King Solomon's
Mines
By H. Rider haggard
Published: 1885
Biography
 He was born 22 June 1856 in Norfolk, Henry Rider Haggard
was the son of William Meybohm Rider Haggard and Ella
Doveton Haggard.
 His schooling included education at home by private tutors
and some time at Ipswich Grammar School.
 At age nineteen Haggard left England to join the staff of Sir
Henry Bulwer, lieutenant governor of Natal, South Africa.
 When English policy on South Africa changed, Haggard
returned to England.
Biography
 H. Rider Haggard is best remembered by general readers
of fantasy for his fourth and fifth books, King Solomon's
Mines (1885) and She: A History of Adventure (1886)
Biography
 Haggard these works were just the start of his profitable
thirty-nine-year writing career, which includes his
development of further adventures for the main
characters of King Solomon's Mines and She
 Influenced by the writings of Robert Louis Stevenson
and Olive Schreiner , Haggard
Biography
 In 1912 he was knighted.
 He died on 14 May 1925.
 His autobiography, The Days of My Life, was published in
1926.
Setting
 The story starts outs and ends in the hills of Durban,
South Africa.
 They travel across Africa and in to a desert where they
almost die
 Then into frigid mountains called Sheba's breasts
 Finally into what is known as kukuanaland
 A lush oasis in between two mountain ranges.
Main characters
 Allan Quatermain: he is the "map" in the quest for the long lost
brother of Sir Henry Curtis. He is an English explorer and
sportsman. He discovers the treasure.
 Sir Henry Curtis: friend and companion of Quatermain. His brother
is lost.
 Captain John Good: retired navy officer. friend on the expedition
 George Neville: Sir Curtis's brother. He is lost and hurt in search of
King Solomon's mines
 Umbopa: a native who they take along on the expedition. He is well
spoken and formal. He turns out to be a Ignosi, the long lost king of
Kukuanas.
Main characters
 Twala: is the king of kukuwanaland when quatermain
and the others arive
 He is a very bad man and his son twice as bad
 Gagool: Twala’s witch doctorvery evil and ends up being
crushed by her own “magic” stone.
Plot summary
 Sir Henry Curtis requests for Allan Quatermain and Captain
John Good to accompany him on an expedition in search of
his brother, George Neville, who had been missing.
 He was last seen heading north in search of the fabled King
Solomon's Mines which were full of treasures and jewels.
 The three of them along with Umbopa and several servants
head out on a journey accross the desert that was long and
hard.

Dying of thirst, they reach a mountain range called Suliman
Berg (or sheba’s breast).
Plot summary
 They enter a cave in the peak of the mountaiin and they
find the frozen corpse Jose Silvestra, the 16th century
Portugese explorer who drew the map of King
Solomon's mines in his own blood.
 They lose one of their servants and they buried him next
to the body of Silvestra to give him a companion..
Plot summary
THE QUEST CONTINUES
Plot summary
 What's left of the crew enter a valley known as
Kukuanaland. Not long after they enter this beautiful
green valley, they come accross the Kukuana warriors.
 They are prepared to kill the crew when Captain Good
fidgets with his false teeth making the warriors cringe
with fear.
 They are required to prove that they are "white men
from the stars" and that they have divine power.

Plot summary
 They are then brought before King Twala who is a violent
ruthless ruler and leader.
 He earned his power by murdering his brother and chasing his
brother's wife and child, Ignosi into the desert to die.
 The king's advisor is a woman named Gagool who is required
to murder anyone who shows defiance to the king.

She senses a secret in Umbopa which was a secret soon
revealed that he is the long lost king of Kukuanaland.
Plot summary
 A great rebellion broke out after several chiefs swear
their allegiance to ignosi the born king of
kukuwanaland.
 Ignosi takes power and forces Gagool to show
Quatermain and the others the giant stash of diamonds.
 They are able to escape with only a few diamonds and
are able to return to England.
 On the way back they find Sir Henry Curtis’ lost brother.
Literary Elements
 The story predominantly occurs in 1st person, told by Allan
Quartermain
 The 1st person narrative is told in a fairly straight forward way,
creating a sense of honest recollection of the story
 The book consists of mostly descriptive language, however dialog is
very simple and commonplace language, giving a feeling of realism,
 The entire story rests in a adventure for finding “sir Henry Curtis’s
brother.”
 And a sense of wealth through hardships is forged in the end when
they find a number of diamonds, ivory and other valuable treasures
and escape to live comfortable lives.
Quotes
 The almighty gave us our lives, and I suppose he meant
us to defend them, at least I’ve always done that, and I
hope it will not be brought up against me when my clock
strikes.- Allen Quartermain
 This quote is stated right in the beginning of the book.
 Allen Quartermain is explaining his reasoning for his
defense of his life, while establishing that he is not cruel
enough to take one unless his own is threatened.
Quotes
 “…in the end you begin to accept it all … you watch
thing hunting and being hunted, reproducing, killing,
and dying, its all endless and pointless, except in the end
one small pattern emerges from it all, the only certainty
the: one is born, one lives for a time then dies, that is
all…”
 The author is beginning to realize about what he sees at
the time as a cycle of life, and that all men die and the
only things that are certain is birth and death.
Quotes
 “surely” thought I, ”he is not going to try and shave”
 This I one of the jokes in the book. Captian Good is
O.C.D. for being clean. so in this quote Quartermain is
making fun of Good.
Critical analysis
 Luke
 Overall the book was great:
1. The book had decent passage structure

Haggard's way of explaining the thrill events surpasses
any other books I have read.
2. The event kept you on the edge of you seat

Constant foreshadowing and allusions kept you guessing.
3. I would in a heart beat suggest this book to any one I
pass.
Critical analysis
 Taylor thinks this book was great.
Really great!
 Mario thinks Taylor Ross thinks this
book was great too. Really great!
Critical analysis
 Taylor also thought that the book was very descriptive
and had a lot of detail. It was very interesting. The
adventure kept you locked to the pages of the book.
When I got to the third or fourth chapter, I couldn’t book
the book down.. (not really) but it was still really good.
:D Good job author…
Critical analysis
 Joe
 The book in my opinion, stands as an interesting,
however different piece of literature, however it was very
descriptive, however much of the words were used in
descript, not dialogue, however the books was still
exceptional. 
Works cited
 Mla for king solomons mines