The novel is the coming-of-age story of John Clayton, born in the western coastal jungles of equatorial Africa to a marooned couple from England, John and Alice Clayton, Lord and Lady Greystoke. Adopted as an infant by the she-ape Kala after his parents are killed by the savage king ape Kerchak, Clayton is renamed Tarzan (”White Skin” in the ape language) and raised in ignorance of his human heritage.
