“The Man Who Would Be King” by Rudyard Kipling is about man's ability to rule. The success and failure of Dravot's character in his reign stems from the perception of him as a god rather than a king. Kipling uses Dravot's perception as a god to show that although a king can rule like a god, he becomes king by being human. Dravot acquires royal power by being perceived as a god. The perception of him as a god is through his actions and his luck. After helping him and Peachy find the first village in Kafiristan, Dravot seizes power from the former rulers. He became more than a leader among the people, however, for “every morning Dravot sat next to old Imbra, and the people came and worshiped. It was Dravot’s order” (92). By ordering the people to worship him as a god, Dravot influences the natives to see him as a king like a god, destined to be followed because of power and not his decisions. Similar techniques are used successfully in all the villages of the region, since now Dravot owns "the whole country as far as it is worth it" (94). Although not all natives initially see ...