Tarzan and the Golden Lion
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This classic adventure blends jungle law, thrilling rescues, and a loyal golden lion, offering a gripping tale of identity, betrayal, and the triumph of primal justice over civilized greed.
Edition details
Book Summary
Tarzan returns from Pal-ul-don with a golden lion cub, Jad-bal-ja, and trains it in obedience. When a conspiracy of treasure hunters drugs and imprisons him, Tarzan escapes, rescues the priestess La from a brutal gorilla-man tribe, and uncovers a plot involving an impostor. He ultimately reunites with Jane, exacts jungle justice, and restores order.
After adopting the golden lion cub Jad-bal-ja, Tarzan trains the beast in loyalty and control. Financial strain leads him to plan another expedition to Opar for gold, but a gang led by Flora Hawkes drugs him and steals his map. Imprisoned in Opar, Tarzan is freed by a woman sent by La, the high priestess, and together they flee through underground passages into a valley where the Gomangani are enslaved by the Bolgani (gorilla-men). Tarzan leads a revolt, kills the Bolgani emperor, and restores La to her throne. Meanwhile, an impostor, Esteban Miranda, impersonates Tarzan, deceiving the Waziri and even Jane. After learning that Jane has been killed (a false report), Tarzan pursues the conspirators, recovers stolen diamonds, and eventually reunites with Jane. He sends Jad-bal-ja after Miranda, who is mauled and swept away. The Waziri recover the hidden gold, and Tarzan returns to his estate, having reaffirmed his bond with the jungle and his family.
Reading guide
Go deeper in Tarzan and the Golden Lion
Character guides, themes, chapter companions — plus Character Web, narrative arc, and theme heatmap teasers that unlock fully beside the text in BetterReads.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
Tarzan
Tarzan moves between two worlds — the Greystoke estate and the wild — but grief strips him back to pure ape-man when the Waziri bring word that Jane is dead. He sends his warriors home and turns alone toward vengeance, asking only one question: where is Luvini? His bond with Jad-bal-ja, the golden lion who crossed strange countries to find him, reveals a man whose deepest loyalties run wilder than any human tie.
Esteban Miranda
Esteban Miranda is the kind of man whose bragging about hunting prowess leaves an expedition on half rations and his companions ready to shoot him. He's dangerous less for his strength than for his cunning: he can become someone else entirely when it suits him. His presence in the treasure party introduces a threat to Tarzan's identity itself, not just his life.
La
La of Opar is a queen who fled her own city because she would not let Tarzan die on the Flaming God's altar, and now she hides in the jungle while her priests plot behind her back. When Tarzan calls her his mate to protect her among strangers, the lie costs her nothing and everything. Her reverence for him — and his clear-eyed refusal to love her back — gives the adventure its sharpest emotional edge.
Carl Kraski
Kraski is the most intelligent and therefore most inventive member of the treasure expedition, rigging platforms in trees while his companions cling miserably to branches. He needles the Spaniard, mocks the German's stinginess, and keeps his revolver close — a man who survives by being smarter than the people he'd happily betray. His calculating presence turns the jungle trek into a pressure cooker of greed.
Cadj
Cadj is the disloyal priest whose usurpation drove La from Opar in the first place, and he rules through fear and the Bolgani's tyranny over the Gomangani. When Tarzan vows to march on Opar and compel Cadj to relinquish power, the priest becomes the target of a reckoning that reaches beyond the Valley of Diamonds. His treachery gives the story its political spine — a stolen throne that must be taken back.
Adolph Bluber
Bluber's penny-pinching — too few carriers, too little food — has left his treasure party hungry, mutinous, and stranded deep in hostile country. He clings to tree branches half-exhausted and wholly terrified, a man whose greed has outrun his courage by every measure. His mismanagement is the fuse that keeps the white treasure hunters at each other's throats from the very first camp.
Civilization vs. Wilderness
The book contrasts the civilized world's hypocrisy, greed, and deceit with the jungle's honesty and freedom, as Tarzan repeatedly rejects society and embraces his primal nature.
Mastery and Obedience
Tarzan's training of the golden lion Jad-bal-ja demonstrates themes of dominance, loyalty, and control over nature, showing that love and respect can enforce obedience more effectively than brutality.
Loyalty and Betrayal
The narrative explores loyalty among the Waziri, Tarzan's family, and allies, contrasted with betrayal by characters like Esteban Miranda and the treacherous priests of Opar.
Slavery and Oppression
The Gomangani are enslaved by the Bolgani, and Tarzan leads a revolt to free them, highlighting themes of tyranny, liberation, and the abuse of power.
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