The Beasts of Tarzan

What It's About

The third novel in the Tarzan series picks up with Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, living a settled life with his wife Jane and their infant son Jack. Their peace is shattered by Nikolas Rokoff, a Russian agent Tarzan has humiliated before, and his accomplice Alexis Paulvitch. The pair kidnap the baby, abandon Jane and maroon Tarzan on a remote stretch of coast. Cut off from civilization, Tarzan has to draw on his jungle upbringing to survive, and he gradually builds an unlikely band of allies: Sheeta the panther, the great ape Akut and his tribe, and the loyal warrior Mugambi. The story is a fast-paced pulp adventure, driven by pursuit, revenge and a father's determination to reach his son.

Key Concepts

The novel contrasts the scheming of "civilized" men with the honour and loyalty Tarzan finds among animals. Other themes are revenge and retribution, the bond between parent and child, and survival against hostile wilderness and human cruelty. As with much adventure fiction of its era, modern readers may find its portrayal of African characters and its colonial outlook dated and stereotyped.

About the Author

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950) was an American writer born in Chicago. He drifted through a series of unsuccessful jobs before turning to fiction in his mid-thirties. He became one of the most commercially successful pulp authors of the early twentieth century, and his adventure stories have been adapted widely across film, radio, comics and television.