# IV explained — Tarzan and the Ant Men

> Chapter companion for Tarzan and the Ant Men by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

## What happens

Esteban Miranda and Uhha flee through the jungle, terrified by a lion, while Tarzan trains an Alalus youth in hunting and weapon-making, transforming him from a fearful creature into a confident hunter. Meanwhile, a vulture carries away a diamond locket from a corpse, and Tarzan hunts for food and materials, encountering antelope and sensing a lion nearby.

## Themes in this chapter

### Survival and Adaptation

Both Esteban and Tarzan struggle to survive in the jungle—Esteban through fearful flight, Tarzan through hunting and training the Alalus.

### Power and Hierarchy

The Alalus youth overcomes his inherited subservience to females, gaining power through weaponry and confidence.

### Deception and Manipulation

Esteban impersonates Tarzan and The River Devil, but his fear reveals the deception to Uhha.

## Character check-ins

### Esteban Miranda

Crouches in terror with Uhha, trembling at a lion's roar, and later forces them to move northward to escape Obebe.

### Uhha

Contemptuous of Esteban's fear, she climbs a tree for safety and later hopes Obebe's warriors will overtake them.

### Tarzan

Hunts for food and materials, trains the Alalus youth in weapons, and eludes the women of the forest.

### The Alalus

A youth who, under Tarzan's tutelage, masters the bow and spear, kills a boar, and gains confidence, shedding his former fearfulness.

### Numa

Prowls and roars near Esteban and Uhha, and later Tarzan senses his scent while hunting antelope.

### Ska

A vulture that feasts on a corpse and flies away with a diamond-encrusted locket tangled around its neck.

## Key lines

> You are not The River Devil! she cried. You are afraid. You are not even Tarzan, for Khamis, my father, has told me that Tarzan is afraid of nothing.

Uhha accuses Esteban of being a coward, saying he is neither The River Devil nor Tarzan, as her father described Tarzan as fearless.

_Highlights Esteban's fraudulent identity and Uhha's awareness of his fear._

> The sun beating down upon the hot corral of The First Woman found it deserted of life. Only the corpse of a youth lay sprawled where it had fallen the previous evening.

The corral of The First Woman is empty except for the dead body of a young man, left from the night before.

_Sets the scene for the vulture's arrival and the locket's fate._

> He was the personification of avenging manhood. Within him rankled countless ages of contemptuous treatment and abuse at the hands of his shes.

The Alalus youth now embodies a vengeful masculinity, fueled by generations of mistreatment by females.

_Describes the psychological transformation of the Alalus after gaining hunting skills._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tarzan_and_the_ant_men_se/chapters/iv
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tarzan_and_the_ant_men_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/tarzan_and_the_ant_men_se/chapters