Tarzan and the Ant Men · Chapter
V explained
Tarzan observes a battle between tiny white pygmies and a giant Alalus woman.
What happens
Tarzan observes a battle between tiny white pygmies and a giant Alalus woman. He intervenes, killing the woman with an arrow and rescuing a pygmy leader. The pygmies, grateful, escort him across the plain. Tarzan demonstrates his hunting skills by killing an antelope with his bow, impressing the little warriors. They then travel to the pygmies' settlement, which consists of symmetrical stone mounds resembling ant hills, with organized lines of workers and armed guards.
Themes in this chapter
Scale and Perspective
Tarzan's encounter with the pygmies highlights the contrast in size and the relativity of power, as he views their world with amused tolerance and they see him as a giant.
Survival and Adaptation
The pygmies demonstrate efficient hunting and organized labor, while Tarzan uses his skills to hunt and adapt to the new environment.
Civilization vs. Primitivism
The pygmies' organized society with mounds, guards, and labor lines contrasts with Tarzan's primal instincts and the Alalus woman's savagery.
Characters to notice
- Tarzan
Observes the battle, kills the Alalus woman with an arrow, rescues the pygmy leader, hunts an antelope, and travels to the pygmy settlement.
- The Alalus
The giant Alalus woman who captures a pygmy warrior and is killed by Tarzan.
- The Officer
Young commander of the pygmy detachment who leads the escort and witnesses Tarzan's hunting.
Key passages
“leap, so that Tarzan wondered not only at their agility but at the almost marvelous riding ability of the warriors who could keep their seats so perfectly upon these leaping, bounding, turning, twisting mounts.”
Tarzan marveled at the pygmies' riding skill as their mounts leaped and twisted without unseating them.
Highlights the pygmies' exceptional horsemanship.
“Straight into her savage heart it drove and as she stumbled forward Tarzan leaped to meet her, seizing the warrior from her grasp before she might fall upon the tiny body and crush it”
Tarzan's arrow struck the Alalus woman in the heart, and he rushed to grab the pygmy warrior before she fell on him.
Key moment of Tarzan's intervention and rescue.
“The tallest of them stood about eighteen inches in height, their white skins were tanned by exposure to a shade a trifle darker than his own, yet there was no question but that they were white men; their features were regular and well proportioned”
The pygmies were about eighteen inches tall, with tanned white skin and handsome, regular features.
Description of the pygmies' appearance.
“Tarzan could not but note that everything these people did was accomplished with maximum efficiency. Never did there seem to be any lost motion, never was one at a loss as to what to do, never did one worker get in the way of another.”
Tarzan observed that the pygmies worked with perfect efficiency and coordination.
Illustrates the pygmies' organized society.