"Natural selection conceived of as a struggle for life in which only those organisms best adapted to existing conditions are able to survive and reproduce" (Dictionary.com). In the classic adventure King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard, death and survival were one of the most common happenings of the book. The idea of survival of the fittest occurred non-stop throughout the books entirety. While survival of the fittest favors the strong, sometimes the not so noble survived or the weakest survived. The idea of survival helps make a great action story for in order to survive, adventures and daring actions usual occur in harsh situations. The idea of survival of the fittest plays a large role in the book because of the elephant hunting scene, the witch-hunts, and the escape from the treasure room.
             One reason why the idea of survival of the fittest plays a large role in the book is because of the elephant-hunting scene. A young Zulu boy named Khiva was violently ripped apart by an elephant attacking Sir Henry. While Sir Henry was running away from the charging beast, he fell and was rescued when Khiva through a spear right into the elephant. As you may imagine, a weak little spear is nothing against a raging elephant. The elephant then attacked the brave Zulu. "With a scream of pain the brute seized the poor Zulu, hurled him to the earth, and placing his huge foot on to his body about the middle, twined his trunk round his upper part and tore him in two"(56). This proves how weak and feeble the young Zulu was up against the brute. In this case, the winner was not the noblest for the elephant could not really be called noble when it is only an animal but giving the fact that the elephant was giving characteristics of the actions of what a human may imagine, it is far to call the elephant not noble. Who would not think that in reality, an elephant would just run past or over the Zulu boy and not ...