Tars Tarkas and Gozava

This flow traces the forbidden love of Tars Tarkas and Gozava, its concealment and destruction, and its delayed consequences for their family.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A Meeting in the Hills

Love Outside the Custom Two Tharks meet Gozava, considered too small for the community’s preferred maternal role, wanders away from the people she finds cruel. In the hills she meets Tars Tarkas, a young warrior responsible for the animals. Conversation becomes intimacy Repeated meetings shift from practical talk to sharing hopes and fears. Their growing attachment creates a private bond in a society that gives little recognition to personal love.

A Child Concealed

Parenthood Hidden from Thark A secret kept alive Tars Tarkas and Gozava hide the egg that will become Sola and protect it during incubation. The act rejects the community’s assumption that children belong to no particular parents. A dangerous hope Tars Tarkas aims to rise high enough to challenge Tal Hajus and protect his family. Political ambition becomes inseparable from his desire to make their love survivable.

Sarkoja’s Discovery

A Secret Exposed The story overheard Sarkoja discovers Gozava with Sola and realizes that the mother has concealed her child. She demands the father’s identity and prepares to report the violation. Loyalty under threat Gozava refuses to name Tars Tarkas, protecting him from immediate punishment. Her decision shows how deeply love can persist even where the surrounding system seeks to erase it.

Gozava’s Death

A Life Taken for Defiance Torture as enforcement Tal Hajus uses torture to force Gozava to reveal her lover’s name. She remains silent, even when her suffering becomes entertainment for the ruler and his followers. Grief suppressed Tars Tarkas returns too late to save her and does not openly betray his feelings. His silence preserves his position but allows grief and anger to harden into a lasting private burden.

A Family Acknowledged

Love’s Delayed Recognition The story reaches the father Carter tells Tars Tarkas that Sola is the daughter he and Gozava hid. He also reveals Sarkoja’s role in Gozava’s exposure. A public bond restored Tars Tarkas acknowledges Sola before the Thark leaders. The recognition cannot restore Gozava, but it gives their family history a place in the changed community.

Decades before Carter reaches Thark

During the five-year incubation of Sola’s egg

The night before Sola is placed among the young Tharks

After Tal Hajus imprisons Gozava

After Tars Tarkas takes leadership of the Tharks