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Nada The Lily Q2 - Characters
Mopo is the first of many characters who inhabit this story, some historical, and some not. Umslopagaas, the eponymous Nada the Lily, Galazi the Wolf Brother, Baleka, Chaka, Dingaan, and a host of others. Did any resonate with you?
Comments
The main characters all resonated with me (except the name Umblopogaas itself, which doesn't sound authentic, and a little too much like Snuffleupagus.) but I don't think there were especially deep. The women didn't have a lot of character at all, I didn't think, so that left Chaka, Umslop, Galazi, and Mopo as the most distinct. And even they mostly had one defining trait each.
Having read a few other Rider Haggard stories over the last few months I think he tries to create more roundness of character across stories rather than within them. This is (I think) because although the books aren't really intended to be read as a series in order, the same characters pop up in them at different ages and stages of their lives. So by now I feel I know rather more about Umslopagaas having "met" him in various situations.
@Apocryphal your intuition "Umslopagaas... doesn't sound authentic" is correct... whilst Um- is an authentic southern Africa prefix the rest of the name doesn't adhere to regional naming patterns. Apparently it's widely believed that Haggard based the character heavily on a Swazi prince called M’hlopekazi who he met in the 1870s.
None of the characters was particularly nuanced. The main male characters were brave and violent, with Chaka being ruthless and cruel. They did their things because of family and context rather than their own individual personalities. The women didn't do much except be either beautiful or conniving.
But, it's an adventure romp, not a character study. The characters certainly romped through adventures.