Essay on Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton

Despite the importance of the movement vocabulary, Ailey expresses that “Cry is about the dance and the dancer”. Therefore, the expression and emotion that Deborah Manning projects are equally important to facilitate the audience’s reception of the full significance of the work; The difficult time of emotional and and physical struggles for the African Americans.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is a novel based in the Southern States of America in the 1930’s and deals with the theme of Racism amongst other themes. Racism is being prejudice or discriminating against someone of a different race based on such a belief. Following on from the Civil War, America experienced ‘The Great Depression’ and it affected everyone, especially blacks. Mildred Taylor reveals examples of racism and racist behaviour throughout the novel based on her own experiences. In this essay, I will discuss what blacks were subjected to and how racism is presented in this novel.

In the 1930’s it was rare for a black South African to attend college. But Mandela not only attended, he graduated, got a degree from law school, and set up a practice in Johannesburg which he hoped could support his small family. Yet apartheid was always a humiliation to him. When the Afrikaner, or Dutch South African, Nationalists came to power in the 1948 election, the segregation habits of the past three hundred years became law. Hoping for a brighter future, Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) and became its first Youth Leader.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor shows the ways that black people dealt with injustice and racism in the South. In this novel, it is very clear how people feel about racism. You can also see the ways in which they react and deal with it. It displays how degradation, humiliation and hatred fill the gap between the white and black races.

At the beginning of the novel, Stephen Kumalo is very respectful and is a caring person that is always willing to help others. “Perhaps you might be hungry, small one” (35). Kumalo expresses his father-like figure to this young little girl because Stephen knows that the little girl has traveled a long way to deliver this letter.

Each twist and turn of the story had hints of association with the struggles of racism. From the trial in court to the discovery of the body to the flashbacks of back stories of the characters, this theme was delicately integrated. In Kabuo Miyamoto’s situation, the court was harsh on his case, and he couldn 't get himself a very good lawyer, as no one would offer to defend “the enemy”. They were quick to jump to conclusions.

The plot of Cry, the Beloved Country is relatively simple to understand. Stephen Kumalo gets a letter saying his sister is sick, she’s spiritually sick, he travels to Johannesburg, finds Gertrude who is a prostitute and bootlegging. Then he searches for his son; soon he finds out his son got a girl pregnant and killed someone. Stephen’s son is tried and sentenced to death by hanging. In the end the family of the boy killed and Stephen's family hold no ill will towards each other. On occasion the plot allows readers to make inferences to their own lives or to the lives of people they

It’s 1933, and there is a time of hardship and trouble for black people in the south. Even though black people were freed from slavery, the white people still maintain control over black people, due to the lack of jobs, education. The majority of the poor blacks living in the south are able to survive by sharecropping. This works to the advantage of white people, as they are able to maintain the illusion that they are superior. In the book, “Roll Of Thunder Hear My Cry “, the author focuses on the conflicts that arise in this struggling town. The author introduces us to the Logan’s, the only black family to own land independently , and T.J.,the son of a sharecropping family. As we follow the relationship between the Logan’s and T.J. throughout the book, we see that T.J has chosen the wrong path and begins to spiral out of control And the choices he makes affects the logans constantly . One result of his actions, ends up getting Mama , one of the Logan’s, fired which leaves less money to help pay for the land, His downward spiral continues as he begins to hang out with the Simms, who happen to be white and the town troublemakers and whose family has and had trouble with the logans . The results of his actions, cause T.J. to lose his friendship with the Logan’s entirely. The book reaches a dramatic turn when T.J. is conned into stealing a gun from the store by the Simms. The consequence ends up costing him his freedom and the Logans’ land.

Prejudice only exists because we want it to exist. Sometimes we fail to see what lies beneath the skin. In the novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor, the Logans, a black family living in the 1930’s, endure countless instances of cruel racism along with their community. The story is told from the point of view of Cassie, a naive black girl, who is only now learning the impact bigotry has on her race. She slowly discovers the horrors blacks face in Mississippi and the entire scope of the United States. Although freedom from the shackles of slavery was granted to them by means of “The Emancipation Proclamation” blacks are not truly able to experience independence as a result of the nightmen of the Ku Klux Klan. Most are nevertheless subjugated by exceedingly unfair judgment, lack of proper education and land ownership. The KKK deprive blacks of basic rights since they believe the blacks, Jews and anyone who is not a Christian Caucasian is inferior to them.

