Home > Tarzan of the Apes Summary & Study Guide > Tarzan of the Apes Group > Discussion Board

What does Darwin and his "natural selection" have to do with "Tarzan of the Apes"? What does Burroughs think of it? Does he show his attitude in "Tarzan"?

I would guess that the fact that the apes took in a human child would apply to Darwin's "natural selection".  The theory is that the fittest will survive, the weak will die.  Tarzan, being strong and fit...even as a child...survived with the help of the apes who reared him as one of their own.  Furthermore, he does not just survive, he becomes King of the Jungle...leader of all the animals.  That alone supports that Tarzan is a survivor worthy of leading not just his own family but groups of animals in other species' families to safety, justice, and peaceful coexistence.