The Smoking Pipes (Olfactory Imagery)
As Kim travels in a train compartment with the lama, he notices "the banker, the cultivator, and the soldier [preparing] their pipes and [wrapping] the compartment in choking, acrid smoke, spitting and coughing and enjoying themselves." This olfactory and sensory imagery is overwhelming, and it paints a picture of diverse characters sharing a confined space. It seems that the smoke blurs the racial, socioeconomic, and religious boundaries that divide these disparate characters. On a train that is bringing them to their respective destinations, they are (at least for a moment) united.
The Soft Mud (Tactile Imagery)
After the lama chooses to leave Kim because he is not focused enough on his enlightenment, the protagonist enters a period of mourning. He is somewhat adjusted to life at St. Xavier's School, but he continues to yearn for "the caress of soft mud squishing up between the toes." This tactile imagery connotes feelings of warmth, embrace, and familiarity. In this regard, we understand that Kim feels most comfortable in the streets and not within the confines of British institutions.
The Morning Mist (Visual Imagery)
As Kim and the lama head towards Umballa, the characters take a morning to admire the beauty of their surroundings. The narrator paints the scene with delicate visual imagery, "golden, rose, saffron, and pink, the morning mists smoked away across the flat green levels." Through this choice of diction, we see that Kim is bright-eyed and eager about his adventures beyond Lahore. He is optimistic and in touch with his natural environment, and these two characteristics will carry him far into the future.
The Sounds of Rural Life (Auditory Imagery)
Kim and the lama take a rest from their travels and sit underneath a mango tree. While there, they revel in the sounds of rural life. They listen to "a drowsy buzz of small life in hot sunshine, a cooing of doves, and a sleepy drone of well-wheels across the fields." The environment that surrounds the characters is presented as living and breathing. In contrast to the usual Western belief that humans are above nature, here we see that Kim and the lama prioritize being among nature.
