Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton In the novel, “Cry, the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton, it follows the narratives of Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis as they struggle to keep their families together and deal with the loss of their sons. During the story, Stephen Kumalo shows the readers his country through his eyes as he travels to Johannesburg to save his sister, Gertrude. As he finds Gertrude, he comes to know that his son, Absalom, has been caught up in criminal activities during his
In Alan Paton’s novel “Cry, the Beloved Country”, the theme of corruption is present in multiple facets. At the beginning of the novel we learn that Kumalo’s village has been negatively affected by members leaving in order to experience life in the big city of Johannesburg. While in the city, Kumalo’s son is corrupted by the economic system which is stacked against the black community and ends up committing murder. Finally, after Kumalo returns to his village after his long journey, he encounters
Family in Cry, the Beloved Country One cannot run from hardships, for they occur every day, appear suddenly, and can quickly consume hope. Instead one must face these difficulties and overcome them. However, to rise above obstacles alone would only cause further misery and despair. The struggler’s family should rally behind him to comfort and assist him in his time of need. In Cry, the Beloved Country, a 1948 contemporary novel, Alan Paton uses parallelism to emphasize the importance of family
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton is a stunning and all too accurate depiction of apartheid in South Africa. Even though the novel centers on John Kumalo and his struggling family, it subtly shows the social going ons of South Africa supposedly in 1948, when the book was written. Strong examples of this come across in the choral chapters of the novel. These chapters give voice to the people of South Africa. Chapter nine shows the struggles of being black during apartheid, chapter 12 shows the
In Cry, the beloved country, Alan Paton tells the story of his journey across Africa, his experiences with the colonized Africa, and the destruction of the beautiful, pre-colonialism native land of Africa. Heart of Darkness also tells the story of a man and his experiences with colonialism, but a man who comes from a different time period and a very different background than Alan Paton’s Stephen Kumalo. Although, both Joseph Conrad and Alan Paton portray the colonized areas as very negative, death
Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country takes place during the late 1940’s in Southern Africa. Specifically, in High Place, Ndotsheni, and Johannesburg. It takes place during a time of social change. There is racial inequality taking place during the late 1940’s. The novel shows what it was like to be living during this time. Cry, the Beloved Country has an urban and crowded feeling for most of the novel. This novel is written in past-tense, third-person omniscient point of view. Occasionally, the
Stalin’s brutal reign over Russia, and most significantly, the Nazi party. Fear has constantly been shown to possess and control people to engender dire consequences, much like it does in Alan Paton’s novel Cry, the Beloved Country. In his novel, Paton examines the negative impacts of fear, namely prejudice and corruption. Set in South Africa, the main character, reverend Stephen Kumalo, observes the stark contrast between his poor village and the cosmopolitan city of Johannesburg. Throughout the story
and turmoil of whites and blacks filled South Africa. A major theme that Alan Paton develops throughout the novel, Cry, the Beloved Country is the importance of acting with kindness. The author promotes the idea that kindness is a part of the solution to the problems in South Africa. Being able to be kind helps people understand one another which can help bring reform and hope to the small community of Ndotcheni. Alan Paton through the novel teaches the idea of love thy brother as yourself, as Christ
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