Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Blogging Burroughs- Tarzan of the Apes Part 1

The first chapter, simply titled 'Out to Sea', starts out fairly conventially. The narrator was told the story by an old drunk and based the subsequent account on it. The narrator also claims skepticism. I point this bit out because it's going to come back later with hilarious results. The narration device of the story supposedly being true is dropped in later books; and all for the better. It simply doesn't work, which is, again, going to become more and more apparent.

However, the story really starts when John Clayton, aka: Lord Greystoke, is given a diplomatic position in a West Coast African Colony. He's supposed to investigate the overall treatment of native Africans, and its connection to the large groups of their young people defecting to other colonies sponsored by Britain's enemies. Clayton is hesitant at first, because he has recently married Miss Alice Rutherford. His given reasons are fairly chauvinistic; which is puzzling because, from what I gather, she is pregnant. That alone seems like a good enough excuse, so why all these other excuses?

The couple book passage on a ship called the 'Fuwalda', which we're told right from the beginning is filled with cutthroats and rapscallions. Why is it that Clayton, despite being terribly over-protective of his wife, didn't even try to find a ship with a more reputable crew? He is being stationed in an established colony, so I find it hard to believe that there aren't some less dangerous sounding ships to book passage on.

The captain of this ship is a one note villain. He's violent and angry, and for whatever reason, decides to flip his shit on one of the crewmen; which is odd because 1) it mentions earlier that he knows the crew is full of scoundrels and uses it as an excuse to misuse them, and 2) if the captain is so volatile and abusive why the holy fuck has no one mutinied before?

Clayton at least tries to tell the Captain off and diffuse the situation when he beats the crewman, but only after one of the other sailors gets involved. The one who does defend the beaten crewman gets shot in the leg for his trouble. His name is Black Michael. Incidentally, Black Michael is my favorite character in these opening chapters. Clayton is okay, but he didn't start reacting until Black Michael turned on the Captain, which comes across as weak and a little morally dubious.

Tensions mount after Black Michael's shooting, and Clayton briefly entertains the idea of signaling a passing British naval ship and boarding with Alice. He, of course, doesn't, not realizing the obvious that THE CREW IS ABOUT TO FUCKING MUTINY.

Later, Clayton has a conversation with one of the crewman (the one Black Michael was defending) about just that. I'm suddenly very eager to know why this young git was given a position which required his ability to properly assess a given situation when he apparently needs someone to point out something so clear already.
Clayton then admits to Alice he'd like to see the Captain overthrown; while Alice, who's already starting to annoy me, tells him he has a duty to invested authority. I say he go to the crew and throw his lot with them. The abusive captain is clearly in the minority here and frankly deserves to be overthrown. Why not throw one's lot with the oppressed? They're going to be running the ship any day now.
But I shouldn't be too upset. Clayton does call the captain an ass when he flips out at him for telling him the crew is going to mutiny; which goes toward bettering my opinion of him, if only slightly.
Clayton and Alice then go to their room and find it ransacked. And thus ends Chapter One of 'Tarzan of the Apes': Out to Sea.

So what are my impressions so far? Well, Clayton did start to grow on me. My sympathies are still largely with the crew and Black Michael. Alice was pretty much just there for most of it, but when she does start talking towards the end of the chapter, I want to beat her in the head. Invested authority? Seriously? I have more thoughts on all this backstory about Tarzan's parents, but thats' going to have to be continued next time in: The Savage Home!

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