The Beasts of Tarzan · Chapter
Mugambi explained
Tarzan, while exploring the island, is ambushed by a party of Wagambi warriors led by Mugambi.
What happens
Tarzan, while exploring the island, is ambushed by a party of Wagambi warriors led by Mugambi. He calls upon his animal allies—Sheeta the panther and Akut's apes—to rout the attackers, killing all but Mugambi, who escapes. Later, Tarzan reconciles Sheeta and the apes, training them to hunt together. Mugambi, awed by Tarzan's power, eventually joins him. They build a canoe and attempt to teach the apes to paddle, with Akut showing the most promise. Mugambi reveals that the mainland is nearby, explaining how his tribe was swept to the island.
Themes in this chapter
Savagery and Civilization
Tarzan's raw meat eating and his command of beasts contrast with Mugambi's cooked food and fear, highlighting the blurred line between human and animal behavior.
Mastery Over Nature
Tarzan tames Sheeta and reconciles the panther with the apes, demonstrating his dominance over the natural world and its creatures.
Survival and Resilience
Tarzan survives the ambush by calling his animal allies, and later adapts to island life by building a sail and canoe, showing resourcefulness.
Characters to notice
- Tarzan
Tarzan is the central figure, commanding Sheeta and the apes, defeating the Wagambi, and training his animal allies. He eats raw meat and demonstrates his dominance over both beasts and men.
- Mugambi
Mugambi is the chief of the Wagambi who survives Tarzan's attack. He later joins Tarzan, showing awe and fear of the ape-man and his beasts, and provides information about the mainland.
- Sheeta
Sheeta is the panther that Tarzan tames and reconciles with the apes. He participates in the attack on the Wagambi and later hunts alongside Tarzan and Mugambi.
- Akut
Akut is the leader of the apes who answers Tarzan's call. He shows higher intelligence by learning to use a paddle, and fights alongside Tarzan against the Wagambi.
- Kaviri
Kaviri is mentioned as the chief of the Wagambi of Ugambi, but Mugambi is identified as the chief in this chapter.
Key passages
“The mental suffering that Tarzan’s sorrowful thoughts induced had the effect of numbing his keen, perceptive faculties, so that the advancing savages were almost upon him before he became aware that he was no longer alone upon the beach.”
Tarzan's grief made him less alert, allowing the warriors to approach nearly undetected.
Illustrates Tarzan's vulnerability due to emotional distress.
“To communicate his plan to the apes was not a particularly difficult matter, though their narrow and limited vocabulary was strained in the effort; but to impress upon the little, wicked brain of Sheeta that he was to hunt with and not for his legitimate prey proved a task almost beyond the powers of the ape-man.”
Talking to the apes was easy, but teaching Sheeta not to hunt them was very hard.
Highlights the challenge of cross-species communication and training.
“It was not, after all, strange that the white man’s ways should have been so much more nearly related to those of the beasts than were the savage blacks. We are, all of us, creatures of habit...”
It's not surprising that Tarzan acted more like an animal than the 'savage' blacks did, since habit shapes behavior.
Reflects the novel's commentary on nature versus nurture and cultural relativism.