FREE ESSAY ON SOCIALIZATION OF TARZAN OF THE APES

SOCIALIZATION OF TARZAN OF THE APES

SOCIALIZATION OF TARZAN OF THE APES 
Sociology of Tarzan of the Apes By Scottie Miller Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice
Burroughs is about socialization and resocialization of the second John Clayton, Lord of
Greystoke. Having lost his parents while still a baby, he was adopted by a female ape and
accepted partially by her tribe. Not all members of the tribe of apes gave him full
membership into their group, which caused Tarzan grief and pain, but also equipped him
with the necessary tools for survival. Beyond the immediate story of Tarzan there is an
underlying story of the socioeconomic progress of man in an encapsulated span of time, as
it must have actually occurred over the eons since man first appeared. Within the text of
the story are numerous examples of sociological occurrences dealing with different races
and indeed species of animals. Some examples are: 1. Achieved Status... A social position
that a person assumes voluntarily as a result of personal choice, merit, or direct
effort. Example: Tarzan achieved the status of King of the Apes by choice and direct
effort when he challenged Kerchak for leadership of the group. 2. Activity Theory... The
propositions that people tend to shift gears in late middle age, and find substitutes for
previous statuses, roles, and activities. Example: In the 1800s human life expectancy was
not much beyond 40 or 50 years of age, therefore a young man by today's standards in his
mid to late 20s would have been considered middle aged. Tarzan was in this age period
when he became irritated with life as the King of the Apes and decided to abdicate his
position and return to the cabin his father had built. 3. Agents of Socialization...
Those persons, groups, or institutions that teach people what they need to know in order
to participate in society. Example: Kala, the female ape that adopted Tarzan, and her
group taught him the basics for survival and participation in society. 4. Assimilation...
A process by which members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups become absorbed into
the dominant culture. Example: Alone in the jungle, Tarzan and his parents were the
subordinate group. After the death of his parents Tarzan was absorbed into the dominant
culture of the apes. 5. Bilateral Descent... A system of tracing descent through both the
mother's and father's sides of the family. Example: Bilateral decent would have been
impossible to trace for Tarzan had he not played in the ink from the pen his father was
using to write his journal, thereby creating fingerprints. 6. Body Consciousness... A
term that describes how a person perceives and feels about his or her body. Example: As a
young boy Tarzan was ashamed of his body because he was not hairy like the other apes. As
a man, he was glad he was not covered in hair, because Jane was not. 7. Cultural
Capital... A term for people's social assets, including values, beliefs, attitudes, and
competencies in language and culture. Example: Teaching himself to read and write
English, provided Tarzan with the cultural capital necessary to communicate with D'Arnot.
8. Cultural relativism... The belief that the behaviors and customs of a society must be
viewed and analyzed within the context of its own culture. Example: A man even
considering eating another man would have been ostracized and even institutionalized from
others of society, had they been aware of it. In the society in which Tarzan was part,
apes did not eat other apes, however they did eat men. 9. Conformity... The process of
maintaining or changing behavior to comply with the norms established by a society,
subculture, or other group. Example: Tarzan conformed to societal norms regarding murder
by releasing the man who was attempting to force Jane to marry him. 10. Deviance... Any
behavior, belief, or condition that violates cultural norms. Example: Tarzan violated the
cultural norms of Jane by kissing her profusely in the natural amphitheater in the jungle
without a proper introduction or acquaintanceship. 11. Diffusion... The transmission of
cultural items or social practices from one group or society to another. Example: The
hunting knife belonging to John Clayton was found by Tarzan thus diffusing it into the
group of apes. 12. Discovery... The process of learning about something previously
unknown or unrecognized. Example: Learning to use the hunting knife and to read and write
English was all by discovery to Tarzan. 13. Ego... According to Sigmund Freud, the
rational, reality-oriented component of personality that imposes restrictions on the
innate pleasure-seeking drives of the id. Example: As Tarzan was about to eat the black
warrior, he discovered that both of them were of the same race. The race of man. He was
hungry and gave no thought but to satisfy his hunger until his ego took over. Realizing
that this was a man and he was a man caused him to remember that ape did not eat ape and
therefore man must not eat man. 14. Endogamy... Cultural norms prescribing that people
marry inside their own social group or category. Example: Jane indulged in endogamy while
deciding whether she should marry Tarzan or his cousin. She decided that Tarzan would not
be happy in her culture and she would not be happy in his. 15. Ethnic group... A
collection of people distinguished, by others or by themselves, primarily on the basis of
cultural or nationality characteristics. Example: Tarzan distinguished the black warrior
tribe as murderers and different than himself by virtue of the color of their skin and
physical characteristics. 16. Ethnicity... The cultural heritage or identity of a group
based on factors such as language or country of origin. Example: Tarzan began to
recognize his own ethnicity by looking at and eventually comprehending written English.
