# XIV: Back to the Primitive explained — The Return of Tarzan

> Chapter companion for The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

## What happens

Tarzan, thrown overboard by Rokoff, swims to a derelict and then uses a lifeboat to reach land, finding himself at his own cabin. He reverts to his jungle ways, hunting and foraging, and sets out to find weapons. After days of travel, he encounters a black warrior being stalked by a lion. Tarzan saves the man, and together they kill the lion, forming a bond of friendship.

## Themes in this chapter

### Civilization vs. Wilderness

Tarzan deliberately sheds his civilized trappings and reverts to his ape-like existence, hunting and foraging in the jungle, while also grappling with civilized scruples about killing a fellow man.

### Survival and Physical Prowess

Tarzan's incredible physical strength and resourcefulness are on full display as he swims for hours, rows a lifeboat, and later hunts and fights a lion with minimal equipment.

## Character check-ins

### Tarzan

Swims to a derelict after being thrown overboard by Rokoff, then rows to his cabin and reverts to his primitive jungle instincts. He saves a black warrior from a lion and makes peace with him.

### Nikolas Rokoff

Throws Tarzan overboard and steals the papers Tarzan had taken from him at Bou Saada.

## Key lines

> seldom if ever did civilized man kill a fellow being without some pretext, however slight. It was true that Tarzan wished this man's weapons and ornaments, but was it necessary to take his life to obtain them?

Tarzan reflects that civilized people rarely kill without a reason, and questions whether he needs to kill the warrior just to take his belongings.

_Shows Tarzan's internal conflict between his civilized upbringing and his primal instincts._

> The ape-man had acted so quickly that he had been unable to prepare himself to withstand the strain and shock of Numa's great weight upon the rope, and so it was that though the rope stopped the beast before his mighty talons could fasten themselves in the flesh of the black, the strain overbalanced Tarzan, who came tumbling to the ground not six paces from the infuriated animal.

Tarzan's quick throw of his rope saves the black man from the lion's attack, but the force of the lion's weight pulls Tarzan off balance and he falls close to the enraged beast.

_Highlights Tarzan's impulsive heroism and the physical danger he faces._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_return_of_tarzan_se/chapters/xiv-back-to-the-primitive
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_return_of_tarzan_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_return_of_tarzan_se/chapters