Student Question
What are Lyndall's views on religion in The Story of an African Farm?
Quick answer:
Lyndall in Olive Schreiner's The Story of an African Farm is portrayed as a freethinker who is largely indifferent to Christianity and traditional religion. Unlike Waldo, who experiences a spiritual crisis, Lyndall is more concerned with challenging gender roles and societal restrictions of the 1860s. Her focus is on personal freedom and independence rather than religious faith, reflecting her progressive views on life and society.
In Olive Schreiner's The Story of an African Farm, Lyndall starts off as an orphan living on the farm that once belonged to her father but is now owned by her stepmother, Tant Sannie.
Throughout the course of the book we see Waldo go through an immense struggle with religion, starting out with great faith in Christianity, then going on to have a spiritual crisis that leads to him to doubt the existence of God. Lyndall, on the other hand, doesn't care much about Christianity or "traditional" religion and is more of a freethinker. As a woman living in the 1860s, she is much more focused on breaking free from traditional gender roles and other restrictions. She is sent to finishing school and comes back determined to live her life free from societal confines.
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