Tarzan Of The Apes
Book Report by Madison Nef
Characters
Tarzan
Tarzan is the handsome, “godlike” son of Lord Greystoke and Lady Greystoke.
Deserted on an island due to the death of his parents while he was an infant, he
is raised by apes and has some brutish habits. He is described as having
darkened skin due to sun exposure, and he is very wild. He is vicious and
aggressive, and as he is an excellent hunter, he is always hunting animals for
his food. He loves 2 creatures in the book dearly: Kala, his adopted ape
mother, and Jane, a beautiful American girl who comes to the island on an
expedition. He teaches himself how to read and write, but can speak no English.
He is VERY strong and athletic, and being he lived with the apes, he knows how
to swing through the trees like one.
Tarzan loves books, and sees his father’s cabin as
his “den”. When the white men come to the island, he leaves them a message
telling them not to harm any of his items, and signs the message “Tarzan of the
Apes”. He takes this name after killing Kerchak and ruling the tribe for
himself.
D’Arnot
D’Arnot is a French officer who comes to the island with the Americans who is
taken captive by island natives. He is very smart and brave, and is willing to
look death in the eye. He seems to have a high pain tolerance, as he is whipped
and sliced and does not once cry out in pain or agony. He is loyal to the
Porters. Late in the book he befriends Tarzan and tries to humanize him,
teaching him to talk, read, and some basic manners. He sees Tarzan as a person,
not a wild animal.
Jane Porter
Jane Porter is the beautiful young daughter of American professor Porter. She
is very kind hearted and timid, and is very caring for her father and her
slave/friend Esmeralda. She falls into love with Tarzan once she realizes that
he isn’t just a beast, and is willing to give up her normal life for him.
However, after a slight misunderstanding, she leaves to marry the man she is
SUPPOSED to marry back in America, though she doesn’t love him.
Kala
Kala is a great she-ape who mothers Tarzan after his parents die. She had a
baby, but lost it due to an accident. When she hears Tarzan’s crying, she cares
for him and raises him as her own. She is very loving and protective, and also
very strong. However, she often puts Tarzan’s health before her own, which
helps lead her to a quicker demise.
Kerchak
Kerchak is the head of the ape tribe. He is very powerful, bad-tempered, and
dislikes Tarzan. He is very strong and often goes on rampages in his tribe.
Altogether, he is a powerful and scary but good leader. Tarzan ends up killing
him and becoming “Tarzan of the Apes”.
William Clayton Greystoke
Tarzan’s cousin, a rich man who seeks courtship with Jane and has a disliking
towards Tarzan. He is unaware that Tarzan is actually his cousin. Tarzan, in
the end, does not let Clayton know the truth- though he himself knows. He does
this for Jane’s sake. Clayton lies about Tarzan in order to get Jane to like
him better- as he is smart and suspects Jane’s liking. He is a very handsome
and regal looking man. He is kind, but at the same time manipulative.
Professor Porter
Porter is Jane’s father, an eccentric scientist who travels to the island on an
expedition. He is said to have white hair and a large pair of rimmed glasses on
his nose, and is dressed sloppily. He is smart.
Setting
The story takes place on an unnamed jungle island.
It is wild and untamed, with a sandy beach near the ocean that fades into a
deep and dark jungle. The trees are very tall, and there are many strange
plants. Late in the book, some black people arrive on the island and start a
small village in the heart of the jungle.
The cabin of Tarzan’s father is built relatively
high up so that no animals can get in, and is described as very messy. It has a
lock on its door that is complicated and also very strong windows. It is shabby
but strong. In it is a bed, a table, a chair and some shelving. Since the
Greystokes had only a little bit of supplies, it is nothing too much.
Plot
The story starts in the seas with the Greystokes on
a boat. They are talking and see the captain being rude and cruel to his shipmates
and later on in the night here the sailors talking about a mutiny. Lord
Greystoke warns his wife to stay below decks, and then goes to warn the
captain, against warnings from a crew member. The captain, however, rudely
brushes him off. Not more than an hour later, the mutiny begins. Lord Greystoke
and his wife go above decks to see the captain and his men have been
slaughtered. Lord Greystoke had been kind to the man in charge, Black Michael,
previously, and so a promise is made that no harm will be done to him or his
wife as long as they make no nuisances of themselves.
Black Michael drops the Greystokes off on a remote
island in the ocean and leaves them a week’s worth of supplies. He promises to
send someone to get them- but that is a lie. Lord Greystoke builds a cabin in
the trees with some furniture using the supply crates, and soon he and his wife
settle in. He hunts for their food- but through the nights, they begin seeing
apes. Not knowing what they are or what they do, they begin staying inside at
night. After a close encounter with a large ape, Lord Greystoke does not leave
their cabin without his rifle. His wife gets pregnant with their son, but when
he is only a year old, she dies after an encounter with the chief ape, Kerchak,
and Lord Greystoke soon follows, leaving their son crying in his crib.
Now, not too long after this happened, the she-ape
Kala had her own baby. However, as she was swinging through the trees with her
baby, it fell from around her neck, dying on the ground below. Kala went to
retrieve her baby, and saw it was dead. But then she heard a cry from out by
the sea- a strange cry. She went to investigate, and found the baby in the
cradle. She grabbed him, and placed the body of her own dead baby in the
cradle, taking the baby as her own and naming him Tarzan.
As Tarzan grew, he had close encounters with the
wild beasts of the forest that was his home. To the apes, he was embarrassing-
he was white skinned, with a thin, small nose and dull teeth. He had no hair
but what grew from his head, and he often looked at his reflection in lakes and
felt ashamed. Kerchak always hated Tarzan for this reason… but then again, Kerchak
hated most newcomers to his tribe. However, Tarzan could swing through the
trees wonderfully, and as he grew, he became a skilled hunter. As Tarzan was
exploring one day, he discovered the beach and his father’s cabin.
