 Haggard's use of the first person subjective perspective also contrasts with the omniscient third-person viewpoint then in vogue among influential writers such as Anthony Trollope, Thomas Hardy, and George Eliot.The book has scholarly value for the colonialist attitudes that Haggard expresses, and for the way that he portrays the relationships between the white and African characters.Haggard portrays some African characters as barbarians, such as Twala and Gagool, but their barbarity has more to do with their roles as antagonists in the story than with their African heritage.