However, two vibrant changes occur as the story progresses —Coyotito, his son, getting stung by a scorpion and Kino’s discovery of the pearl—broaden Kino’s horizons and outlook on the world. As Kino begins to strive for wealth and education for his son, the simplicity of his life becomes increasingly complicated by greed, conflict, and violence. Kino’s character then falls through a gradual decline from a state of innocence to a state of corruption and disillusionment. The factors promoting this decline are ambition and greed. Thus, when going got tough for Kinoo and he had to escape town he faced a lot of hardships, since he had to go into hiding and the only immediate help he had was from his brother. This had an adverse effect on his personality as he became increasingly negative, given the way he hit his wife shows how the pearl preoccupied his mind to such a great extent that he grew indifferent to everything else as evil and restlessness eloped him. In addition to these social changes, Kinoo, after attaining the pearl was on the move to gain economic sustenance, but not being able to find the right price to sell his pearl got him feeling even more uncertain and disappointed but he continued to strive and was reluctant to give up because he wanted everything in his reach for his son, who he consequently ended up losing in the

I guess I cannot completely begin to understand what was going on in Somaly Mam's mind that she would willing work for Min and Aunty Peuve. But I guess I would have to be in her shoes to see if I would make the same decisions. However, the longer I thought about it, I began to see that Somaly Mam was not working for Min because she was trying to help him, but instead she was trying to help herself. Somaly Mam for a time at least had faith that Min's business idea might finally help her escape the grasp of the sex slave industry. While I am sad that her life was not able to take a turn for the better at that time I am ecstatic that she did not continue to live with that man who was clearly using her for monetary gain. What disgusted me even more was that Min, actually came back to Aunty Peuve's and tried to hassel Somaly Mam for money. Is it me or does it seem like

The time of the 1940’s in South Africa was defined by racial oppression of the native inhabitants of the country by the Dutch Boers, also known as the Afrikaners. These people were the demographic minority yet also the political majority. They executed almost complete control over the lives of the natives through asinine rules and harsh punishments. The highly esteemed novel Cry, the Beloved Country tells a story of Stephen Kumalo, a black priest dealing with the struggles of living in the South Africa during this time. His son killed a white man and on the day his son is to be hanged for this crime, Kumalo climbs a mountain in order to reflect on the current situation both in his family and in his country. In chapter 36 of Cry, the

Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton, is the timeless novel about South Africa in the 1940’s. As powerful white men use the land for their own benefit, the tribal system of the African natives is broken down and replaced by poverty, homelessness, fear, and violence. A black priest, Stephen Kumalo, ventures to the great city of Johannesburg in search of his lost sister and son. His journey demonstrates the unhealthy lifestyle and mutinous atmosphere of the black people; yet he is the beholder of forgiveness, love, hope, and the restoration of a country overwhelmed with problems.

South Africa felt the influence from a multitude of European nations before finally becoming a colony of England in the early nineteenth century. While the European population remained minute, they controlled a vast share of the wealth after manipulating the black population leaving most in poverty. Consequently, this system led to situations erupting into violence as the black population demanded equality in all aspects. Some of the Europeans were supportive of the black movement, but many lived in segregated areas and were blissfully ignorant of black’s conditions. Despite the violence depicted amongst the whites and blacks of South Africa, in Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton reconciliation and the spirit of unity present

The apartheid era in South Africa, uprooted the lives of many people who were forced to endure oppressive laws and inequality based on the colour of their skin. It continues to remain a painful memory to those who lost loved ones in their struggle for freedom. In Chris Van Wyk’s novel, Shirley, Goodness & Mercy (2004), he explores fond memories growing up in a township called Riverlea. This township is predominantly occupied by coloured people as a result of segregation laws. Contrary to the negative connotations that apartheid holds, Van Wyk shares the memories which enriched his life during his formation. It is against this setting that I will explore various moments in the novel that contributed to Van Wyk’s views of a pre-apartheid time in his growing up. I will establish this by discussing the given extract, and looking at how he perceived a sense of freedom with his friends, his open state of mind towards knowledge, his outlook on justice and the wrongs that were not evident in his growing up. I will also discuss how it relates to the whole novel.