Primarily through pictures was he able to identify himself as a boy. 17. Ethnocentrism...
The assumption that one's own culture and way of life are superior to all others.
Example: Tarzan practiced ethnocentrism by being disgusted upon discovering the black
warriors were cannibals and since they were the only other race he knew, they formed all
other cultures to him. 18. False Consciousness... The term used by Karl Marx to indicate
that people hold beliefs they think promote their best interests when those beliefs are
actually damaging to their interests. Example: The black warriors had a false
consciousness regarding who Tarzan was and what his capabilities were. They believed he
was an evil spirit that could be appeased by food and arrows, thereby preventing further
deaths among their people. 19. Family of Orientation... The family into which a person is
born and in which early socialization usually takes place. Example: His family of
orientation did not socialize Tarzan as they died while he was still an infant. 20.
Family of Procreation... The family a person forms by having or adopting children.
Example: Kala procreated a family by adopting Tarzan as her own child. 21. Functional
Age... A term used to describe observable individual attributes such as physical
appearance, mobility, strength, coordination, and mental capacity that are used to assign
people to age categories. Example: Kala and her tribe thought Tarzan might have some
strange illness because at the age of two he was not functional, as were the other apes
at that age. 22. Gemeinschaft... A traditional society in which social relationships are
based on personal bonds of friendship and kinship and on intergenerational stability.
Example: The tribe of apes that Tarzan belonged to was a Gemeinschaft. 23. Gender
Socialization... The aspect of socialization that contains specific messages and
practices concerning the nature of being female or male in a specific group or society.
Example: While performing the duties as the king of the apes, Tarzan was often called
upon to settle domestic disputes between mates. One brute had beaten his mate because she
had refused to care for him properly which included grooming him and providing him with
fresh fruit. 24. Generalized Other... A term for a child's awareness of the demands and
expectations of the society as a whole or of the child's subculture. Example: Tarzan
became aware of the demands of his society and subculture much slower than his peers but
soon surpassed them in intelligence and cunning. 25. Homogamy... The pattern of
individuals marrying those who have similar characteristics, such as race/ethnicity,
religious background, age, education, and/or social class. Example: Jane ultimately
participated in homogamy by marrying Tarzan's cousin even though she knew she had made a
mistake by accepting his proposal. 26. Id... A term for the component of personality that
includes all of the individual's basic biological drives and needs that demand immediate
gratification. Example: Tarzan was accustomed to gratifying without delay all of the
needs of his id. He killed and ate when hungry whether or not the food was cooked as
D'Arnot would have preferred was of no consequence. 27. Individual Discrimination...
Behavior consisting of one-on-one acts by members of the dominant group that harm members
of the subordinate group or their property. Example: The actions of the great ape that
killed John Clayton would be considered individual discrimination by Tarzan, because he
believed he was descended from both groups. 28. Informal Education... Learning that
occurs in a spontaneous, unplanned way. Example: Discovering the usefulness of clothes
was definitely unplanned as it occurred during and because of a tornado. 29. Ingroup... A
group to which a person belongs and with which the person feels a sense of identity.
