The Return of Tarzan · Chapter
XIX: The City of Gold explained
Tarzan becomes chief of the Waziri and leads an expedition to find a legendary city of gold.
What happens
Tarzan becomes chief of the Waziri and leads an expedition to find a legendary city of gold. After a long march, they discover an ancient, ruined city with towering walls and mysterious inhabitants. Tarzan enters a temple, is captured by a white-skinned, bearded people, and is held prisoner in an inner courtyard.
Themes in this chapter
Survival and Physical Prowess
Tarzan's physical strength and combat skills are highlighted during his capture and struggle in the dark chamber.
Colonialism and Otherness
The discovery of a white-skinned 'lost race' in Africa reflects colonial-era fascination with hidden civilizations and racial otherness.
Characters to notice
- Tarzan
Newly made chief of the Waziri, leads expedition to the city of gold, explores the ruins, and is captured by a strange white-skinned people.
- Jane Porter
Mentioned as lying dying in a boat on the Atlantic while Tarzan dances with the Waziri.
- Waziri
The old Waziri who described the ruined city of gold to Tarzan; also the tribe that follows Tarzan on the expedition.
Key passages
“The very night that Tarzan of the Apes became chief of the Waziri the woman he loved lay dying in a tiny boat two hundred miles west of him upon the Atlantic.”
On the same night Tarzan became chief, Jane was dying of thirst and starvation in a small boat far out at sea.
Contrasts Tarzan's triumph with Jane's peril.
“The lure of adventure may have been quite as powerful a factor in urging Tarzan of the Apes to undertake the journey as the lure of gold”
Tarzan was motivated as much by the desire for adventure as by the promise of gold.
Highlights Tarzan's dual motivations.
“He knew not what manner of creatures had captured him, but that they were human seemed evident from the fact that they had bound him.”
Tarzan realized his captors were human because they tied him up.
Shows Tarzan's logical deduction despite the strange circumstances.