Jungle Jim by Muneeza Shamsie ( Pakistani Literature )

In this article you'll get:

1- Detailed summary

2-  Short summary

3- Critical Analysis & post-colonialism

4- Important lines to quote 

( On special request of my student Arooj Fatimah)

Detailed Summary of Jungle Jim by Muneeza Shamsie:

I have divided the whole story into seven parts, so you can easily understand it without getting confused.

1-1956

The characters of this story are introduced in the very first paragraph. The whole story is narrated by our protagonist, Mahjabeen. Her nickname is Jo. The scene we see in the first paragraph is from Raynard’s Wood. Mahjabeen joins this school in 1956 with her sister, Lalarukh (Lala). Syed Mohsin Ali Baig and Begum Sitara Ali Baig, enroll their daughters in this school. Soon after their admission, Mahjabeen realizes that this school is haunted. Her newly made friends, Lucy and Sarah, tell Mahjabeen that they are not allowed to say anything like this. They also tell her that previously, such haunted stories were narrated. One day, her roommate Cilla starts telling a story, earlier this school was owned by a person who had a wooden leg. Mahjabeen quickly gets a notion of who the owner was. The owner’s name was Sir Roger Allis. Cilla continues her story, and says, some friends of Roger Allis brought a native boy to him. Sir Roger Allis keeps this native boy in his home and starts treating him as his own son. Mahjabeen thinks in her heart that this native boy was his Uncle Jim (another main character of this story). Cilla further sheds light on Sir Roger's life. He had a daughter whose name was Fanny. Fanny and that native boy began to like each other and wanted to get married. When Sir Roger Allis learned about their love story, he kicked him out of his house and got his daughter married to another person. After marriage, Fanny secretly started meeting the native boy. When her husband found out about their secret affair, he gave her divorce based on adultery. After getting divorced, Fanny couldn't get the custody of her children as the judge made the decision against her. Sir Roger Allis blamed himself for all this, and soon died on October 10th. Ever since, on that day, at midnight, his ghost roams the door with his wooden leg going thump, thump thump. And his voice floats across crying, “Fanny, Fanny”. The native boy then took Fanny from England to another country. She got typhoid or some local disease. There were not any proper doctors who could give her treatment, so she died. After listening to the whole story of Cilla, Mahjabeen couldn't sleep that night.

 

2- 1952:

Mahjabeen and Lalarukh’s parents are financially facing a tough time. So, they leave their kids at their maternal grandmother’s house. Their grandmother (Nani Jaan) lives in Amarkot (India). Jo and Lala enjoy and love the atmosphere of India. Jo thinks that India is a much better place for living as compared to London. She doesn’t want to go back to London. One day, Uncle Jim comes there in his shining green Bentley. Nani Jan gets upset and says, “If he has to drink, he should stay at home. He shouldn't inflict himself on decent people.” Jo admires his skilled piece of driving and doesn't consider him to be drunk. Jo then hears the conversations between the servants and asks Nani Jan to clear up her confusion. She asks Nani Jan, what the servants meant when they said that Uncle Jim’s Indian wife, Shahla Mumani, is fertile and has three sons, while his English wife, Aunt Francis, is infertile and barren. She also asks if it's true that Uncle Jim wanted to marry my mother, not Shahla Mumani, after the death of Aunt Francis. Nani Jan doesn't give her any answers, she believes it's wrong to tell half-lies. She calls the servants and asks them to never talk about Uncle Jim again in this house. Jo says that her interest in Uncle Jim grew more.

3-Amarkot: 

In this paragraph, we are told about Nani Jan's sons. After partition, her two sons migrated to Pakistan, with one son posting to Delhi. One day, Jo was playing with Lala in Nani Jaan’s mango groves. Suddenly, Jim uncle comes there and says, “I'm a fierce and fearful tiger. I'm coming to get you!” They start to laugh and run from one tree to another. He gets them and then expresses his desperate wish of having daughters like them. Lala asks him why he has so many sons but no daughter. Jim uncle says, because it is God’s will and maybe He is unfair to me. When An'na bua guides him to fear God, he laughs and starts playing again with Jo and Lala. Jo then expresses her wish to stay here in India forever. Uncle Jim talks about English people who lived here for a long time, but now they are gone. Upon hearing this, Jo asks, "Like Aunt Francis?" Uncle Jim says no; she died of tuberculosis. The best doctors in Switzerland, India, and England could not do anything for her as there was no treatment for this disease. Whatever it was, she was my wife, so she was actually one of us. He further brings light and says, English people ruled here for many years and now they are gone. We are free but this country has been divided. My sisters, some of your uncles, and many other people have gone to a new Muslim country, i.e. Pakistan. Me and your grandmother want to live and die here. But your father thinks highly of the English people, so he settled in England. Then Mahjabeen realizes that she cannot gather more information from Uncle Jim other than this. When Uncle Jim sees Nani Jan coming, he again acts like a lion and starts chasing Mahjabeen.

