* In Which I Spoil the Ending and Go All Philosophic

----To begin: I take back all the cynical stuff I said earlier about Kim having no morals. He is so dedicated, almost mindlessly devoted, to the lama. He left his home to follow a man he had only known for three hours. He washed his feet, found him food and places to sleep, and gave himself up to be a slave to the holy man.
----Kim is assigned a mission by Mahbub Ali. Fairly routine- something goes wrong as usual, but everything is eventually worked out. The mission is completed. But then we realize all is not well. The lama has been in pain lately, achy and weak. And Kim slips into this desperate unfeeling depression, where everything is last ditch, like on survival TV shows, just before the contestants give up and call for outside help. It's depressing to read because the two coolest people in the universe appear to be dying.
----But this is fiction, right? We've loved these characters too long for the ending not to be at least a little satisfying. Kim, Mahbub, and the lama reach their old friend Sahiba, a bossy old lady who takes very good care of them. Kim is in a coma and it takes a massage therapist, some fakirs, and the lama's fervent prayers to bring him out of it. The lama refuses to eat or drink anything for at least fourty-eight hours, which is about the limit humans can physically do. Instead, he meditates under this tree by a brook, intent on healing Kim, fixing the world, and acheiving union with the "Great Soul," as he calls it. I think the condition he's looking for is called Nirvana.
----Whatever it is, he suddenly finds it. He says he feels his soul depart from the foolish body, and soar up, where he can see everything on the earth at once. He finally, finally is united with the "Great Soul," which is all he has ever wanted.
----And then- get this. He breaks the connection, causing himself infinite pain. And the lama goes back to our world to get Kim. Whoa.
Kim wakes up, feeling completely refreshed and vibrant. He's still weak, but his spirit is restored. He says hi to Mahbub, who has been loitering around, unwelcome, worried sick about his fellow spy and adopted little brother. Then Kim sees the lama, and immediately asks who washed the lama's feet while he was asleep- now that's devotion. The lama, however, explains his experience, and how the river by where he was sitting must have been The River, the one he was searching for all along. He says he and Kim are now both free from the "Wheel of Things," his term for the trivialities and sin of life, and are able to go back to Nirvana whenever they want, permanently.
----But this is where the text of the book ends: the lama completely at peace and the reader with no clue as to Kim's response. Personally, I think the boy would have said no, that he wants to stay here with the people he loves. He's just cut out for adventure and fellowship. He loves the Great Game (his term for espionage) and is exceptionally good at it. He has so many friends here on earth who are willing to do anything for him. The lama came back from Nirvana for him, Mahbub Ali went on a mission for him... Although it's a bad trait for a spy, everyone he interacts with remembers and likes him.
----Where would that leave the lama? If Kim insisted on staying here, what would he do? He loves his chela (disciple), he's already proven that by coming back. But his life's goal was to be there in Nirvana. He's talked of nothing else the entire book.
----Or, what would I do? What would you do? If someone came to me just now and told me that state, that paradise, was mine for the taking if I would go permanently, would I go? Do I want to leave this pain and heartbreak behind and be happy forever? Do I want to be alone tomorrow, and the whole week after that, and so on, without the evil in the world making me feel superior?
I don't know.
I don't know if I'll ever know.
Think about it.