Tarzan the Terrible · Chapter
XIX: Diana of the Jungle explained
Jane makes her first kill, a hare, and successfully creates fire using volcanic glass.
What happens
Jane makes her first kill, a hare, and successfully creates fire using volcanic glass. She builds a treehouse for safety and encounters the German officer Obergatz, who has gone mad. She threatens to kill him if he enters her domain again.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
In this excerpt, the dramatic climax occurs because Tarzan’s relentless search brings him within literal sight…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Survival and Adaptation
Jane demonstrates resourcefulness by making fire, building a shelter, and hunting for food, adapting to the jungle.
- Gender and Agency
Jane asserts her independence and authority, threatening Obergatz and defending her territory.
Characters to notice
- Jane Clayton
Makes her first kill, creates fire, builds a treehouse, and confronts Obergatz.
- Erich Obergatz
Appears filthy and mad, confronts Jane at the ford, and is threatened by her.
- Tarzan
Referenced as the source of Jane's woodcraft and survival skills.
Key passages
“Jane had made her first kill and she was very proud of it. It was not a very formidable animal—only a hare; but it marked an epoch in her existence.”
Jane killed a hare, her first hunt, and felt it was a significant milestone in her survival.
Highlights Jane's transition to a hunter.
“She had achieved fire! She piled on twigs and then larger branches and at last dragged a small log to the flames and pushed an end of it into the fire which was crackling merrily.”
Jane successfully started a fire using a convex piece of volcanic glass and dry tinder.
Demonstrates Jane's ingenuity and mastery of primitive skills.
“Go away and leave me to enjoy here what peace I may. It is the least that you can do to amend the wrong that you have done me and mine.”
Jane orders Obergatz to leave her alone, blaming him for her suffering.
Shows Jane's assertiveness and resentment toward Obergatz.
