Tarzan is one of the few characters in fiction to have become a folk hero and although his popularity has fallen off since its peak in the 1920's, he is now said to be coming back into fashion.

It was the cinema that made Tarzan famous. For the first film, Burroughs his creator, announced to the public that Tarzan would kill twenty lions. He failed to keep his promises but at least the hero killed one. The lion had been given an injection to make it sleepy but it recovered from the effects of the drug sooner than expected and the star was obliged to stab it in self-defence. The film was a tremendous success and from that time on the Hollywood studios kept up a steady output of  Tarzan adventures and showed them to audiences all over the world.

Of course, the character is absurd. Burroughs knew very little about Africa and never trouble to visit it. Yet we are still shown Tarzan films on television and our children are presented with Tarzan comics as soon as they learn to read. What is it that gives Tarzan his tremendous appeal? For the adult reader, the answer is probably that Tarzan offers the ordinary man the illusion of strength and freedom. If his wife nags him, if his bank manager refuses to lend him money, he can take refuge in a world where there is no talk of women's liberation and keeping up with the Joneses is not important. "Me Tarzan. You wife. Me boss."

Questions:

1. When was Tarzan most popular? Is he still popular nowadays? Why?

2. How was he lion in the first film killed and why?

3. Why is Tarzan such an appealing character?

4. What do you think about Tarzan?

5. Write a summary of the text in no more than 80 words.