Shoz Dijiji

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Shoz Dijiji is the hero from two books by Edgar Rice Burroughs . The story from the pen of the Tarzan inventor, which is well-known in America , first tried to paint a realistic picture of the Apaches . For these two novels, Burroughs, who was stationed in "Fort Grant" in Arizona in 1896 as a member of the 7th US Cavalry , very close to the locations of the plot, could from veterans who had still participated in the Apache Wars, news from first Process by hand. Both novels first appeared in sequels in All-Story magazine .

In his two Apache books, Burroughs devised the life story of an orphan boy named Andy, whose parents were murdered by the Indians, on the basis of a source study that was quite unusual for him. The Apaches from the Chiricahua tribe kidnap the boy and later take him into their gang. There the boy, whom they call Shoz Dijiji, which means something like "Black Bear", is soon characterized by courage and skill, so that he even outdoes the Indians in this. Andy, a quarter of whose mother was a Cherokee Indian, succeeds in becoming war chief. Since he no longer knows his true origins, he hates the whites to the death, especially after his great love, the Indian girl Ish-kay-nay, perished in a skirmish. He becomes a merciless warrior, deeply embittered and full of vengeance. Nevertheless, he refuses to wage war against the helpless as well as women and children. Apparently without emotion, he kills all white men who stand in his way. Even when his friend Geronimo holds up his arms and surrenders to the American soldiers, Shoz Dijiji decides to continue the fight. Only after he has freed a white woman named Wichita Billings from the hands of the unscrupulous Indian trader Dirty Cheetim does he begin to rediscover human feelings within himself. Without admitting it to himself, he feels drawn to this white woman. This, however, feels only contempt for the supposed Indian. However, the more she gets to know him, the more she begins to appreciate and love him. When Shoz Dijiji discovers his true origin, he is horrified at first, but then gradually comes to terms with this situation. He continues to hide his origins from Wichita Billings, even after he has finally accepted her. However, he wants this woman to love him as an Indian too. Only when she has accepted him as such does he marry her. Even after that, he does not reveal his true parentage to her.

The action takes place in the 70s and 80s of the 19th century, against the background of the fighting between the Apache chiefs Cochise and Geronimo against the US army. Burroughs does not shy away from portraying the Apaches as people of equal value to the whites. Without sparing one side, he describes the atrocities of both the Indians and the whites. In none of his other works is Burroughs as realistic as in his two Apache novels.

The books about Shoz Dijiji are not yet available in German.

bibliography

  • 1 The War Chief (5 parts in: Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 16, 1927  ff.)
  • 2 The Apache Devil (6 parts in: Argosy All-Story Weekly, May 19, 1928  ff .; also: Apache Devil , 1933)

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