Essay on The Tower of The Elephant By Robert E Howard

The Tower of The Elephant is a story by Robert E Howard. In the story a young Conan is in the city of the thieves in Zamora and finds out about the Elephant Tower of the Jewels and Yara, and he goes out to spy on the tower. In the process he finds another thief. They decide team up and try to gain access to the tower. Throughout the story we see Robert E Howard making Conan a traditional hero who is a swordsman. He is an exceptional thief who does things which other thieves of Zamora, or even the kings are afraid to do. Robert E Howard in The Tower of The Elephant argues that Canon is as a gray wolf among mangy rats of the gutters; Howard develops an exceptional heroic character in the story.

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Firstly, we see Conan as a hero because of how he does what Zamora thieves have not been able to do. The Kothian tells Canon that; there are more bold thieves in Zamora than anywhere else. If any mortal man would be able to steal the gems, then it would have been flinched a long time ago. The Kothian futher tells Conan, that if he climbed the wall, he would wish to climb back. He also warns him that there are no human guards in that garden for good reasons. Conan, also believed that if one passed though the gardens, one could be able to get to the upper tower, then to the gem. The Kothian dismissed him and asked him if he was calling them cowards in their business. Conan believed that with courage, there is a way. Afterwards an argument ensues and candles are knocked over, and when the candles are lit, Conan the barbarian is gone. In view of the above, different conversations show how Conan is a hero. Firstly he kills the Kothian with a lot of swiftness, then with courage he thinks of how he may go to the demon haunted towers in search of treasure across the Plains of death.

Also, just like heroes, his physical appearance tends to be heroic and that of a strong fearless person. He is described by Robert as a person with a physique of the ancient swordsmen heroes. Conan has broad and heavy shoulders, heavy arms, massive chest, powerful frame and a lean waist. In chapter two, we see Canon walk at night naked, except for his sandals and loin cloth. Who would dare walk in the dark cold night naked not afraid of the cold, or without the need to hide or even keep warm. This description of his character shows boldness and gives an aura of lack of fear from the protagonist giving the readers more feel to his heroism.

In the same note, we see Canon is a hero because he goes to places which are not visited by many of the Zamoras. He enters a part of the city which is reserved for the temples. As he explores these places, he is not bothered by the gods of the Zamoras. He knows about these gods and he feels like the essence of the religion is lost because of all the intricate and complex rituals and formulas. These thoughts which he has, shows a hero who is not afraid to go against the gods of civilized people and find out what lies on the other side. He is a hero because he goes to the unknown without fear despite having the knowledge about the dangers involved, and he is not afraid to challenge the existing knowledge in regards to the same.

Conan is a hero because he amongst many men, he gathers the courage to cross a place where no one dares to cross. Howard says that No watchman passed, for even the thieves of mules shunned the temples where strange dooms had been known for violators. He does so without much thought, like it is such an easy thing for him to do. He is an adventurous hero, because as he continues with his journey, his thoughts reveal more about his heroic moves. Despite knowing about that the elephant is a monstrous animal, he goes ahead with his plan of going to the tower. The fact that there is a monster or possibility of a monster in the tower, does not seem to shake him one bit. He even recalls a Shemite swearing to him that he had seen such elephants in the land of Hyrkanians. Even as he hesitated at the thought of the strange perils he could encounter inside, he still went ahead and climbed the wall and went to the tower. His character is unrelenting and as we see he stops at nothing.

When he makes it to the tower, we see his heroic deeds when he comes face to face with lions and he is at ease as he uses the lotus flower to kill the lions. On the other hand he has his sword, he is ready to fight with lions in our wildest thoughts only heroes would also dare fight lions as Turus runs hastily to the wall. Additionally, when another lion creeps at them he slices it into two. Howard describes Canons moves as very swift, that no civilized man would have been as swift as Canon had done as described by Howard. When they eventually makes it to the tower, he is able to fight the monster spider and defeat it. He has his sword in his hands, and he is ready to deal with the next monster, the person with an elephant head. Despite his body being stiff, he still holds his sword in his hands ready to fight ack. Generally, we see Conan being a hero throughout the story as he deals with monsters with a sword.

In Canons heroic moves, Howard seems to convince the reader, how impressive the actions of Conan were. He goes to steal something which does not seem like a big deal, but to everyone around, it seems like a really big deal. The tower has a precious gem, which is placed in the middle of the city of thieves and no one has gone to steal it. Canon is perhaps a little careless, but he is pretty confident and has the abilities to survive in bad situations. Therefore, Howard describes Canon as a hero in every chapter starting from his physique to his swiftness in getting out of dangerous situations.

Additionally, Conans fighting skills seem to be very heroic, the only creatures which come close to killing him are those operating at a more instinctual level compared to him. Therefore, this puts him at a different level to other beings because his actions are more heroic. He is outclassed by Taurus, when he meets him at the tower, but he becomes his hero, when he slays the lion, impressing Taurus and saves his life.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, Conan is one of the greatest fictional heroes to be created by Howards, as he is a swordsman facing powerful sorcerers, ruthless armies of thieves and deadly creatures. He is one great fictional hero who across the Hyborian age lands. At the end he is a hero because he tries to save Taurus life, and he is also a hero to Yag- Kasha because he finally gives him justice and saves him from the suffering he went through under Yara for many years. Arguably, he also saves his kingdom from the hands of the monster. Therefore, Canon is ultimately a hero. He forgets what he came to the tower to do because he eventually chose to help Yag Kisha, but he definitely progresses morally as a person, because he eventually learns about monsters who were seen as gods by the Zamora people.

Works cited

Howard, Robert E. The Tower of the Elephant. Read Books Ltd, 2015.