The narrative begins with a young English lord and his wife shipwrecked on an isolated tropical coast, where they meet a tragic end shortly after the birth of their son. The infant is adopted by Kala, a fierce female ape, and grows up under the name Tarzan among the savage anthropoids. Despite his hairless body and initial lack of physical strength, Tarzan relies on his superior human reason, agility, and a hunting knife found in his parents' abandoned cabin to survive and eventually become the king of the apes. As he matures, he teaches himself to read English from a cache of children's books, bridging the gap between his animal upbringing and his human heritage.
The arrival of a party of castaways, including the professor, his daughter Jane Porter, and a young English gentleman named William Cecil Clayton, shatters the quiet of the jungle. Tarzan is immediately captivated by Jane, watching over her secretly and protecting her from the myriad perils of the wild, including rival apes and a man-eating lioness. After a harrowing sequence of events where Jane is briefly abducted by a rogue ape, Tarzan rescues her and experiences a profound awakening of love. When a French cruiser finally arrives to rescue the castaways, Tarzan makes a pivotal choice regarding his identity, balancing the savage instincts instilled by the jungle with his innate nobility and burgeoning connection to his own kind.
