White apes

The White apes are enormous, ape-like predators whose strength and ability to attack make them a source of fear in Barsoom’s wilderness. They threaten John Carter directly, but their encounters also reveal the reciprocal loyalty between Carter and Woola: the hound repeatedly intervenes when Carter is in danger, even after hunger and separation have taken a toll.

Appearance and Reputation

Carter describes the White apes as standing roughly ten to fifteen feet tall, with an additional pair of limbs between their upper and lower limbs. Their close-set eyes, high-set ears, and gorilla-like snouts and teeth make them physically distinct from the Green Martians, though Carter judges them less unpleasant in appearance by comparison. Their size and strength, rather than any stated social organization, define their role in the account.

The Green Martians fear the White apes. During Carter’s escape through an abandoned part of the city, he relies on that fear: he leaves his thoats in an inner courtyard, reasoning that the Green Martians avoid the outlying buildings because the apes frequent them. The animals’ reputation thus affects the movement of other characters even when no ape is present.

Encounters with Carter and Woola

In the first direct attack described, an ape pins Carter down while another approaches with a stone club. Woola charges into the room and knocks the attacker away, giving Carter the chance to get to his feet. The second ape then fights Woola, and Carter witnesses the contest without being able to intervene. Woola’s rescue turns the White ape from an anticipated immediate threat into the opponent in a struggle that places the hound’s life at risk.

The danger recurs later, after Carter has become separated from Dejah Thoris and Sola while searching for a waterway. In darkness, a large creature pins him down; he struggles to hold it away, but is close to losing before another animal suddenly attacks it. Moonlight reveals the rescuer as Woola. Carter does not know how the hound found him, and initially fears that Woola’s absence from Dejah Thoris means she has died. The reunion therefore brings relief and fresh anxiety together: Woola is alive, but his arrival raises a question about the fate of the people they left behind.

Woola’s Loyalty and the Apes’ Narrative Role

Woola’s protection of Carter is not a single exceptional act. He guards Carter throughout his captivity among the Green Martians, saves his life twice, and never willingly leaves him. The White ape attacks give this ongoing loyalty concrete stakes: the hound risks himself against creatures powerful enough to endanger Carter, first in the city and later in the wilderness.

The second rescue also makes clear that Woola has suffered during his separation from Carter. He is visibly emaciated and, after the fight, eats the dead creature because he is starving. Carter is himself weak and hungry, but cannot bring himself to eat uncooked flesh and has no means to make a fire. He resumes his search while Woola remains beside him. The White apes consequently serve as recurring wilderness threats, while the encounters also measure the cost of survival and the endurance of the bond between human and animal.