# How the Whale Got His Throat explained — Just So Stories

> Chapter companion for Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling.

## What happens

A whale eats all the fish in the sea except a small 'Stute Fish, who tricks the whale into swallowing a shipwrecked Mariner. The resourceful Mariner, inside the whale, causes such a disturbance that the whale agrees to take him home. Before leaving, the Mariner constructs a grating from his raft and suspenders, lodging it in the whale's throat to prevent him from eating large creatures ever again.

## Themes in this chapter

### Cunning and Resourcefulness

The small 'Stute Fish uses cleverness to avoid being eaten, and the Mariner uses his jackknife and suspenders to create a grating that changes the whale's diet forever.

### Consequences of Idleness

The whale's unchecked eating leads to his discomfort and eventual limitation, showing the consequences of acting without thought.

### Communication and Misunderstanding

The whale misunderstands the nature of 'Man' and the Mariner's intentions, leading to a series of events that alter his biology.

## Character check-ins

### The Whale

The hungry whale who swallows the Mariner and later gets a grating stuck in his throat.

### Best Beloved

The audience addressed throughout the tale.

### The Stranger-man

The shipwrecked Mariner, a man of infinite-resource-and-sagacity, who outwits the whale.

### Mummy

The Mariner's mother, who gave him leave to paddle.

### Small Porgies

The small 'Stute Fish that tricks the whale and later hides under the Doorsills of the Equator.

## Key lines

> Nice but nubbly.

Pleasant to eat but with a rough texture.

_The 'Stute Fish describes the experience of eating a man._

> By means of a grating I have stopped your ating.

I have used a lattice to prevent you from eating large things.

_The Mariner's rhyme explaining how he blocked the whale's throat._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/just_so_stories_se/chapters/how-the-whale-got-his-throat
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/just_so_stories_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/just_so_stories_se/chapters