Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar

In Short

When a treacherous officer and an Arab slave-raider destroy the jungle home of Lord Greystoke, Tarzan leads an expedition to the lost, ancient city of Opar to recover his squandered fortune. A sudden earthquake inside a subterranean treasure vault strikes the ape-man with amnesia, wiping away his human memories and leaving him a purely primal beast. As his captive wife, Jane, fights off rival captors, desert raiders, and jungle predators, Tarzan roams the forest governed only by raw instinct. Edgar Rice Burroughs’s fifth Tarzan novel endures for its relentless pulp pacing, iconic lost-world atmosphere, and dramatic exploration of man's dual nature.

The Story

Lieutenant Albert Werper, a disgraced Belgian officer hiding in a remote Congo post, murders his superior and flees into the wilderness. He falls in with Achmet Zek, a ruthless Arab slave-trader who plans to raid the prosperous estate of John Clayton, Lord Greystoke—famously known to the jungle as Tarzan. Needing funds to rebuild his home after the raiders attack, Tarzan travels south toward the forgotten Atlantean colony of Opar, accompanied by Werper, who poses as a friendly traveler while secretly plotting to rob him. Deep beneath Opar’s ruined temples, Tarzan fills a leather pouch with priceless ancient gems and prepares to haul away gold ingots.

While they are inside the vault, a violent earthquake shakes the ruins. A falling stone strikes Tarzan across the head, leaving him unconscious. Believing the ape-man dead, Werper steals the pouch of gems and flees through the crumbling tunnels. Tarzan awakens in the dark, his memory entirely shattered. Stripped of his English identity, his language, and his civilized past, he reverts completely to the instincts of a wild beast. He knows only his childhood name and the savage law of the jungle.

As Tarzan wanders the wilderness playing with river pebbles and rejoining the great apes, Jane Clayton is taken prisoner by Achmet Zek’s men. Her estate is burned, and her loyal Waziri lieutenant, Mugambi, is left for dead in the ruins. Mugambi survives and sets off on a bloody quest for vengeance. Meanwhile, La, the High Priestess of Opar, discovers that her sacred sacrificial knife and her temple jewels are missing. Furious at the desecration of her altars and still harboring a passionate, unrequited obsession for Tarzan, she leads her ape-like priests out into the jungle to track down the thief.

Jane’s captivity becomes a gauntlet of constant peril. She escapes into the forest only to be pursued by lions, recaptured by desert raiders, and abducted by a rogue anthropoid ape named Taglat. Werper, constantly torn between terror of the amnesiac Tarzan and avarice for the stolen gems, shifts allegiances continuously. He deceives Jane, schemes against Achmet Zek, and barely survives encounters with Abyssinian soldiers. Throughout the chaos, Tarzan crosses paths with his wife multiple times, driven by a shadowy, instinctual urge to protect her, though he cannot recall who she is.

The climax converges on the wilderness plain where Abyssinians, Arab raiders, and jungle beasts clash over the scattered gold of Opar. During a harrowing confrontation with a raging lion, a second blow or intense emotional shock restores Tarzan’s memory. Remembering his love for Jane and his true identity, he slays his enemies and rescues his wife. Werper meets a gruesome end in the jungle, his remains left to bleach under the sun. Months later, back at their rebuilt homestead, Tarzan and Jane open Werper’s recovered leather pouch, discovering that against all odds, the true, shimmering jewels of Opar have returned to their rightful owner.

How It Unfolds

A murder in the Congo Disgraced Belgian lieutenant Albert Werper slays his superior officer in a fit of paranoid rage and escapes into the wilderness, where he joins the camp of the notorious Arab slave-raider Achmet Zek.

The descent into Opar To restore his ruined finances, Tarzan guides Werper to the ancient, forgotten city of Opar, where he fills a leather pouch with glowing gems and prepares to transport gold ingots from the subterranean vaults.

A blow in the dark An earthquake strikes the underground chamber, burying Tarzan under falling rubble and knocking him unconscious; Werper steals the gems and flees, while Tarzan wakes up with total amnesia, knowing himself only as a wild beast.

The burning homestead Achmet Zek’s raiders attack the Greystoke estate, torching the farm and capturing Jane Clayton, while the loyal Waziri warrior Mugambi survives his wounds and swears revenge against the invaders.

