Excerpt

Excerpt from The Lost Continent, by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Almost immediately the officer reappeared and started back in the
direction of the throne room. I had been hiding in a doorway after the
guard had turned me back, having taken refuge there while his back was
turned, and, as the officer approached me, I withdrew into the room
beyond, which was in darkness. There I remained for a long time,
watching the sentry before the door of the room in which Victory was a
prisoner, and awaiting some favorable circumstance which would give me
entry to her.

I have not attempted to fully describe my sensations at the moment I
recognized Victory, because, I can assure you, they were entirely
indescribable. I should never have imagined that the sight of any human
being could affect me as had this unexpected discovery of Victory in
the same room in which I was, while I had thought of her for weeks
either as dead, or at best hundreds of miles to the west, and as
irretrievably lost to me as though she were, in truth, dead.

I was filled with a strange, mad impulse to be near her. It was not
enough merely to assist her, or protect her—I desired to touch her—to
take her in my arms. I was astounded at myself. Another thing puzzled
me—it was my incomprehensible feeling of elation since I had again seen
her. With a fate worse than death staring her in the face, and with the
knowledge that I should probably die defending her within the hour, I
was still happier than I had been for weeks—and all because I had seen
again for a few brief minutes the figure of a little heathen maiden. I
couldn’t account for it, and it angered me; I had never before felt any
such sensations in the presence of a woman, and I had made love to some
very beautiful ones in my time.

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Explanation

Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from The Lost Continent by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Context of the Source

Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875–1950) was a prolific American author best known for creating Tarzan and John Carter of Mars. The Lost Continent (1916, also published as Beyond Thirty) is a lesser-known adventure novel set in a post-apocalyptic future where Europe has reverted to a primitive, warlike state after a catastrophic war. The protagonist is an American explorer who stumbles upon a hidden civilization in the Atlantic Ocean, where he encounters Victory, a young woman from a lost European colony.

This excerpt comes from a moment of high tension: the narrator has just discovered that Victory—a woman he believed lost or dead—is being held captive in a nearby room. The passage blends adventure, romance, and psychological introspection, characteristic of Burroughs’ pulpy yet emotionally charged storytelling.

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Themes in the Excerpt

1. Unexpected Love and Obsession

   • The narrator is overwhelmed by an irrational, almost primal desire to be near Victory. His emotions are intense and confusing, suggesting a sudden, deep attachment that defies logic.
   • The phrase "strange, mad impulse" implies an uncontrollable, almost supernatural pull toward her, which contrasts with his usual composure.
   • His admission that he has "made love to some very beautiful [women]" but never felt this way before underscores how unprecedented and destabilizing this emotion is.

2. Contradiction Between Joy and Danger

   • Despite the life-threatening situation ("a fate worse than death staring her in the face"), the narrator feels "happier than I had been for weeks" simply because he has seen Victory again.
   • This paradox highlights the irrationality of love and desire—his elation is illogical given the circumstances, yet it dominates his thoughts.

3. Masculinity and Vulnerability

   • The narrator is a typical Burroughs hero: brave, resourceful, and physically capable. Yet here, he is emotionally exposed, struggling to understand his own feelings.
   • His anger at his own emotions ("it angered me") suggests discomfort with vulnerability, a trait often suppressed in traditional masculine archetypes of adventure fiction.

4. Fate and Powerlessness

   • The narrator acknowledges that he and Victory may die soon ("I should probably die defending her within the hour"), yet he is powerless to resist his urge to be near her.
   • This tension between agency and inevitability is a common theme in adventure narratives, where heroes must act despite overwhelming odds.

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Literary Devices & Stylistic Choices

1. First-Person Narration & Psychological Realism

   • The excerpt is told in first person, giving immediacy to the narrator’s turbulent emotions. His introspection ("I couldn’t account for it") makes the scene feel deeply personal.
   • Burroughs often used first-person narration to immerse readers in the protagonist’s experiences, blending action with psychological depth.

