Teachers using this book will find material to study for discussion of religion, racism, and colonization.

The first overt reference to religion in this novel is made when Guardian is taking the injured Mark to the doctor. When Olwen asks what she can do for Mark, Guardian tells her, "Pray." On his return, Olwen admits she could not pray, she was so angry. "It is all right," Guardian tells her. "He will understand." Whether Guardian means that God will understand, or Mark will, is unspecified. English is a satisfactorily vague language to use at this point of the story. It would be worthwhile to compare this scene with that in the French translation of the Isis trilogy of novels (being translated by the Canadian novelist Jean-Louis Trudel for publication in 2002).

Aside from the one-time use of "lord!"