The priestess marches La, High Priestess of Opar, discovers that her sacred knife and crown jewels have been stolen, leading her deformed priests out of their ancient city to hunt down the thieves and avenge her desecrated altar.

Flight through the canopy Jane escapes her captors multiple times, braving hungry lionesses, rogue apes, and deceitful men, while the wild Tarzan instinctually protects her without understanding why her face haunts his broken memory.

Clash of the scavengers Arabs, Abyssinians, and jungle predators wage a desperate battle over the golden ingots, leading to Achmet Zek's death and Werper's solitary flight into the forest with the stolen fortune.

Reason restored at last In the heat of battle against jungle beasts, Tarzan's memories flood back; he rescues Jane, reunites with Mugambi, and returns home to rebuild his estate, ultimately recovering the lost gems from Werper's remains.

The People

• Tarzan (Lord Greystoke) wants to protect his home and family, but a traumatic head injury wipes out his civilized intellect and leaves him operating entirely on animal instinct. What stands in his way is his own shattered memory, which prevents him from recognizing his wife or understanding the motives of the men around him. By the end, he recovers his reason and integrates his noble heritage with his feral strength.
• Jane Clayton wants to survive captivity and return safely to her husband. She faces constant danger from treacherous captors, slave traders, and wilderness predators. Through these trials, she shifts from a vulnerable aristocrat into a resourceful, battle-hardened survivor capable of navigating the jungle alone.
• Albert Werper wants wealth, safety, and a return to European luxury, but his weak, cowardly nature and overwhelming avarice constantly push him into deadly bargains with raiders and beasts. His greed ultimately leads to his isolated death in the wilderness.
• La of Opar wants to reclaim her stolen sacred relics and possess Tarzan's love. Her path is blocked by Tarzan's devotion to Jane and the primitive fanaticism of her own priests. Though she remains heartbroken, she retains her regal authority over her ancient realm.
• Mugambi wants vengeance against the raiders who destroyed his home and slaughtered his kin. Armed with fierce loyalty and physical power, he relentlessly tracks his enemies across the wilderness, eventually reuniting with Tarzan to rebuild their community.

In Its Own Voice

"In the ape-man’s right hand was the long hunting knife of his father and in his heart the blood lust of the carnivore."

Tarzan stalks a deer through the moonlit trees, fully surrendered to his predatory instincts.

"He saw the gilded halls of pleasure that would open their portals to the possessor of the wealth which lay scattered upon this stained and dented table top."

Lieutenant Werper sits in his squalid tent, mesmerized by the fortune in gems he has stolen from the amnesiac ape-man.

"Unseeing, his eyes rested upon the shaving mirror which still hung upon the tent wall above the table; but his sight was focused far beyond."

Werper dreams of his future luxury, completely unaware that his deadly partner is watching him from the shadows.

What It's Really About

Beneath its sensational pulp exterior, the novel investigates the fragile boundary separating civilization from savagery. Tarzan's sudden amnesia functions as a narrative test: stripped of his English title, education, and moral upbringing, he does not become a villain; instead, he reverts to the clean, uncomplicated ethics of the natural world. In sharp contrast, civilized men like Lieutenant Werper display true degradation, using their intellect solely to cheat, murder, and betray. The book argues that formal society often merely masks moral decay, whereas the raw law of the jungle possesses its own honest nobility. It also examines the destructive power of greed, demonstrating how the golden ingots and gems of Opar bring ruin to every person who seeks them for personal gain.

Why Read It Today

This novel represents classic early-twentieth-century adventure writing at its most energetic and uninhibited. Readers who enjoy fast-paced melodrama, lost civilizations, and dramatic twists will find it a captivating, fast-moving spectacle. Burroughs constructs a narrative that rarely pauses, constantly shifting perspectives between escaping captives, scheming villains, and hungry beasts.

The reading experience feels like stepping into a vintage serial serial comic or afternoon matinee. The prose is direct, action-oriented, and unabashedly theatrical, filled with narrow escapes and dramatic coincidences.

Modern readers should be prepared for period conventions, including melodramatic dialogue, simplified character motivations, and colonial-era depictions of African geography and culture. The portrayals of Arab raiders and native tribes reflect the racial attitudes and exoticized tropical tropes of 1918 popular fiction. Yet, if approached with an understanding of its historical context, the book remains a memorable, highly entertaining piece of escapist storytelling, offering an vivid glimpse into the origins of modern action-adventure fiction.