                    

4-Uncle Jim's Home: 

This paragraph starts with Mahjabeen’s question to Uncle Jim, "Have you ever been to England?" Uncle Jim laughs and says, “Yes Jo, I've been to England”. Mahjabeen then tells about Jim Uncle’s study room, where the rugs were made from the skin of leopards and cheetahs. Other things were also made from the skins of animals. Shahla Mumani serves tea. Uncle Jim takes Jo and Lala to his piano and starts playing it. He teaches them many things, shows them his paintings, and encourages Mahjabeen to paint. Before returning to their homes, Uncle Jim introduces them to his favorite trophy. This trophy was a stuffed tiger with green eyes and sharp teeth. They get frighten, but Jim Uncle tells them that this is not a real tiger. He inserts his hand in the tiger’s mouth and says that this is very special because it is a man-eater. They ask him, "Why didn't it eat you then?" He tells them that it was about to eat me one day, but I was fortunately saved. One day I went for his hunt and was about to catch him. I shot my gun, and he just ran away. Uncle Jim becomes their hero from that day, and they used to play around this tiger. Their favorite game becomes 'Jungle Jim and the Man-eater’.

5- 1953:

In this paragraph, in the year 1953, Sitara Begum and Mo Ali Baig return to Nani Jan’s house. Mahjabeen wants to show some paintings to her mother but she ignores her. Uncle Jim requests the mother that Jo wants your attention. The mother says, "Yes, Jo, what do you want?” Jo becomes completely blank. After some time, we see that Jo wants to tell the story of man-eater to his father. The father doesn't like it. Nani Jan tells the parents that Jim has taken care of the girls. Hearing this, the father says, it doesn't give him the license to tell such stories to our daughters. The next day, Mahjabeen tells her mother that she doesn't want to go back to her home. The mother says to Nani Jan, Jim has spoiled my daughters. Nani Jan takes the side of Uncle Jim and says, "No, he really loves children. His own children do not give him any response, so he got attached to Jo and Lala”. Sitara Begum shares her opinion that Jim’s marriage to Shahla was not a good decision. Nani Jan argues that he also didn't do good by marrying an English woman. It was thought to be very bad because he didn't think about his Indian customs and traditions. Nani Jan also tells her that he wanted to marry you after the death of Aunt Francis. Sitara Begum negates it, saying, she was just 14 or 15 years old then, and I was very close to Francis. We used to play badminton together. That's why Jim felt close to me. There was nothing like this and I was engaged to Mohsin. Nani Jan says yes but you know he has no regard for any Indian custom. Their argument dies there. Suddenly, a servant comes running and tells that a woman was killed and eaten by a tiger near Jim’s home. After some time, Shahla Mumani comes and looks upset. She tells that Jim has gone with his rifle, please do something. Everyone starts praying that nothing goes wrong. Soon the police, Uncle Jim, and everybody else reach the tiger's location. Uncle Jim shoots the tiger, and then he also shoots himself in the head.

                                

6-1956:

In the year 1956, Jo and Lala’s parents get financially stable, and they think about the admission of their daughters. They go to Raynard's Wood School and really like it. Sitara Ali gets confused by watching some paintings there. Mrs. Fotheringay tells her that the man you see in this painting is Sir Roger Allis, the previous owner of this school. She further tells that these are his kids, Godfrey, Hugh, and Francis. Then she introduces the woman in the painting as his wife, Lady Caroline. Madam Fotheringay tells them that there will be a vacancy in the autumn, so you can get your daughters' admissions in autumn. Begum Sitara Ali Baig becomes very happy, as it was a very good school. She also praises her daughters, as they behaved very well that day.

