An Analysis of the Themes in the Novel, Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs Essay

The Edgar Rice Burroughs novel Tarzan of the Apes was written in the year 1912 as a series in a magazine. The reviews were nowhere near as grand as the books two years later which labeled it an instant classic. The novels main themes touch on mans survival and protection of the things that are closest to him as well as the identity of race and gender as symbols of power throughout the novel. And also of that mans need to explore the wild frontier and that they are the most sophisticated thinkers, hunters, and species in the world. All of these themes are evident not only in the novel Tarzan of the Apes but also in the everyday lives of middle-class American men at the beginning of the twentieth century, as the nation was growing so were the ideologies of the supremacy of the white male.The first theme in the novel Tarzan of the Apes that will be examined is the idea that the male must support the weak and to protect the people that cannot protect themselves. This is evident throughout the novel as Tarzan protects everyone he loves to the furthest extent with no care for himself. His battles with neighboring tribes, huge lions, and other apes do nothing but reinforce his power and his protection to those that he holds dearest to himself. This helps to further explain the author Edgar Rice Burroughs view on modern life in the 1910s and how white males should be protectors of their families and go to any extent to make sure that they are and always will be protected at all times under all conditions. The significance of these ideas is that to the reader, the reader being a white male American, is that he is not only the head of the household but also the protector of the weak and everyone in the family.Another point that was extremely evident throughout the reading...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Character Analysis of Annie Wilkes in Misery by Stephen King Essay

What does it take to frighten an author of best-selling horror novels? In Misery, Stephen King embodies a writer's fears about himself as a writer and about the continuation of his creativity in a richly elaborated and horrifi-cally psychotic woman, Annie Wilkes. In the novel, Annie represents a mother figure, a goddess, and a "constant reader". In reality, however, An-nie merely represents a creative part of King's mind.Annie Wilkes is a proud mother of two children--a historical-romance novelist, Paul Sheldon, and his extremely popular heroine Misery Chastain. Annie must nurse and educate Paul. Gottschalk elaborates, "Annie views Paul in a madly maternal way. Early in her custody of Paul, she brings him pills for his excruciating pain, but he must suck them off her fingers in a grotesque parody of a nursing child" (125). If she leaves him untended too long, Paul wets his bed, and she must change his sheets and clothes. When he is tired or frustrated, he we...
Read more

An Analysis of the Character of Chichikov in the Poem, Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol Essay

Dead Souls takes place in the Russia of the late 1800s, where, unlike in America, one must be born into a prosperous family in order to have opportunities. The main character, Chichikov, is clever enough to develop a scheme in which he can rise from being a petty clerk to a respected landowner. In order to do this, Chichikov moves into a new town, pretending to already be a landowner, and begins a quest to buy the names of dead serfs who have not yet been officially reported dead. Each person that Chichkov presents this offer to has a different reaction, starting with the shy and introverted Manilov. Though he does not understand Chichikov's need for the names of these dead serfs, Manilov is a character that is so desperate for company that it does not take any effort to trick him into selling his dead souls cheaply. However, as Chichikov continues his journey, he starts to deal with more clever landowners who become suspicious of his scheme. Chichikov finds that the townsmen know...
Read more

Religious Symbolism in The Blessed Damozel, a Poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti Essay

Dante Gabriel Rossettis poem The Blessed Damozel is full of religious symbolism. There is talk of saints, and the poem itself takes place in heaven. But underneath the religious symbolism is a deep sensuality, that makes one wonder if the white rose of Marys gift referred to in line nine is the gift of Mary the Virgin, or the somewhat less virginal Mary Magdalene. While the Damozel is in heaven, her appearance in heaven, her behaviors in life, and what happens when she and her lover are reunited suggest some less than virginal dealings, yet the damozel is blessed and resides in heaven. Rossetti was the child of liberals kicked out of Italy a heavily catholic country for their extreme political views. While Rossetti himself was not political, he may have espoused similar views regarding politics and religion as his parents. In the poem The Blessed Damozel, Rossetti was given the chance to essentially create his own heaven. Most everything he wrote seems to show that Rossetti espoused ...
Read more