogma into every striking line.

## Relationships

### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heretics_se/characters/unknown_narrator)

_rivalry_

Kipling is criticized for his imperialist and pagan worldview, making him a target of the narrator's moral critique.

## In the story

### [I: Introductory Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heretics_se/chapters/i-introductory-remarks-on-the-importance-of-orthodoxy)

Mentioned as a contemporary whose philosophy Chesterton intends to examine as a heretic.

### [III: On Mr. Rudyard Kipling and Making the World Small](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heretics_se/chapters/iii-on-mr-rudyard-kipling-and-making-the-world-small)

Critiqued as a cosmopolitan who lacks patriotism, admires discipline over courage, and knows the world but not England.

### [Concluding Remarks on the Importance of Orthodoxy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heretics_se/chapters/xx-concluding-remarks-on-the-importance-of-orthodoxy)

Cited as a fierce dogmatist and imperialist whose best short stories serve his moral cause.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heretics_se/characters/mr_rudyard_kipling
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heretics_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/heretics_se/characters