History 305

Devine/Adams

Spring 2011

 

Tarzan of the Apes Study Guide

 

On February 8th we will discuss Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan of the Apes. You should also read John Higham’s essay “The Reorientation of American Culture in the 1890s” which will help put Tarzan into historical context. There will be a quiz on the reading at the beginning of class.

 

 

First, some background about the author….

 

When Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote Tarzan in 1912 he was literally working for the system, writing an advice column for a small business magazine called the SYSTEM.  

 

“I knew little or nothing about business,” he later recalled.  “I had failed in every enterprise I had ever attempted and could not have given valuable advice to a peanut vendor.” 

 

Instead he gave vague, portentous pronouncements aided by impressive, if irrelevant charts and graphs.  

 

“Ethically,” he admitted, “it was about two steps below the patent medicine business” (a historically corrupt vocation of snake oil salesmen who were shut down by the Pure Food and Drug Law in 1906).  

 

Burroughs’ boss was “an overbearing, egotistical ass with the business morality of peep show proprietor.”  

 

Writing Tarzan was an act of self-liberation.  He would comment later of its enormous appeal:

 

“We wish to escape not alone the narrow confines of city streets for the freedom of the wilderness, but the restrictions of man made laws, and the inhibitions that society has placed on us.  We like to picture ourselves as roaming free, the lords of ourselves and of our world, in other words, we would each like to be Tarzan.  At least I would.  I admit it.”

 

So,Tarzan is much more than a goofy adventure story.  As you read the book consider the following overarching questions: 

 

1. By writing a story about a character like Tarzan, what is Burroughs telling us about what he considers the “ideal man”?

 

2. What qualities does Burroughs believe one should find in a “true man”?  How does Tarzan demonstrate these qualities?

 

3. What is Burroughs’ judgment of what some might call “civilized” society?  Is it pro, con, or something in between, meaning does he see both good and bad attributes in modern society?  Which characters represent the harmful effects of “over-civilization” in the novel?

 

4.  Why would this book appeal to men like Burroughs, working within “the system”?  What had happened to masculinity by the turn of the 19th century?  What had corrupted it?  What was the remedy?  (Think of the changes that had taken place in the workplace for both laborers and middle managers.) 

 

5.  In the novel, why do violent episodes occur?  What causes them? Do only “bad” characters engage in violence? To what extent is violence acceptable or even laudable?    

 

6.  What role does nature (heredity or “blood”) play in a man’s development?  What role does nurture (experience) play? How do Burroughs’ views on this issue differ from Twain’s?

 

7.  What does Burroughs think about race? What unquestioned assumptions does he seem to make?  Does he ever portray his own race in a negative fashion?

 

8.  To what extent does Jane have an effect on Tarzan?  Is she a “civilizing” force?  How does Tarzan affect Jane?

 

9.  How does primitivism differ from savagery?  In the novel, who is “primitive” and who is “savage”? Why does Burroughs think the distinction between the two is important?

 

10.  How does Burroughs portray Africa in the novel? Why could one say it is portrayed less as an actual place and more as the setting in which Burroughs introduces his ideas about race?

 

11.  How do you think Burroughs felt about colonialism and imperialism? Does Tarzan reject or embrace the so-called White Man’s Burden?

 

 

The following more specific questions should help guide you through the reading and prepare you for the quiz.  There are generally listed in the order they appear in the book. 

 

  1. Why John Clayton is being sent to Africa?  What might this suggest about Burroughs feelings toward imperialism?

 

  1. What qualities separate John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, from the members of the crew of the Fuwalda ?  What accounts for this difference?

 

  1. How does the abandoned couple deal with their first experience with a great Ape?  How does the reaction of Lord Greystoke differ from that of his wife?

 

  1. Who does Tarzan believe is his mother?  Why is she so devoted to him?  How does Burroughs characterize their relationship?

 

  1. Why does the young Tarzan feel himself so inferior to his Great Ape companions?

 

  1. When Tarzan discovers his parents’ cabin, what intrigues him most about its contents?

 

  1. What “technology” does Tarzan employ to kill Tublat?  In what other ways does he show himself to be superior to his Ape family?

 

  1. What “hideous” things does man wear that signifies his superiority over the apes?  How does Tarzan learn about this? 

 

  1.  How does Burroughs describe the native blacks?  What does Burroughs suggest contributes to their savagery?  What corrupting influence have they removed themselves from? 

 

  1.  Why and how does Tarzan kill the native Kulonga?  What makes this episode seem particularly racist?

 

  1. After Tarzan kills the native Kulonga, what strange reaction comes over him?  What influence is affecting Tarzan’s behavior?

 

  1. What is odd about Lord Greystoke’s diary?  Why did he keep it in the manner that he did?  

 

  1.  With what act does Tarzan proclaim himself “King of the Apes?”  

 

  1.  How does he subdue Terkoz?  Why doesn’t he kill him when he has the chance?

 

  1.  Why does Tarzan renounce his position as King of the Apes?  What does he want to do instead?

 

  1.  How would you describe the crew that deposited the Porter/Clayton party on the beach?  How do the stark differences between the crew and the party reveal Burroughs own views?     

 

  1.  How does Tarzan communicate with the white people he sees on the beach?  How does he warn them not to disturb the belongings in his house?  

 

  1.  Describe Clayton and Miss Porter and Esmeralda’s first day in Africa.  How does Esmeralda’s behavior differ from Jane Porter’s?  Describe Esmeralda as a character. 

 

  1.  What is the purpose for including Archimedes Q. Porter and Philander into the story?  Why are these two men so ill-suited to survive in the jungle? 

 

  1.  What was the Professor’s reaction to being chased by a lion?  What does he plan to do about it?  What is his catch phrase? 

 

  1.  What fate is “worse than death” and who might suffer it?

 

  1.  After Tarzan saves Jane from Terkoz, how does she react?  Why?  What conflicting forces are at war within her? 

 

  1.  How is Tarzan affected by Jane’s presence?  What “right” does he choose not to exercise?  What roles do Nature and Nurture play in his relationship with Jane?

 

  1.  What does Jane do in the jungle to help introduce Tarzan to his ancestors?   What is his reaction?  

 

  1.  What nationality are the leaders of the mission to rescue Jane?  Why are they so committed to helping a woman they have never met?

 

  1.  What are the natives preparing to do to d’Arnot?  What is he determined to teach them? 

 

  1.  How are the French rescuers able to overpower the native blacks?  What larger point is Burroughs making about colonialism?  What is civilization’s great equalizer against poorly developed peoples? 

 

  1.  How does Clayton attempt to discredit Tarzan in Jane’s eyes?  To what extent does she believe him? 

 

  1.   While d’Arnot recuperates, how do he and Tarzan spend their time? 

 

  1.   Why does Jane not make the connection between the man she knows as her wild jungle savior and the man who calls himself Tarzan of the Apes? 

 

  1.   How is Tarzan’s family background finally established?  Why, in the end, does he not make it known to Jane?