                            

7- The End: 

Sitara Ali Baig is having a look over the folios of Uncle Jim. The signature on the pictures was by Uncle Jim’s real name, i.e., Zulfiqar Ali. Mahjabeen sees two little daughters with Aunt Francis in the picture. She asks her mother, "Do we also have English cousins? The mother gets angry. The father says it's okay; she is just too little to understand these things. He then asks his daughters to never tell about your English cousins, Uncle Jim or Aunt Francis in the school, because they will think that you want to show off. Mahjabeen sees bad dreams about Uncle Jim, the man-eater, uncle Jim’s death, his children crying for their father, Lalarukh crying, etc. She gets disturbed and can't figure out why her uncle shot himself. She says that she exercises her dreams through her paintings. She can't understand the people’s question about her three dominant colors in her paintings. She gets irritate that why people cannot understand that red is for blood, white for blindness, and blue signifies sorrow.

Short Summary Of Jungle Jim by Muneeza Shamsie:

1956: Syed Mohsin Ali Baig and Begum Sitara Ali Baig, enroll their daughters in Raynard's Wood School. Soon, Mahjabeen realizes that the school is haunted. Her friends Lucy and Sarah asks Jo not to tell any haunted stories here. One day, Cilla tells a story about a person who had a wooden leg and his name was Sir Roger Allis. He was the previous owner of this school. His friends brought a native boy (Uncle Jim) to him. He kept this native boy in his home and treated him like his own son. Cilla further tells the story of Fanny ( Aunt Francis),  daughter of Sir Roger Allis, who secretly met the native boy and was given a divorce based on adultery. After the death of Sir Roger Allis, Jim takes Fanny to another country, where she gets typhoid or some local disease and dies. Mahjabeen couldn't sleep that night after listening to this story.

1952: Mahjabeen and Lalarukh's parents leave their kids at their maternal grandmother's house in Amarkot, India. Jo and Lala enjoy the atmosphere of India, but Nani Jan gets upset when Uncle Jim arrives there being drunk. Jo questions Nani Jan about Uncle Jim's Indian wife, Shahla Mumani, and his English wife, Aunt Francis. Nani Jan doesn't give her any answers, but calls the servants to never talk about Uncle Jim again. Jo's interest in Uncle Jim grows from that day on.

Amarkot: Nani Jan's two sons migrated to Pakistan after partition, with one son posting to Delhi. One day, Jo and Lala are playing in Nani Jan's mango groves when Jim comes  there and starts playing with them. He expresses his wish of having daughters like them. Jo also expresses her wish to stay in India forever. Uncle Jim tells her that English people lived here for a long time, but now they are gone and we are free. He then tells Jo that Aunt Francis died of tuberculosis and the best doctors in Switzerland, India, and England could not do anything for her. Mahjabeen realizes that she cannot gather more information from Uncle Jim. When he sees Nani Jan coming, Uncle Jim again acts like a lion and starts chasing her.

Uncle Jim's Home: Mahjabeen tells about Uncle Jim's study room, where rugs are made from animal skins. He takes Jo and Lala to his piano and teaches them many things. He introduces them to his favorite trophy, a stuffed tiger with green eyes and sharp teeth. He tells them that it is a man-eater. One day, he was about to catch it but it ran away. Soon their favorite game becomes 'Jungle Jim and the Man-eater'.

1953: In 1953, Sitara Begum and Mo Ali Baig return to Nani Jan's house. Mahjabeen wants to show her paintings to her mother and wants to tell the story of a man-eater to his father. Her parents do not give any importance to her paintings and stories. The next day, Mahjabeen tells her mother that she doesn't want to go back to her home. Mother thinks that Jim has spoiled her kids. When Nani Jan and Sitara Ali Baig are arguing, whether Jim wanted to marry Sitara Ali Baig or Shahla Mumani after the death of Francis, a servant comes running and tells that a woman was killed and eaten by a tiger near Jim's home. Everyone prays nothing goes wrong. Jim shoots the tiger and then shoots himself in the head.

1956: Sitara Ali Baig and Mohsin Ali Baig go to Raynard’s Wood School for the admission of their daughters. There she sees some paintings of Sir Roger Allis, the previous owner of the school. Mrs. Fotheringay introduces Sitara Ali Baig to Sir Roger Allis and his family members in those paintings. She tells her that there will be a vacancy in the autumn for her daughters' admissions.

The End: Sitara Ali Baig is looking at Uncle Jim's folios, and Mahjabeen sees two little daughters with Aunt Francis in the picture. Her father tells her to never tell about her English cousins in the school. Mahjabeen has nightmares where she sees Uncle Jim, the man-eater, his death, and his children crying for their father. She exercises her dreams through her paintings. The three dominant colors in her paintings are red ( shows blood) , white ( shows blindness ), and blue ( shows sorrow).