Example: The apes were the ingroup Tarzan claimed. 30. Instrumental Leadership... Group
leadership that is goal or task oriented. The kingship of the apes was task oriented.
Example: The king provided food, and settled squabbles. 31. Internal Colonialism...
According to conflict theorists, a practice that occurs when members of a racial or
ethnic group are conquered or colonized and forcibly placed under the economic and
political control of the dominant group. Example: The black warriors in the story were
refugees from the Congo that had been taken over by white settlers. 32. Kinship... A
social network of people based on common ancestry, marriage, or adoption. Example: The
apes were the only kinship group that Tarzan knew. 33. Language... A set of symbols that
expresses ideas and enables people to think and communicate with one another. Example:
Tarzan was able to communicate with the apes as well as the humans he encountered by
means of language. 34. Master Status... A term used to describe the most important status
that a person occupies. Example: As a young man Tarzan's master status was that of the
king of the apes. As an adult his master status was that of a man and the master status
he wanted was that of the husband of Jane. 35. Material Culture... A component of culture
that consists of the physical or tangible creations (such as clothing, shelter, and art)
that members of a society make, use, and share. Example: The material left behind by John
Clayton for his son was the cabin, books, and the diamond encrusted pendent. 36.
Matrilineal descent... A system of tracing descent through the mother's side of the
family. Example: Matrilineal descent was the only possible line to trace for Tarzan
because he believed Kala was his mother and his father was dead. 37. Migration... The
movement of people from one geographic area to another for the purpose of changing
residency. Example: When the black warriors moved their palisade too close to the lake
where Tarzan's group was living, he took them farther into the jungle. 38. Mores...
Strongly held norms with moral and ethical connotations that may not be violated without
serious consequences in a particular culture. Example: In Jane's culture the promise to
marry was not taken any less lightly than the marriage. She could not break her promise
to marry even though she wanted to desperately. 39. Nonverbal Communication... The
transfer of information between persons without the use of words. Example: Tarzan used
sign language with the humans to communicate with them. 40. Patriarchy... A hierarchical
system of social organization in which cultural, political, and economic structures are
controlled by men. Example: Both cultures that Tarzan ultimately recognized as his own
were patriarchal. 41. Patrilineal Descent... A system of tracing descent through the
father's side of the family. Example: Patrilineal descent was impossible to Tarzan, prior
to meeting D'Arnot , due to the death of his father. 42. Peer Group... A group of people
who are linked by common interests, equal social position, and (usually) similar age.
Example: The peer group of Kala showed interest in the human infant, but she would not
allow them to touch him. 43. Presentation of Self... A term for people's efforts to
present themselves to others in ways that are most favorable to their own interests or
image. Example: Tarzan's proposal of marriage to Jane was pure presentation of self,
although the story would have us believe everything he promised to be true. 44.
Rationality... The process by which traditional methods of social organization,
characterized by informality and spontaneity, are gradually replaced by efficiently
administered formal rules and procedures (bureaucracy). Example: In Jane's culture men
and women often were not at liberty to marry whom they chose due to bureaucracy. 45.
Reference Group... A term used to describe a group that strongly influences a person's
behavior and social attitudes, regardless of whether that individual is an actual member.
Example: The only reference group available to Tarzan was that of the apes. 46.
Resocialization... The process of learning a new and different set of attitudes, values,
and behaviors from those in one's previous background and experiences. Example: D'Arnot
took Tarzan to Paris in order to resocialize him into his own culture. 47. Rituals...
Regularly repeated and carefully prescribed forms of behaviors that symbolize a cherished
value or belief. Example: The rites of the Dum Dum marked important events in the life of
the tribe --a victory, the capture of a prisoner, the killing of some large fierce
denizen of the jungle, the death or accession of a king, and were conducted with set
ceremonialism. 48. Role Exit... A situation in which people disengage from social roles
that have been central to their self-identity. Example: The abdication of the position of
king on the part of Tarzan was a role exit. 49. Role Performance... How a person actually
plays a role. Example: Tarzan was not performing his role as king and the tribe was
constantly squabbling amongst themselves.