Tarzan of the Apes is a coming of age story of John Clayton, the son of an English couple who are marooned in the western coastal jungles of equatorial Africa. His father is killed by the savage king ape Kerchak, and his mother dies of natural causes. At one year old, Clayton is adopted by the she-ape Kala and renamed Tarzan, or "white-skin" in the ape language.