Critical Analysis of Jungle Jim by Muneeza Shamsie: 

In this story, we see the emotional attachment of Jo and Lala to their Uncle Jim. The story is set after the partition of the sub-continent. Therefore, the impact of post-colonialism can be seen clearly throughout the whole story. Jo and Lala's parents think highly of the English people, their language, customs, and traditions. That's why they settled in England. They also enrolled their daughters in an English School (Raynards Woods). Their desperate behavior is shown when they go to Raynard Woods School and how happy they become after hearing about the vacancy in autumn. Also when the mother tells Jo that "they are British." But wee see an irony too. No matter how highly they thought about English people, they disliked Uncle Jim because he married an English woman ( aunt Francis). This was the only reason Uncle Jim was not loved by his own children and family members. Only Jo and Lala could see his pure heart and sincere emotions. That's why they were sad and traumatized when Jim uncle killed himself.

The three dominant colors in Jo’s painting has also a great significance. The red color in her paintings shows blood. The blood here points to Jim uncle's blood when he killed himself. White color here is for people’s blindness, like the family members and relatives of Uncle Jim who could not see how good Uncle Jim was. They disliked him just because he married an English woman. Sorrow represents the sadness of Lala and Jo, who couldn't figure out the reason for Uncle Jim’s suicide. They really liked him and could not get over their precious loss.

Jim Uncle killed himself because the man eater was his favorite thing. As we have seen in the story, Uncle Jim kept the trophy of man-eater in his house and told it was his favorite. He was very obsessed with this man-eater. He killed the tiger (man-eater) because it became dangerous for the people as it started eating them. Uncle Jim was a good person, so he killed his most obsessed thing just to protect the people. But when he killed the man-eater, he became very sad. Because this was the only good thing in his life. His own children didn't love him; his loving wife, Francis, was no more; and his relatives and family members didn't like him. There wasn't any reason left for him to stay alive. His obsession was no more. So he killed himself too.

Important lines to quote from Jungle Jim by Muneeza Shamsie:

1- "If he has to drink, he should stay at home. He shouldn't inflict himself on decent people."

(Nani Jaan's dialogue about uncle Jim from second part, 1952)

2- "I don't see why that gives him (Uncle Jim) license to tell them tall stories."

( line by father that shows dislike towards uncle Jim in part 5 . He says even if Jim has taken care of his daughters, it doesn't give him any license to tell such stories like man-eater to Jo and lala).

3- "He had no regard for any Indian custom."

( line uttered by Nani Jaan for Uncle Jim, in 5th part. This lines shows the typical thinking of all the relatives about uncle Jim).

4- "What are we?" I asked her. "We are British" she replied. 

( the question is asked by Jo to her mother. The mother says that they are British. The truth is they were Indians. This shows the inferiority complex of the people of sub-continent after post-colonialism, who felt proud to be called English, in speaking English, by wearing English dresses, eating English food, living in England etc. Even though the people of sub-continent were free from slavery of the English people, but mentally they were still slaves of them. It also shows the hypocrisy of Jim uncle's relatives, who disliked Jim for marrying an English woman. But they themselves thought highly of English people, their language, customs, traditions, foods etc.)

5- "I'm a fierce and fearful tiger, I am coming  to get you."

( Uncle Jim's dialogue to Jo & la la while playing with them. This line shows his kind nature towards kids and his obsession with tigers).

6-  "My sisters, your uncles, and many others have left for the new Muslim country, Pakistan. I, like your grandmother, wish to live and die here, where I was born. Your father, on the other hand, thinks highly of the English. He has decided to settle in England."

( Line uttered by Jim uncle to Jo at the end of third part. Jo's parents disliked uncle Jim because he married an English woman, thinking he had no concern for Indian traditions. Ironically, they themselves did not want to live in their native country India, whereas Jim uncle showed respect and love for India by staying there forever).

7- "It's (trophy of stuffed- tiger) very special, you know, because it was a man-eater". 

(line uttered by Jim uncle for his favorite trophy, in 4th part. This line shows his obsession for the man-eater)

8- "Sitara, the child is please to see you, she wants a little attention". 

( Jim's request to sitara, when Jo wanted to show paintings to her mother, in 5th part. This shows the kindness of Uncle Jim and careless attitude of mother. Jim could understand the emotions of these girls better than their own parents).

9- "As for my three dominant colors, why do people ask? Isn't it obvious? Red for blood, white for blindess, blue for sorrow."

(Line by Jo at the end of this story).