In the Shadow of Man

“For more than ten minutes David Greybeard and Goliath sat grooming each other, and then, just before the sun vanished over the horizon behind me, David got up and stood staring at me. And it so happened that my elongated evening shadow fell across him […] Later it acquired an almost allegorical significance, for of all living creatures today, only man, with his superior brain, his superior intellect, overshadows the chimpanzee. Only man casts his shadow of doom over the freedom of the chimpanzees in the forests with his guns and his spreading settlements and cultivation.”

Goodall recalls a poignant moment she experienced while observing two male chimps close-up for the first time. This experience was memorable for her because it marked the end of many frustrating and unsuccessful attempts to watch the chimps at Gombe. She uses the image of the chimp standing in her long shadow to illustrate how humans, despite being more closely related to chimps than to other animals, are often a threat to their existence. Our “shadow” not only exists in our perception and understanding of chimps but also poses a real threat to their habitats and physical safety, prompting Goodall to refer to it as a “shadow of doom.” This quotation explains the book’s title and introduces Goodall’s concern about humans’ relationship with nature and chimps.

“I remember feeling neither excitement nor trepidation but only a curious sense of detachment. What had I, the girl standing on the government launch in her jeans, to do with the girl who in a few days would be searching those very mountains for wild chimpanzees? Yet by the time I went to sleep that night the transformation had taken place.”

Goodall describes seeing Gombe National Park for the first time. By referring to herself as a “girl” and acknowledging her lack of experience as a researcher, Goodall emphasizes her youth and inexperience. However, she juxtaposes this reality with her stoic demeanor. Goodall’s “transformation” hints at how, despite her inexperience, she rose to the challenge and paints her in a sympathetic light, as a kind of underdog figure with a challenging mission.