"The Capture of Tarzan"

Critical Sources:

Hollow, John. "Rereading Tarzan of the Apes; Or, "What Is It," Lady Alice Whispered, "A Man?" Dalhousie Review 56 (1976): 83-92. 

Holtzmark, Erling B. Tarzan and Tradition.  Westport, Conn: Greenwood, 1981.

Discussion Questions:

• John Hollow says, "Like most books which endure for more than fifteen minutes, the Tarzan books are about what a thing is man, how like an angel and how like an ape" (85). How does the treatment of Tarzan in this story show the wide range between angel and ape that Tarzan traverses?

• Holtzmark claims this story is "self-contained" because "[t]he rescuer is rescued" (41). Though his point is in context of the entire Jungle Tales collection, what other elements in this story alone show "symmetrical reversal," as Holtzmark calls it?

• Why is it important that the animals are more human than the people in this story?

elephant graphics courtesy of http://www.123spot.com.  Book cover (left) by Dover.