##flected The End Of Inequality And Segregation In Post-Apartheid South Africa And Disgrace As A Novel Analysis

    Many debates have been sparked by Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country.  Even the essence of the book's title examines South Africa and declares the presence of the inner conflict of its citizens. The importance and meaning of the title of Cry, the Beloved Country is visible in Paton's efforts to link the reader to forthcoming ideas in the novel, Paton's description of South Africa's problems, and Paton's prayer for the solution of South Africa's difficulties with race and racial oppression.

During the period of Apartheid in South Africa between 1948 and 1994 the reactions of the South African citizens towards the legal separation of races varied depending on race, ideals and time period. After gold and diamonds were fud inSouthAfrica both the dutch and British wanted the land to themselves, leading to the Boer War from which the Dutch farmers emerged victorious. Following the Boer War and the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the Dutch Boers gained control over the majority of the land in the previously British Cape Colony along with the settlements they had already built, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Blacks in South Africa made up about eighty percent of the population but only lived on ten percent of

Blacks shared the pain of Apartheid in one of the darkest periods in history. Blacks were horribly oppressed by tyrants who obliterated their happy, healthy lives for nothing more then their own interests. Many Laws were passed that restricted blacks from the freedoms that all people should rightfully obtain from birth. White South Africans took the black population by the throat, making it hard for blacks to live as happy people. Black South Africans were held in a form of imprisonment and could do little to fight back, causing Apartheid to be one of the darkest periods in black history.

The avowal that the apartheid ‘vision for democracy’ necessitated state terror and repression is evident when examining the South African apartheid system between 1960 -1994. The system of apartheid spiked significant internal resistance, hence, the ideology for apartheid stems from the creation of a white state surrounded by economically interdependent and politically dependent black states, which required state terror and repression to ensure mounting resistance and international condemnation did not abolish the apartheid system. The government responded to a series of popular uprisings and protests with police brutality, which increased support for armed resistance. Detentions were set without trial, torture, censorship and the outlawing of political oppositional organizations such as The African National Congress, the Black Conscious Movement, the Azanian Peoples Organisation, The Pan Africanist Congress and the United Democratic Front, were all a result of the apartheid government due to political resistance.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries lynching and racial segregation were terrible problems. Mob violence killed black men, women and children indiscriminately, often for crimes they had no part in or that were not even committed. Ida B. Wells-Barnett was born a slave, to James and Elizabeth Wells during the Civil War. She attended Rust College, which was partly founded by her father in Mississippi. After Wells’ parents died to yellow fever she attained a teaching position at a local school by lying about her age. After some time teaching she moved to Memphis with two of her sisters, where she acquired another teaching position and continued her schooling at Fisk University. While her professional life was moderately successful, her personal life was dismal, however, “it is the very qualities that problematize her personal relationships… that will impel her to undertake… a courageous crusade against lynching” (DeCosta-Willis). Being a freed black woman in the south, Wells had firsthand knowledge of the segregation and racial tension of the time. This knowledge and her experiences gave her insights about the South that were crucial in her successful crusade against lynching and segregation.

As usual, Martin’s chapter explains a movement or in this case a protest. In this case it is the drive for divestment of funds in companies that had ties or business in South Africa. Troy’s chapter focuses on Wall Street and the excesses of the 1980s.

In 1948-1949, European and South African societies had a clear difference in opinion based on old traditional values, religion, and race. Alan Paton’s theme in Cry, the Beloved Country is how European and African societies of this time period should evolve from the stand-still position they both stand for. In Arthur Jarvis’s letters he uses diction to describe the state of the South African society, pattern and repetition to emphasize the redundancy of the acts that the societies continue to commit that proves the stalling of evolution. Literary devices like these give Jarvis’s passages and Paton’s work as a whole a deeper understanding and comprehension due to different layers of analysis throughout the

In South Africa, the plight of apartheid tore apart communities, families, and individuals. It was a social concern that came under increasing attack and response as apartheid reached its zenith in the middle of the 20th century. It was not unlike segregation and the Jim Crow mentality that prevailed in the United States; with its ancient roots and adverse effects. Indeed, one is curiously reminded of Harper Lee’s well known novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, and its role in trying to formulate an escape from that system. An escape with various routes, but an escape that interestingly calls back to the nature of innocence and child-like questions. It is in this way that Alan Paton’s enduring novel, Cry, The Beloved Country, takes on a unique and refreshing approach to a basic question: that of the equality and dignity of all people. Throughout Cry, The Beloved Country, Paton exudes frequent references to childhood, a devout religiosity, and of course, a return to simple questions; all of which contribute the idea of innocence and a certain naiveté that contribute significantly to Paton’s message.

