Tarzan And Broekhart

Written almost 100 years apart, Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Airman by Eoin Colfer share a great deal in common. With their strange settings of an African jungle and an alternate universe you wouldn’t have thought these two could be anything close to comparable. Surprisingly, our characters Tarzan and Conor Broekhart are one in the same. Both have to go through a troubling culture shock of either leaving civilization behind or being introduced to it for the first time. All good heroes have a role model or mentor they look to for advice and help, it is just another connection between the two. Losing the most influential people in their lives makes our lead characters deal with the loss and recover from it. Being in such vibrant …show more content…
Both books taking advantage of its third person view, getting a view of every aspect of their surroundings, even the people and things that our valiant protagonists do not see or experience. Being able to see the whole world and not being restricted to one characters mind and having an overall view means having to be very vivid and detailed. Tarzan being in an exotic African jungle made being descriptive a key element of the book, otherwise getting the jungle atmosphere and overall effect would be difficult. “For hours absolute quiet reigned in the little clearing, except as it was broken by the discordant notes of brilliant feathered parrots, or the screeching and twittering of the thousand jungle birds flitting ceaselessly amongst the vivid orchids and flamboyant blossoms festooned the myriad, moss-covered branches of the forest kings (Burroughs 52).” Instead of the author saying there are birds flying through the air chirping, he explains how the parrots sound and that they are “brilliant feathered parrots” and the other birds in the “vivid orchids and flamboyant blossoms”. On the other hand, Conor, who lives in an alternate history, that author has to be descriptive so the reader doesn't get lost in which section of history the story is in. The story starts in 1896 but is in a kingdom type world with a king and a castle and guards. It is a mixture of the middle ages and the late …show more content…
Tarzan being born in 1888 and Conor being born in 1878, the mere ten year difference is surprising. They are in different universes but yet so close in time. Since both of them lost their role model to the cold hands of the antagonist, they had to keep moving forward without them but never forgetting the lessons and love they passed down to them. Losing his mother, Tarzan became to be strong, independent, and able to defend himself. He learned these things from her and still hold her near to his heart. Conor, losing his teacher meant losing his family and his familiar and comfortable life. Being sent to the prison with Victor’s lessons and advice still in his mind helped him survive. Stories with interesting or bizarre settings must be written carefully so they portray exactly what the author is picturing. Creating the African jungle meant the author had to use very distinct and vivid words to make the sounds and sights of the jungle come alive. Creating an alternate history by combining two time periods takes incredible skill to stitch together to make a cohesive and realistic setting. With this new setting that no one has ever experienced, the author must be clear on presenting the details of the world. It is amazing how two authors can write completely different stories, in a completely