In his poem “Tommy,” Kipling describes the reasons for the frustration of a British red-coat during the colonial days. Colonists treat the soldier as a second-class citizen but when they need him they are quick to improve their attitude in order to benefit from his services. As a result, Kipling sympathizes with the solider over the hypocritical treatment he receives from the colonialists.
In the poem’s first stanza, the soldier walks into a “public house to get a pint o’beer” and “the publician ‘e up an’ sez, ‘We serve no red coats here.’ The girls be’ind the bar they laughed and giggled fit to die.” (l. 1-3) At this bar, the soldier behaves like a normal patron. The bartender, however, hates the soldier and refuses to serve him solely because of his job. The soldier, despite protecting the colonists, receives their scorn and their ill-treatment which greatly upsets him. The hypocritical attitude of the colonists disturbs Kipling.
After these two upset instances, the speaker describes the taunting nature of the colonists as “cheaper than them uniforms, an they’re starvation cheap” (l. 18). He continues his dialogue by commenting on the relationship between the colonist and the British red-coats. The speaker feels that the average colonist would rather make money by swindling drunken soldiers rather than earning it in an honest and diligent fashion. After commenting on the general relationship between the two groups, the speaker reverts to the poem’s quasi-chorus and in it he states that a t peace time, the colonists question the morals of the soldiers by asking, “”Tommy, ‘ow’s yer soul?” (l. 21-22) but ironically and hypocritically when war arrives, the colonist not only stop questioning the principles of the soldiers but they praise them as a “thin red line of ‘eroes.” (l. 24). This duplicity makes the speaker feel used and makes the community appear dishonest.
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