In the seventeenth century, South Africa was colonized by Dutch and British imperialists. In response to British domination, Dutch settlers made two colonies: The Republic of the Orange Free State and Transvaal. Dutch descendants became known as “Afrikaners” or “Boers.” In the early 1900s, Boers discovered diamonds on their land. This led to a Britain invasion and sparked the Second Boer War, which lasted three years. This was the first modern war to see concentration camps; they were used successfully to break the will of Afrikaner guerilla forces by detaining their families. British forces won the war, converting the two Boer states into colonies who were promised limited self-governance. Post-Boer War, the

Throughout our existence as a human race, we have each left an everlasting mark on each other that has affected the mental state of every ethnicity and nation. Many times these marks have come to define the very way in which we view our selves in the world society. This is clearly seen in South Africa before, during, and after the apartheid. There we see a group of people who, despite being native to the land, are constantly oppressed by the by a foreign force being the Europeans. In the novel, Cry, The Beloved Country, Alan Paton depicts a stressed South Africa where its people are bent into accepting their place under the rule of their white oppressors. The story revolves primarily around Stephen Kumalo, a priest in a small South African

Arthur, Napoleon, and Msimangu, all characters from Alan Paton’s book, Cry, The Beloved Country, are used to share Paton’s points of view on the future of South Africa and the apartheid. Paton uses these characters to represent specific views; Arthur expresses clearly that the apartheid isn’t the right way to progress as a country, Napoleon exemplifies how Paton thinks people should take the anti-apartheid effort, and Msimangu explicitly expresses Paton’s ideas of an ideal leader.

It all began in 1948 when an all-white government called the National Party gained power in South Africa. It was the birth of apartheid — a political and economic separation of people (Kedari 2013). The National Party institutionalized racial discrimination for nearly fifty years. Under President Nelson Mandela, apartheid was brought to an end by the African National Congress in 1994. In the novel Disgrace, author J.M. Coetzee focuses on the early moments in the disempowerment of South Africa’s white people. Protagonist David Lurie is a middle-aged white man that lives in the city of Cape Town. He is a professor at Cape Technical University formerly known as Cape Town University College (Raj). Married twice and divorced twice, David’s personality raises questions about his relationships with the women in his life. He is not ashamed to solicit prostitutes, and has an inappropriate relationship with one of his black students, a girl named Melanie.

The 1948 election in South Africa saw the National Party victorious, as well as the birth of the system of apartheid. Apartheid was a government establishment which involved strict racial segregation as well as an ideology of white supremacy. For nearly fifty years this systematic oppression would haunt the lives of the already struggling black majority within South Africa. Since the year of apartheids establishment white South Africans had extreme concern for both the preservation and acceptance of the governing body world wide. As other authoritarian actors, such as Great Britain, began to lose or give up imperialistic powers in the world the South African government created laws, such as the Pass Laws, which instituted mandatory “pass books” for all black South Africans over the age of sixteen. This was in hopes that the ruling party would be able to keep black South Africans from migrating into cities with a white majority, and could monitor the flow of persons from one native land to another. The Sabotage Act was also introduced, which prevented the press from printing any material which could incite civil disobedience or covered the violence which occurred almost daily as the races clashed over inequalities. With these laws in place the white government was able to stretch its power over all media sources and prevent the crimes committed against humanity to be seen by the outside world. In spite of this, autobiographies such as Mark Mathabane’s Kaffir Boy, were

Unfortunately, racism is still an exceedingly prominent trouble in today’s day and age. Due to the severity of the problem, racism has become even harder to quell. It is difficult for a group of people to make a difference, let alone a single person. Throughout the book Cry the Beloved Country, Alan Paton depicts two characters specifically who are working to bring an end to racism and cultural stigmatization. Alan Paton has created characters such as Msimangu, a South African mission priest, and Arthur Jarvis, an advocate for social reformation, to be seen as agents of restorative justice in South Africa.

The effects of apartheid have long outlived the days of its existence and there seems to be no sign at this point of South Africa completely moving past it. There is, however, always hope, and solutions are much sought after. In August 2011, former Archbishop Desmond Tutu1 announced his suggestion to rectify the wrongs of the past by implementing laws that require all white citizens to pay a special tax. This would serve as reparation to symbolically account for the benefits that white people as a whole acquired as a result of the apartheid regime. My stance on the matter is that the apartheid laws were rules disadvantaging members of a certain race, and this act which violated human equality and dignity was deeply frowned upon. This suggestion by Desmond Tutu is essentially trying to seek revenge by enforcing rules on the beneficiaries of the past laws that disadvantage them based solely on their race. One instance cannot be described as horrific, while the same thing forced onto a different race is seen as justified. This ideal of reconciliation in South Africa will further be discussed by referring to the views expressed in ‘Transformative Constitutionalism’2 and ‘Transformative Adjudication.’3 The Constitution of South Africa4 will also be explored, with the intent of determining whether the perspective of Archbishop Desmond Tutu is justified.