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Tarzan and White Supremacy
Tarzan, is a character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and first appeared in the 1914 novel Tarzan of the Apes, and then in twenty-three sequels.
Tar-zan is the orphaned son of aristocratic English parents marooned in Africa in the late 19th century. Upon their deaths, he is adopted and raised by a band of apes which Burroughs calls "mangani," a species not otherwise known to science, but with characteristics of gorillas, chimpanzees, and early hominids, including a primitive form of speech. "Tar-zan" is "White Skin" in the mangani language. His "real" English name is John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke. Tar-zan makes contact with humans again when fully grown. At this stage, he supposedly learns how to speak French and English then visits the civilized world, only to reject this and returns to the jungle.
Tarzan is a comic strip that was created during a very prejudice period, which is why some believe the implication found in the Tar-zan literary work is very strong. As mentioned earlier, Tar-zan is a “White Skin” man who was raised by apes in Africa (where the “black skin” man has been living for centuries) and some how managed to become the King and lord of the jungles over beast and man. Few have even argued that the Tar-zan theme implies that the “white skin” man is superior to the “black skin” man; even to the point as bolstering the belief of white supremacy held by such like the KKK.
Despite these allegations of the Tar-zan story, I’m pretty sure the writer did not intend to imply or bolster any belief of white supremacy. Even in the literary work, Tar-zan is seen coinciding with the black man but never ruling over him.
The Tarzan strips that were released in the early twentieth century quite often featured Tar-zan in battle with the Nazi. Of course this was very common with many popular comic book and strip characters, because it was a time of War. It was a way reators wanted their characters to display patriotism. POWERS/ABILITIES His upbringing by the apes gives him physical skills considerably superior to those of the finest "civilized" athletes, but he also inherits a high level of mental prowess (how, I have no idea). He teaches himself to read by examining basic English primers left by his parents, and unlike the inarticulate version of him later popularized in films, he eventually learns to speak several languages fluently. POPULARITY FACTOR Tarzan was one of the first interesting action adventurous comic strip characters. This means he was there before the development of comic book superheroes. The Tar-zan story also somehow ties into the Evolution theory, which was very popular in the late 19 century to mid twentieth century.
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