Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs is a stunning tale of a man not only survives, but thrives despite being so unlike everyone else. Tarzan overcomes many challenges throughout the story, but the way he overcomes them is by being smarter. As a little boy most of the Apes did not accept him. It was only because Kala was so protective of Tarzan that the Apes weren’t able to kill him nor kick him out of the tribe. They were confused by how he grew much slower than the other children, and thought he would never amount to anything. Being the black sheep of his people only pushed Tarzan to learn more and become better every day.
The Apes were terrified of the human devices, but Tarzan learned to embrace these tools. The Apes fled in terror at the sound of a gun going off. They considered it to be a stick that shot thunder. They all agreed to never go back to the hut where they found the thunder stick and other objects of man. Tarzan on the other hand finds a knife there, and he learns to take care of it so that he can keep using it. The knife helps Tarzan defeat a great bull ape. Something that none of his fellow apes could hope to accomplish on their own. This shows how learning about new things, even if they seem incomprehensible, greatly improves a person’s life. This idea is shown again and again throughout the book as Tarzan learns to read, learns to use a bow and arrows, learns to speak French and English. All of these things improve Tarzan, and make him greater than his more civilized English counterparts.
The romance between Tarzan and Jane was thrilling and heartbreaking. Tarzan had never known romantic love before he met Jane. He saves her from his own kind, and this leads to a passionate love between them. He even travels all the way from Africa to America for her, and gives her a fortune. In the end though Tarzan gives her up because he thinks she could not be happy with him, and that William Clayton could better take care of her. Unfortunately, Jane thought the same way.
Tarzan is truly a story about determination and inner strength. The message Burroughs sends is one of how the path to the most fulfilling life is through becoming stronger, smarter, and more thoughtful. Tarzan doesn’t fit in with modern man, and they say it’s because he’s more animal than man. The real reason is because of his selflessness, and his determination.
The Apes were terrified of the human devices, but Tarzan learned to embrace these tools. The Apes fled in terror at the sound of a gun going off. They considered it to be a stick that shot thunder. They all agreed to never go back to the hut where they found the thunder stick and other objects of man. Tarzan on the other hand finds a knife there, and he learns to take care of it so that he can keep using it. The knife helps Tarzan defeat a great bull ape. Something that none of his fellow apes could hope to accomplish on their own. This shows how learning about new things, even if they seem incomprehensible, greatly improves a person’s life. This idea is shown again and again throughout the book as Tarzan learns to read, learns to use a bow and arrows, learns to speak French and English. All of these things improve Tarzan, and make him greater than his more civilized English counterparts.
The romance between Tarzan and Jane was thrilling and heartbreaking. Tarzan had never known romantic love before he met Jane. He saves her from his own kind, and this leads to a passionate love between them. He even travels all the way from Africa to America for her, and gives her a fortune. In the end though Tarzan gives her up because he thinks she could not be happy with him, and that William Clayton could better take care of her. Unfortunately, Jane thought the same way.
Tarzan is truly a story about determination and inner strength. The message Burroughs sends is one of how the path to the most fulfilling life is through becoming stronger, smarter, and more thoughtful. Tarzan doesn’t fit in with modern man, and they say it’s because he’s more animal than man. The real reason is because of his selflessness, and his determination.
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