XXII explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Survival and Adaptation

  Tarzan survives in a feral state, eating from a carcass, and later breaks free from torture through sheer physical strength.

• Deception and Manipulation

  Khamis and Obebe manipulate the tribe's fear of the River Devil to justify torture; Tarzan's escape exploits their superstitions.

• Identity and Impersonation

  Tarzan is mistaken for the River Devil; his loss of memory and subsequent recovery of identity after surgery.

Characters to notice

• Tarzan

  Found by Usula in a deranged state, eating from a buffalo carcass; later operated on for a skull fracture; escapes from Khamis and Obebe after breaking bonds.

• Usula

  Waziri headman who finds Tarzan, cares for him, and brings him home; also recovers Tarzan's diamonds.

• Khamis

  Witch doctor searching for his daughter Uhha; tortures the River Devil (Tarzan) with a red-hot iron; killed by Tarzan who throws him through Obebe's roof.

• Obebe

  Cannibal chief who held Tarzan prisoner; urges Khamis to torture Tarzan; mistakenly kills Khamis in the dark.

• Lady Greystoke

  Arrives from England with a surgeon and maid; waits anxiously during Tarzan's operation; reunited with Tarzan after he regains consciousness.

• Korak

  Tarzan's son; paces in despair over his father's condition; present during the operation and recovery.

Key passages

• “Usula stooped and picked up the bag. He opened it and poured some of the contents into his palm. He knew what the things were and he knew that they had belonged to his master, for Usula was a headman who knew much about his master’s affairs. These were the diamonds that had been stolen from The Big Bwana many moons before by the white men who had found Opar.”

  Usula finds a bag of diamonds that were stolen from Tarzan by the white men who discovered Opar.

  Recovery of stolen diamonds by Usula.

• “The man was white and he lay beside the carcass of long-dead buffalo, greedily devouring the remnants of hide that clung to the bleaching bones. The man raised his head a little and Usula, catching a better view of his face, gave a cry of horror. Then the man looked up and grinned. It was The Big Bwana!”

  Usula discovers Tarzan eating from a dead buffalo carcass, acting like a wild animal.

  Tarzan's feral state after his brain injury.

• “Suddenly the muscles upon the back and shoulders of the prisoner leaped into action, rolling beneath his brown hide. For just an instant he appeared to exert terrific physical force, there was a snapping sound at his back as the strands about his wrists parted, and an instant later steel-thewed fingers fell upon the right wrist of the witch doctor.”

  Tarzan breaks his bonds and grabs Khamis's wrist as the witch doctor is about to burn his eye with a red-hot iron.

  Tarzan's escape from torture.

• “The River Devil picked Khamis up, and held him in two hands high above his head, and ran after Obebe the chief. The latter dodged into his own hut. He had scarce reached the center of it when there came a terrific crash upon the light, thatched roof, which gave way beneath a heavy weight. A body descending upon the chief filled him with terror.”

  Tarzan throws Khamis through the roof of Obebe's hut, causing Obebe to stab the body in the dark, killing Khamis by mistake.

  Tarzan kills Khamis and causes Obebe to accidentally kill the witch doctor.

• “The patient took a few steps into the room, looking wonderingly about. 'There is your wife, Greystoke,' said the surgeon, kindly. Lady Greystoke rose and crossed the room toward her husband, her arms”

  After the operation, Tarzan enters the room and is introduced to his wife, but he does not recognize her.

  Tarzan's post-operative confusion and loss of memory.