2. Contrast & Juxtaposition

   • Light vs. Darkness: The narrator hides in a "room... in darkness" while Victory is imprisoned nearby. The darkness symbolizes uncertainty and hidden desires.
   • Joy vs. Peril: His happiness contrasts sharply with the mortal danger they face, emphasizing the irrationality of love.
   • Past vs. Present: His past indifference to other women ("I had made love to some very beautiful ones") is juxtaposed with his current overwhelming feelings for Victory.

3. Sensory & Emotional Imagery

   • "indescribable sensations" – The narrator struggles to articulate his feelings, making them feel raw and authentic.
   • "to touch her—to take her in my arms" – Tactile imagery conveys his physical longing, reinforcing the primal nature of his desire.
   • "a little heathen maiden" – The term "heathen" (often used in colonial-era literature to describe non-Western or "uncivilized" people) adds an exotic, almost forbidden allure to Victory, framing her as both foreign and irresistible.

4. Foreshadowing & Suspense

   • The narrator’s hiding in the dark, watching the guard, builds tension. The reader anticipates a confrontation or rescue attempt.
   • His mention of "a fate worse than death" hints at the brutal world of The Lost Continent, where captivity likely means torture or slavery.

5. Irony

   • The narrator is a seasoned adventurer, yet he is undone by emotions he cannot control. This is ironic given his usual self-assurance in dangerous situations.

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Significance of the Passage

1. Character Development

   • This moment marks a turning point for the narrator. His emotional vulnerability humanizes him, making him more than just a typical action hero.
   • His obsession with Victory sets up future conflicts—will he prioritize her safety over mission objectives? Will his feelings cloud his judgment?

2. Romantic & Adventure Tropes

   • The excerpt embodies classic adventure-romance tropes:
     • The Damsel in Distress: Victory is imprisoned, and the hero is driven to rescue her.
     • Love at First Sight (or Reunion): The narrator’s instant, overwhelming attachment is a staple of romantic adventure stories.
     • The Irrationality of Love: His emotions defy logic, a common theme in tales where love conquers reason.

3. Reflection of Burroughs’ Themes

   • Like much of Burroughs’ work, this passage explores:
     • Primal Instincts vs. Civilization: The narrator’s raw desire contrasts with his usual disciplined demeanor.
     • The Allure of the Exotic: Victory is a "heathen maiden," representing the mysterious and forbidden, a recurring motif in colonial-era adventure fiction.
     • The Hero’s Sacrifice: His willingness to die for her reinforces the selfless, chivalric ideal of Burroughs’ protagonists.

4. Reader Engagement

   • The emotional rawness of the passage draws the reader in, making them invest in the narrator’s relationship with Victory.
   • The suspenseful setup (hiding in the dark, planning a rescue) ensures the reader is eager to see what happens next.

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Line-by-Line Breakdown of Key Moments

1. "I had been hiding in a doorway after the guard had turned me back..."

   • Establishes the narrator’s resourcefulness (hiding) and the immediate danger (guards, captivity).
   • The "throne room" suggests a hierarchical, possibly tyrannical society, hinting at the political stakes.

2. "I have not attempted to fully describe my sensations at the moment I recognized Victory, because, I can assure you, they were entirely indescribable."

   • The admission of indescribable emotions makes his feelings feel authentic and overwhelming.
   • This also engages the reader’s imagination—what would such a moment feel like?

3. "I was filled with a strange, mad impulse to be near her. It was not enough merely to assist her, or protect her—I desired to touch her—to take her in my arms."

   • The progression from "assist" to "protect" to "touch" and "take her in my arms" shows escalating intimacy and physical desire.
   • "Strange, mad impulse" suggests his feelings are beyond rational control.

4. "With a fate worse than death staring her in the face, and with the knowledge that I should probably die defending her within the hour, I was still happier than I had been for weeks..."

   • The contrast between imminent death and happiness is striking, emphasizing the power of love (or obsession) over logic.
   • "Fate worse than death" implies torture, slavery, or violation, raising the stakes.

