Tarzan the Untamed · Chapter
Dropped from the Sky explained
Tarzan builds a boma for Bertha Kircher, intending to leave her to survive alone in the jungle.
What happens
Tarzan builds a boma for Bertha Kircher, intending to leave her to survive alone in the jungle. She fears abandonment and death, but Tarzan insists she must learn to fend for herself. He introduces her to the ape tribe, including Go-lat, and instructs the apes not to harm her. Bertha struggles with terror but shows courage, and Tarzan leaves her at the hut to go hunting.
Themes in this chapter
Survival and Adaptation
Tarzan teaches Bertha how to survive in the jungle, building a boma and instructing her to seek the company of apes for protection.
Gender and Heroism
Bertha's courage in facing the apes and her willingness to work despite pain contrasts with Tarzan's view of her as a 'woman' needing protection, yet he admires her bravery.
Colonialism and Racism
Tarzan's disdain for the German language and people, and his assumption that Bertha sees him as a 'beast of the jungle,' reflect colonial attitudes and racial hierarchies.
Characters to notice
- Tarzan
Builds a boma for Bertha, plans to leave her alone in the jungle, and introduces her to the ape tribe, asserting his authority over Go-lat and the others.
- Fräulein Bertha Kircher
Fears being abandoned in the jungle, helps build the boma despite injuries, and is terrified of Go-lat but tries to hide her fear.
- Go-lat
The king ape who approaches Bertha at the river, causing her terror, but is rebuked by Tarzan and promises not to harm her.
Key passages
“You are going to leave me here alone in this terrible jungle, a prey to wild beasts and savage men, hundreds of miles from a white settlement and in a country which gives every evidence of never having been touched by the foot of civilized men?”
Bertha protests that Tarzan cannot abandon her in a savage wilderness far from any white settlement.
Bertha expresses her fear of being left alone in the jungle.
“Why not? I did not bring you here. Would one of your men accord any better treatment to an enemy woman?”
Tarzan argues that he has no obligation to protect her, as she is an enemy.
Tarzan justifies his plan to leave Bertha alone.
“He will not harm you. You need not be afraid. This ape has learned his lesson. He has learned that Tarzan is lord of the jungle. He will not harm that which is Tarzan's.”
Tarzan reassures Bertha that Go-lat will not attack her because the ape respects Tarzan's authority.
Tarzan asserts his dominance over the apes to protect Bertha.