Prometheus, The Red Flower, and Societal Power Dynamics in Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book

Jon Favreau’s adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s jungle portrays an ecosystem filled with lush, awe-inducing beauty and a place requiring intricate attention to survival. Wildlife enduring Kipling’s jungle have experienced humans, specifically men, exerting their power using fire, a gift from the mythological Prometheus, to destroy their home. Their waywardness with fire creates fear and distrust of masculinity in the animal kingdom. Fire, depicted in the film as the Red Flower, keeps humans at the top of the hierarchy and the animals at bay. Either the humans do not recognize their tendency to ruin or realize the power in it too keenly, so much so they burn the vicinity to ensure sovereignty. Both instances perpetuate animal submissiveness, animosity, and a yearning for similar control amongst jungle inhabitants. How the character King Louie interprets Prometheus’s bequest demonstrates the jungle’s hierarchy of social power and environmental destruction’s effect in the film.

Fire is the movie’s most significant character. According to Greco-Roman mythology, Prometheus, the Titan god of fire, sculpted humans from clay and provided them with means for earthly progression. While the gods and goddesses side-eyed Prometheus’s little passion project, he held steadfast to his creation. He championed the development of civilization beyond the boundaries of Mount Olympus, home of the immortals, and defended humankind as a suitable means for advancement. Prometheus believed in his people, stealing fire from Mount Olympus and gifting them with the entity of both life and annihilation. Although Prometheus’s alias among his immortal cohort is that of a trickster and completely unserious, his eagerness about humans illustrates a genuine intent to elevate their experience, not destroy it. Regardless of his goal for fire among mortals, the film viewer recognizes how humans have managed fire carelessly, without remorse, through the animals’ behavior and reaction.

Every jungle inhabitant knows Mowgli’s proximity to fire and overall supremacy except Mowgli, the only human living within the animal community. All the jungle occupants refer to Mowgli as man-cub, a mammalian innocent descended from the most destructive species. The boy is raised and nurtured alongside a pack of wolves from infancy and never encounters another like him. Mowgli is a human unfamiliar with human culture. He has not learned how to build a fire, which he would have learned from his father had Shere Khan (a Bengal tiger and Mowgli’s primary antagonist) not killed him. Mowgli is not the invader or destroyer the jungle is accustomed to humans portraying, for he is reared to respect his environment and does not encompass the cruelty the animal kingdom believes is embedded in men. However, even if he does not portray it, the community sees him as having the capacity within him. Mowgli’s peers and leaders are the jungle animals, not his biological community. They are his tribe, but upon his encounter with King Louie, it appears not all the jungle inhabitants recognize the boy’s distinction.

King Louie believes the one with access to fire holds power within the jungle hierarchy, and he aims to embody the true king of the habitat. His perception is humans harness the Red Flower, the most glorious and harmful entity in the jungle, and he intends to remove humans from the jungle power dynamic or at least demote their position. If Louie attains access to it, he will control his environment, minimize his fear, and hopscotch to the top of the animal kingdom pyramid. King Louie, a Gigantopithecus, a long-extinct primate resembling a gigantic orangutan, lurks in the dark shadows of a deserted man-made temple. The audience can feel the breadth of Louie’s physical presence by how a large group of inhabitants skitter and bounce around in angst. He uses his size to perpetuate oppression and fear among his fellow inhabitants, and the viewer soon experiences how he intends to use it on Mowgli. His voice as he speaks to the man-cub is first calm and soothing in the way only a conniving, malicious entity would use it to attain a want. The overall perception is humans hold an innate ability to produce fire automatically. He sings to the man-cub, "I wanna be a man…I wanna be like you. I wanna use that flame just the same as you can do." His character replicates the man he desires to be, attempting to manipulate in a way conducive to human attributes. Louie accuses Mowgli of the same deception he exerts, and the child's incapability to deliver infuriates him. It does not take long before Louie reveals his true intentions, succumbing to the stone home he destroys while attempting to kill Mowgli.

Prometheus wanted his creation to survive and thrive in a world not connected solely to the ethereal realm. His gift should have encouraged a sense of responsibility and care within humans, but they were (and are) none the better for his commitment. Louie’s character sees fire as the pinnacle of the human traits he desires -- control over the jungle kingdom and the ability to destroy at whim.