IRP #4 Matt Lemanski

[Matt]

Section 1

This story is set in South Africa in the late nineteenth century when South Africa was still ruled by the British. Treasure seeker George Curtis sets off alone to try and find the famed riches of the mythical diamond mines of King Solomon. He never returns, and Sir Henry Curtis, George’s brother, forms a rescue party of Elephant hunter Allan Quatermain and Dr. John Good, as well as a number of native African servants, including the mysterious Umbopa. The group follows a copy of the treasure map that was used by the missing George to try and track him down. The party crosses a vast desert, frigid alpine mountain ranges, and combat severe thirst.
Finally, they reach the other side of the wasteland and discover a virtual paradise full of food and water and inhabited by a strange native tribe that has never seen white men before. Sir Henry and his party make peace with this tribe by claiming to be travelers from the stars. Characteristics such as Good’s eyeglass and dentures and the party’s rifles convince the natives of this, and Sir Henry’s party was treated as royalty in the city, and greeted by the tribe’s army that numbers thousands.
All seems to go well goes well until these “travelers from the stars” begin to conflict with the seemingly arcane and brutal traditions of the tribe that they view as perfectly normal, such as human sacrifice. Trouble begins to brew, and two factions seem to be forming; those that side with the king, and those who side with the white travelers.
The situation continues to fall into a downward spiral with the appearance of a man claiming to be the rightful heir to the throne who is also supported by the travelers, who plans to overthrow the king. The nation approaches the brink of unavoidable war, Sir Henry’s brother is yet missing, and he and the rest of his party wonder if they will make it out of this ordeal alive.

Section 2
I really enjoyed this book. The past several books that I have done my report on have been about more modern issues, so I thought that this time I would go with more of a classic, but at the same time read a book that was still enjoyable and exciting. King Solomon’s Mines has the perfect balance of good classic flavor and vocabulary that is found in older books, yet it still possessed all of the excitement, and then some, of any book that can be found now. It is a little different from most books that I read, but it is still action centered, as most books that I read are.

Section 3
The big idea phrase that I chose for this book is overcoming adversity. Throughout this book, the characters had to face incredibly long odds to survive.*****As a caution for the reader, reading on from this point will give spoilers.*****
Even from the very beginning of their journey, the men faced incredible odds. When they were crossing the desert they came within hours of dying from starvation or thirst multiple times. The author writes from the perspective of Allan Quatermain “With the moon we marched again, feeling dreadfully exhausted from the tortures of thirst...We no longer walked, we staggered, falling from exhaustion, lacking the energy even to speak” (Haggard 38). They also faced extreme cold and hunger as they crossed the mountain range that laid beyond the desert. The author writes of their predicament “If we don’t find it (food) before dark, we are dead men” (Haggard 45). They had to overcome the adversity of being in a strange land, and artfully crafted the lie of being travellers from the stars so that they would be safe among the hostile natives, explaining their rifles and revolvers as “magic tubes that kill only with sound” so that the natives would be convinced that the men could do magic and has superhuman powers.
Further, when war finally did break out, the three men came saved the rightful heir to the throne from death and led his forces in the war to take the throne back from the illegitimate king. Against very long odds and much adversity, the three white men used their intelligence, strategy, and weapons to help the rightful heir defeat the king. Sir Henry himself fought on the front lines of the battle and even slew the evil king himself.
Once the battle was one, the men proceeded on their initial journey; trying to find Sir Henry’s brother. They were guided by a very very old woman, as only she knew where the secret treasure of King Solomon was hidden. The men proceeded onto the bowels of a mountain and finally reached the treasure room. As they were admiring the diamonds, gold, and ivory, the old woman snuck out of the mountain and closed the stone door, trapping the men inside. They had no food or water and were doomed to die inside of a mountain. But they overcame even this most extreme adversity, as they discovered a secret passage out of the treasure room, and found their way to safety and back to the city. On their way back across the desert, they discovered an amazing desert oasis, and living there was none other than George, Sir Henry’s lost brother, alive and well. That is some pretty crazy adversity if I ever heard any!
The men eventually made their way back to civilization, vowing to never again visit the place that so nearly claimed their lives. Thanks to the ample supply of diamonds taken from the treasure room by Allan Quatermain, the three men, as well as George, were able to live out their lives in comfort, but forever wary of what the want of money can do to a man, and all the wiser because of their incredible journey.