Excerpts:
The Origin of Tarzan:
The Mystery of Tarzan's Creation Solved
by Sarkis Atamian with Foreword by George
T. McWhorter
Copyright 1997 by Sarkas
Ataman ~ Published by Publication Consultants
PO Box 221974 ~ Anchorage,
Alaska 99522-1974
With few exceptions, five generations of
critics have laid much of Burroughs' inspiration at the doorsteps of Kipling,
Haggard, and Wells. But Mr. Atamian points the arrow directly at two lesser
know writers, Paul Du Chaillu and J. W. Buell, as the major sources, both
direct and subliminal, of the Burroughs mind-fix. He shows that Buell and
Du Chaillu provided essential background reading which Burroughs used systematically
for his themes, situations and, significantly, for his nomenclature.
From the Foreword of The
Origin of Tarzan
George T. McWhorter, Curator
Burroughs Memorial Collection
University of Louisville
Page
84 and 85:
". . . ERB wrote the Return
[of Tarzan], from start to finish, in 70 days! That is as fast as lightning
for a novel given the complexities of the plot. ERB could not have had
time for a leisurely stroll through the book shelves doing "research,"
in a dozen books -- he wouldn't even have time for a quick reading of them.
But he could and did read one book (or had already read it) which contained
most of the important items he needed for more than half of the Return
after Tarzan's dissipation in Paris. The book was Buell's Heroes!
And there are traces of it in the Beasts
[of Tarzan] and [The Jewels of] Opar,
and even Tarzan
[of the Apes].
"In summation, there could be hundreds
of words from a dozen different sources which coincidentally could be used
by ERB. But here, there are two books (Paul Du Chaillu's Explorations
and Adventures in Equatorial Africa and J. W. Buell's Heroes of
the Dark Continent) in which all these words and ideas can be related
to their contexts in ERB. And these original contexts and sources appear
within 30 to 100 pages of each other (depending on the book), which contain
all the original cognates, themes, and symbols.
"In varying degrees, all of the first six
Tarzan books in the chronology have a Buell influence. The least of these
is Mirambo-Aruwimi in Tarzan
of the Apes and Baynes (and a companion) who hunt big game together
in the Son of Tarzan,
the fourth book in the chronology. Admittedly, these are weak. In the second
volume, the Return
, of the 26 chapters, only the first six have no connection Buell. In the
remaining 20, the actions, plots, themes, and names are all in Buell from
the theme of castaways, to cannibalism: from the lost and ruined city of
Opar and its treasure vaults to La; from Arabs to Manyuema; from fifty
frightful men and dwarfs to superior breeding males. In the Beasts,
Kai-Shang and Fuchan are minor parts, but totally related to Buell and
vital in identifying a major source. In Opar,
the entire theme of Opar, La, and the historical allusions and La's appearance
and statements, as well as the high-priestesses and Amazonian theme is
totally related to Buell. In Jungle
Tales, of 12 chapters, five of them revolve around central characters,
themes and names from Buell, form the N'Ganga to Du Chaillu's Bukawai;
from exploding bullets to Teeka; from Rabba Kega in Tarzan and the Black
Boy, to Jungle Joke. In chapters five, six, seven (of Jungle
Tales), which form a trilogy, the main names, themes and plots
are entirely from Buell, from witchcraft to Tibo."