He cautiously went over to it, filled with
curiosity, and came upon the locked door. He fumbled with the lock for awhile
before undoing it and entering the cabin. Inside, Tarzan found books- and he
became fascinated with them. He took no notice of the skeletons on the bed and
at the desk- instead, he looked at the strange little symbols on the page. He
did not understand them, but the books had pictures, and as he looked he saw
pictures of people like himself!
This sparked an entirely new idea in him, and as his
curiosity grew, so did his desire to learn to read. Slowly, he connected the
pictures with the symbols, and taught himself to read and write. He spent less
and less time with his pack, and more and more time with his books in the
little cabin. Soon, things began to happen in his pack- Kerchak became angrier
and angrier, and apes began to die. Finally, the day came when it was Kala’s
turn to die- and Kerchak killed her out of rage. Tarzan didn’t forgive him, and
in turn, killed Kerchak, using his father’s knife.
Tarzan put his foot upon Kerchak’s chest and called
out in ape: “I am Tarzan, killer of many beasts! I am Tarzan of the Apes!” And
so Tarzan was. But he pulled away from his pack, letting it fall to bits as he
always spent time at his cabin. One day, he noticed something strange- people
on the beach! The people were black, and he didn’t like the looks of them. He
watched as they walked into the jungle, stopping at a clearing.
Over the months, a small village was built, and
soon, there were hunters in the woods, driving Tarzan and his apes back into
the wilderness further. Tarzan didn’t dare to go to his cabin anymore for fear
of other men.
Now one day it happened that the village chief’s son
was out hunting with his bow and arrow, and he caught Tarzan’s eye. Tarzan was
fascinated at how he could kill a stag with one simple arrow. Tarzan wanted the
bow and arrow. He had taught himself how to make and use rope by weaving vines,
and now he used this trick on the hunter as he walked by.
Woosh! A loop of rope landed around the hunter’s
neck, strangling him. Soon, he was dead. Tarzan went over and inspected his
kill, taking the arrows and bow, and also a few articles of clothing off of the
man. He had seen the pictures of men wearing clothing in books, and why should
he, Tarzan of the Apes, not have any? He then took to the trees and tried out
his new weapon.
After a few hours practice, Tarzan could use the bow
and arrow quite well. He discovered the secret of its killing- it was dipped in
a special mixture. But soon Tarzan ran out of arrows, so he went looking for
more. He leapt through the trees towards the village, and perched in a tree
just above where a woman was making the poison arrows. She would take one, dip
it, and put it on a rack to dry. Tarzan watched her carefully. Suddenly, a cry
went up in the village- the chief’s son had been found!
The woman went running with the rest of her village,
and Tarzan took the opportunity to snatch an armful of arrows before retreating
to his tribe. For a long while things were good for Tarzan- he even returned to
his cabin to stay with his treasure. While there, he found some more stuff- A
golden locket, a picture of his family (though he did not know it), and small
book. However, the book was written in French, and Tarzan did not know how to
read it.
For months things were fine- until the ship came.
Tarzan watched from the trees as trunks were unloaded and people walked off of
it. This is when he first saw Jane- and he fell instantly in love with her. She
seemed so graceful, so elegant, so beautiful- but most of all, she was like
him. The people from the ship noticed his cabin. They almost went over to it,
but something happened on the ship and they turned for a moment. Tarzan quickly
dashed over and left a note on the door for them to find, warning them not to
touch any of his items.
Jane and her slave took up housing there, and by and
by danger came around. Tarzan was intent on protecting the girl, and anyone
close to her. Once he had averted the danger, he left to go save the other
people who had been on the ship. Jane begins to think that Tarzan is a jungle
god sent to protect everyone, but William Clayton, who loves Janes, tells her
he is nothing but a wild beast.
Jane wanders off into the woods one day, and is
attacked by a giant ape. Tarzan swings in and saves her, but as she is wounded
he takes her to a clearing and builds a small tent for her to sleep in. When
she wakes, he gathers fruit and gives it to her, and they share a meal
together. Through sign language, he explains that he cannot talk. Jane
understands, but she gets sick and has to stay in the jungle a few days more
until she gets better.
Finally, Tarzan takes her back to her people and
leaves her a love note. She reads it, and gives him one back, telling him that
she has promised her heart to another. Tarzan feels betrayed, and goes back to
his ape tribe. Jane tries to tell him that she doesn’t love the other man, but
Tarzan doesn’t understand.
The next day, Jane’s ship is ready to leave and she
leaves Tarzan one final note, saying she is sorry. Then, she leaves. Now,
unbeknownst to Tarzan, there is still a ship at his island- that which belongs
to D’Arnot, a French officer who came with Jane’s ship. When Tarzan goes to get
more arrows, he discovers that D’Arnot is captured by the blacks, and he
rescues him and takes him to the same clearing as he had taken Jane.
There he nurses D’Arnot back to health, and explains
to him that he cannot talk. D’Arnot thanks him, and teaches him to talk. Tarzan
then explains about Jane, and how she is in love with someone else, and how she
left for a far away place. D’Arnot gets in his ship, and takes Tarzan with him
back to Chicago. Before they go to see Jane (who is now engaged to Clayton,
Tarzan’s cousin,) they stop for a
fingerprint test.
Tarzan shows D’Arnot his father’s journal, and D’Arnot
realizes that Tarzan is Lord Greystoke’s son. As it turns out, the fingerprints
will not be done for a few weeks, so Tarzan and D’Arnot go to Chicago to see
Jane. The fingerprint results come in, and Tarzan realizes who he is- but he
does not tell Jane or Clayton, for the
sake of her own happiness.