5. "all because I had seen again for a few brief minutes the figure of a little heathen maiden."

   • "Little heathen maiden" is a loaded phrase—"little" suggests vulnerability, "heathen" exoticizes her, and "maiden" implies purity.
   • This language reflects colonial-era attitudes, where non-Western women were often romanticized as both innocent and seductive.

6. "I couldn’t account for it, and it angered me..."

   • His anger at his own emotions reveals his discomfort with vulnerability, a trait that makes him more complex than a typical action hero.

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Conclusion: Why This Passage Matters

This excerpt is a microcosm of Burroughs’ storytelling: it blends high-stakes adventure with deep emotional turmoil, making the narrator’s journey personal as well as physical. The passage explores the irrationality of love, the tension between duty and desire, and the vulnerability beneath a hero’s brave exterior.

For readers of adventure fiction, this moment is compelling because it humanizes the hero—he is not just a fearless warrior but a man grappling with feelings he doesn’t understand. The suspenseful setting (hiding in the dark, guards nearby) and emotional intensity (obsession, elation, anger) ensure that the reader is fully invested in what happens next.

Ultimately, this scene sets up Victory as a pivotal character—not just a love interest, but a catalyst for the narrator’s transformation. Whether his feelings are true love or a fleeting infatuation remains ambiguous, but the raw power of his emotions makes the story gripping.

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Questions

Question 1

The narrator’s description of his emotions as "entirely indescribable" serves primarily to:

A. underscore the cultural taboo against expressing vulnerability in adventure narratives of the era.
B. create a deliberate gap in the narrative to heighten the reader’s suspicion of his reliability.
C. evoke a sense of authentic, overwhelming experience that resists rational categorisation.
D. signal his intellectual inferiority compared to the "heathen maiden" he idealises.
E. foreshadow his eventual failure to rescue Victory due to emotional paralysis.

Question 2

The phrase "a little heathen maiden" is most effectively interpreted as reflecting:

A. the narrator’s subconscious recognition of Victory’s moral superiority over his own colonialist worldview.
B. a neutral, anthropological observation intended to classify Victory’s cultural background.
C. Burroughs’ critique of the hypocrisy inherent in European imperialist attitudes toward indigenous women.
D. the narrator’s exoticisation of Victory, blending condescension with romantic idealisation.
E. an ironic commentary on the absurdity of racial categorisations in post-apocalyptic societies.

Question 3

The narrator’s anger at his own emotions ("it angered me") is most plausibly attributed to:

A. the disruption of his self-image as a rational, composed adventurer by an irrational, consuming desire.
B. his resentment toward Victory for awakening feelings he had successfully suppressed in past relationships.
C. the realisation that his emotions are a strategic liability in a life-or-death situation.
D. an unconscious guilt over his colonial privilege, projected onto his attraction to a "heathen."
E. a physiological response to adrenaline, misinterpreted as emotional turmoil.

Question 4

Which of the following best captures the functional role of the narrator’s elation in the passage’s broader argumentative structure?

A. It demonstrates the redemptive power of love in a morally corrupt world.
B. It serves as a counterpoint to the passage’s dominant tone of existential dread.
C. It reinforces the adventurer’s archetype by framing emotional vulnerability as a fleeting weakness.
D. It exposes the illogical, even self-destructive, nature of desire when divorced from survival imperatives.
E. It signals the narrator’s impending psychological breakdown under pressure.

Question 5

The passage’s juxtaposition of "a fate worse than death" with the narrator’s happiness is most thematically resonant with which of the following ideas?

