Olive Schreiner’s novel The Story of an African Farm reconsiders the themes and ideologies presented by the Victorian novelists who preceded Schreiner. Written in the late 19th Century, it presents such differences from traditional Victorian writers, like Dickens or Austen, and establishes a link to the British literature of the 1900s. Schreiner, a social activist, was able to see into the future of society, and she presents these ideas well in this novel.
Even though Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was published twenty years before The Story of an African Farm, Victorian characters rarely question religion (at least, Christianity), and a character would never have the audacity to exclaim that “There is no God” (69). This presents one of the most apparent differences between Schreiner’s novel and previous Victorian literature. She not only created a character who question’s God’s existence, but he is one who previously lives a life entirely saturated with God and even once begs Him to take his life now so he can meet Him sooner. Thus, Schreiner has introduced an Agnostic character to the Victorian audience.

     Another major difference between this novel and previous Victorian novels is this one’s treatment of people. In general, other novels have offered the idea that morality is linked to a character’s outcome. Thus, Fanny Price, who is a kind person, eventually marries the man she loves. Similarly, Esther Summerson’s story ends happily. Characters who are not so good tend to suffer the consequences, like Maria Bertram or Mary Crawford. In Part 1 of The Story of an African Farm, however, the roles seem nearly reversed. Otto is presented as a character with nearly no flaws. He is even described  as “loving, simple, [and] childlike” (63), and he is clearly selfless and full of humility as he gives away his sparse food and clothing to a woman and baby in want of those things. Despite how good his character is, though, he dies toward the beginning of the novel. The only comfort a reader has is that he has died peacefully in his sleep, but his misfortunes are unsettling, especially since his death provides Bonaparte Blenkins, the most evil character in the novel, with housing provisions, a permanent authoritative position, and numerous other provisions. Likewise, the innocent Em is punished for Lyndall’s defiance of Tant Sannie. Lyndall even goes so far as to suggest that “it is only the made-up stories that end nicely; the true ones all end [badly]” (14).  Schreiner has clearly drifted from the typical Victorian view that good deserves reward, as evil deserves punishment. Rather, she writes with more of a realistic, if not pessimistic, tone.
    One of Schreiner’s greatest  innovations comes in her creation of Lyndall. Lyndall is unlike prior leading female characters, and she even differs from her female companion, Em. When Lyndall condescendingly asks Em if she thinks “that [she] is going to stay here always” (11), Em points out that they cannot get married for at least five more years. Thus, Em’s only inclination of the possibility of leaving the farm juxtaposes a marriage proposal. Lyndall, however, declares that she will not stay on the farm that long and wait around. In other words, Lyndall is perhaps one of the first female character whose mind is not fully occupied with thoughts of a future marriage. Rather, she wants to make something of herself through knowledge and education. Though other Victorian girls are often “accomplished,” they rarely plan that “when [they] grow up,…there will be nothing that [they] do not know” (12). This aspiration shows Lyndall’s great difference from Gwendolyn Harleth, who cannot see or think beyond herself, much less beyond the only place where she has ever grown up.
    In addition to Lyndall’s plans for her future, she stands out as a character because of her defiance to authority and downright rebelliousness. To her, adults only deserve obedience when they are respectable. Thus, when Tant Sannie mistreats Otto and blasphemes repeatedly in front of the children, Lyndall ignores her demands and soon even attempts to burn down the house because she does not care that her actions are wicked. As Lyndall is wise, especially for a child, she is able to transfer her hatred of Tant Sannie’s abuse to a wider meaning in her world. Because of this, she decides that “when that day comes, and [she is] strong, [she] will hate everything that has power, and help everything that is weak” (59). This attitude brings about the beginnings of a feminist ideology and establishes Lyndall as a character who can think for herself rather than follow the tradition of being a subordinate woman.