# A Change of Masters explained — At the Earth’s Core

> Chapter companion for At the Earth’s Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

## What happens

David Innes and Abner Perry are captured by ape-like creatures and brought to a tree village. After being reunited, Perry reveals that they have traveled to the inner world of Pellucidar, where a stationary sun creates eternal noon. They are then taken by gorilla-like men and chained alongside noble human prisoners, enduring a seemingly endless march across a sunbaked plain.

## Themes in this chapter

### Exploration and Discovery

Perry reveals the discovery of the inner world Pellucidar, challenging conventional understanding of the earth's structure.

### Survival and Adaptation

David and Perry must adapt to captivity, the strange environment, and the threat of predators like the hyaenodon.

## Character check-ins

### Abner Perry

Reunited with David in the ape village; explains that they have entered the hollow earth and are now in the inner world of Pellucidar.

### David Innes

Narrator; uses his baseball pitching skill to defeat a hyaenodon in an arena; is captured and later chained with other human prisoners.

### Dian the Beautiful

Not directly mentioned in this chapter, but the noble human prisoners include women who may be among her people.

### The Sagoths

The gorilla-like guards who capture David and Perry and chain them with the human prisoners; they speak a pidgin language.

### The Sarians

The noble human prisoners, described as a proud and well-formed race, who are being marched in chains.

## Key lines

> The stone caught the hyaenodon full upon the end of the nose, and sent him bowling over upon his back.

David's perfectly aimed stone struck the wolf-dog directly on the nose, knocking it over backward.

_Demonstrates David's exceptional pitching skill and quick thinking in a life-threatening situation._

> We have proved that the earth is hollow. We have passed entirely through its crust to the inner world.

Perry announces that they have successfully traveled through the earth's crust and entered a hidden interior world.

_Key revelation that defines the setting and premise of the story._

> I have lost all respect for time—I am commencing to doubt that such a thing exists other than in the weak, finite mind of man.

David reflects that time seems meaningless in Pellucidar, where the sun never moves and duration cannot be measured.

_Highlights the theme of time and perception in the inner world._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters/iii-a-change-of-masters
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/at_the_earth_s_core_se/chapters