Tarzan of the Apes

The novel tells the story of John Clayton, born in the western coastal jungles of equatorial Africa to a marooned couple from England, John and Alice (Rutherford) Clayton, Lord and Lady Greystoke. Adopted as an infant by the she-ape Kala after his parents died (his father is killed by the savage king ape Kerchak), Clayton is named “Tarzan” (“White Skin” in the ape language) and raised in ignorance of his human heritage.

Burroughs’s detailed descriptions of language, social behavior, cultural traditions and the contrast between the “civilized” world of human s and the “uncivilized” world of the jungle runs throughout the story.