A. The inevitability of human resilience in the face of existential threats.
B. The capacity of love to transcend material conditions, even at the cost of self-preservation.
C. The delusional optimism of adventurers who romanticise danger.
D. The paradoxical coexistence of euphoria and despair as a defining feature of obsessive attachment.
E. The narrative convention of using female characters as symbolic rewards for male heroism.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: C

Why C is most correct: The narrator’s insistence that his emotions are "entirely indescribable" aligns with the passage’s emphasis on the visceral, irrational quality of his experience. This phrasing resists reduction to logical analysis, reinforcing the idea that his reaction to Victory transcends conventional emotional frameworks. The term "indescribable" is not a narrative cop-out (B) or a comment on cultural norms (A), but a rhetorical strategy to convey authenticity through negation—suggesting that the feelings are so intense they defy articulation, a common technique in Romantic and adventure literature to signal profundity.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• A: While the passage touches on masculine vulnerability, the focus here is on the nature of the emotions, not their cultural taboo.
• B: There’s no evidence the narrator is unreliable; his emotions are presented as genuine, not suspect.
• D: The narrator never suggests intellectual inferiority; the phrase "heathen maiden" is about exoticism, not cognitive comparison.
• E: The passage doesn’t foreshadow failure due to paralysis; his emotions spur action, not inaction.

2) Correct answer: D

Why D is most correct: The term "heathen maiden" is loaded with colonial-era connotations: "heathen" frames Victory as exotic and "other," while "maiden" idealises her as pure and vulnerable. The narrator’s condescension (implied by "little") is undercut by his romantic fixation, creating a tension between superiority and desire. This aligns with Edward Said’s concept of Orientalism, where the "other" is both denigrated and fetishised. The phrase doesn’t reflect moral superiority (A) or neutral observation (B), but a subjective, contradictory gaze.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• A: The narrator doesn’t acknowledge Victory’s moral superiority; his focus is on his own emotions.
• B: The term is emotionally charged, not anthropological.
• C: There’s no overt critique of imperialism; the narrator’s perspective is uncritical.
• E: The passage doesn’t engage in irony about racial categories; the term is used unironically.

3) Correct answer: A

Why A is most correct: The narrator’s anger stems from the cognitive dissonance between his self-image as a stoic adventurer and his sudden, irrational desire. His frustration isn’t directed at Victory (B) or strategic concerns (C), but at the violation of his own identity. This aligns with psychological theories of self-discrepancy, where emotions arise from conflicts between actual and idealised selves. The passage emphasises his surprise at feeling this way, not guilt (D) or adrenaline (E).

Why the distractors are less supported:

• B: He doesn’t blame Victory; his anger is inward-directed.
• C: While his emotions could be a liability, the text focuses on his personal confusion, not tactical assessment.
• D: There’s no evidence of guilt over colonialism; the anger is about self-perception.
• E: The passage treats his emotions as psychological, not physiological.

4) Correct answer: D

Why D is most correct: The narrator’s elation is structurally ironic because it contradicts the survival imperative. His happiness in the face of imminent death ("a fate worse than death") exposes desire as illogical and potentially self-destructive. This aligns with Freudian thanatos or Schopenhauer’s view of love as a metaphysical trap. The passage doesn’t frame his emotions as redemptive (A) or merely tonal contrast (B), but as a paradox that undermines rational self-interest.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• A: The passage doesn’t moralise about love’s redemptive power; the focus is on its irrationality.
• B: The elation isn’t just contrast; it’s thematically central to the narrator’s psychological conflict.
• C: His vulnerability isn’t framed as fleeting weakness; it’s profound and destabilising.
• E: There’s no suggestion of breakdown; his emotions are intense but lucidly described.

5) Correct answer: D

Why D is most correct: The juxtaposition of euphoria ("happier than I had been for weeks") and despair ("a fate worse than death") embodies the paradox of obsessive attachment, where positive and negative affects coexist extremis. This mirrors melancholic love or modern theories of limerence, where fixation on another produces simultaneous ecstasy and torment. The passage doesn’t resolve this tension but presents it as inherent to the narrator’s state.

Why the distractors are less supported:

• A: Resilience isn’t the focus; the narrator acknowledges likely death.
• B: While love transcends conditions, the passage emphasises contradiction, not triumph.
• C: His happiness isn’t delusional; it’s genuine but irrational.
• E: Victory isn’t a symbolic reward; the narrator’s emotions are personal and disruptive, not narrative convention.