Tarzan


Tarzan, a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first appeared in the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in twenty-three sequels. He is the son of a British Lord and Lady who were marooned on a remote coast of Africa by mutineers. Tarzan's parents died when he was an infant, and he was raised by Great Apes of a species unknown to science. Kala is his ape mother. Tarzan (White-skin) is his ape name; his English name is John Clayton, Lord Greystoke (according to Burroughs; Earl of Greystoke in later, non-canonical sources, notably the 1984 movie Greystoke). As a young adult, he meets Jane Porter on safari with her father, and when she returns to America he leaves the jungle in search of her, his true love. Tarzan and Jane marry and he lives with her for a time in England. They have one son, Jack, who eventually (in later books) takes the ape name Korak (Killer) and explores his "roots" in the jungle. Tarzan is contemptuous of the hypocrisy of civilization, and he and Jane return to Africa where, both being immortal, they still live.