The Meaning of the Title, Cry, the Beloved Country Essay

“Love and Honour and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice”, focuses on the relationship between the protagonist, who is referred to as ‘Child’, and his father, referred to as ‘Ba’. The opening story follows the protagonist as he is struggling to overcome writers block, whilst dealing with his estranged Vietnamese father who is visiting. A number of flashbacks are used as a literary device to divulge into the protagonists past with his father as well as the fathers past. This reveals, not only an abusive past with his father, but also his father’s memories of the Vietnam war. It becomes clear that the son makes excuses for his father, with his girlfriend Linda also noting this, “I think you’re making excuses for him…You’re romanticising his past to make sense of the things you said he did to you” (pp.20). The protagonist reflects this himself, making the excuse that “he was a soldier” (pp.13), and that is why his father treated him as he did. The protagonist, despite once being able to admit to Linda that his father abused him, can no longer admit this, as his relationship with his father grows, and it can be argued that he is willing to overlook his past in an attempt to reconcile with his father. “It was too much these words, and what connected to them” (pp.13).

Stick to the basic script, right? Or maybe, instead of sticking to it, veering off the main script is able to strengthen the piece of writing as a whole. It can breathe fresh air into a work and give it that extra boost that satisfies every writer’s goal of leaving an impact on their reader. Cry, the Beloved Country does this through its intercalary chapters by giving Paton a chance to try out different writing conventions not seen in the rest of the book, setting a space for Paton to really go full throttle in writing directly about an issue or idea, and building a deeper relationship between the reader and setting of the novel. From the outside, this book can look incredibly simple, and in some ways it is – a short novel with simple language and a simple message about the pitfalls of discrimination. But take a moment to look under the surface, and things like the intercalary chapters begin to jump out. There is something more there to this book, and there is meaning buried throughout. The intercalary sections only help to strengthen that meaning, a meaning that would be much more diluted without them. For while Paton preaches all these great things throughout the novel, what greatness would they really hold, if not for the meaning behind them? In the end, it is the meaning that breathes them life, and it is the whole book, intercalary and main plot combined, that make it

Cry, the Beloved Country In a country torn by segregation and hatred, one man seeks to rebuild his family and his tribe. Cry, the beloved country is a tale of forgiveness, generosity, and endurance. In the story, the main protagonist is helped by a number of characters. A South African man Stephen Kumalo loses his young son, but is still determined to improve the life of his people.

Damon Knight’s “The Country of the Kind” follows a narrator who the audience at first knows little about, who lives in a society that is different from the norm, but is also initially left ambiguous. This sense of the unknown exists up until the narrator stumbles upon a pamphlet which opens up new viewpoints to the reader. The pamphlet serves to create three new perspectives in particular, all of which significantly shift the reader’s understanding of the story. First, it gives the reader a chance to understand the narrator and sympathize with him. Second, it offers a new perspective on society and their overall conception of what defines a utopia. The third and final perspective is that of the people who live within this society, and their interactions with the main characters. These three new perspectives prove to be formative in understanding the main character, his interactions with other characters in the story, and the role of society.

This book explores lots of different emotions, all tying into each other. Each emotions feeds off others, and different people experience different feelings. Emotion is a major part of the book because, while it doesn’t often go that deep into it, it is the driving force for lots of the plot

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

The author dedicates the novel to the blacks that suffer due to slavery. In Beloved, the characters gain equality yet they are still oppressed. Toni Morrison’s style and theme connect with her intention to remind readers about the slaves in American history and portrays her values.

This essay will explore the function of the narrative which helps the readers to perceive the meaning of the narrative. It will do so in terms of the point of view, narrative voice as well as the structure of the narrative. Furthermore, the setting of the story will be another focus which exploits the generic convention which reflects the social anxiety behind the story at the time. I

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.

Hope. It is the one thing that people have survived on for centuries. Without hope, the African Americans of the early 1800’s would have just succumbed to the will of the slave owners. This is why Mandela is considered such a great leader. Nelson Mandela’s message through his speeches was one of hope, which is the only thing the people of Ndotshemi have to thrive on (Chokshi). Alan Paton, the author of Cry the Beloved Country, also believed in hope bringing together the land of South Africa. There are many similarities between the novel and the real life occurrences of the South African Apartheid. In the book or in the real life Apartheid, someone came into the scene that was willing to help by assuming a leadership role, whether it is

Power, religion, frustration, and family all are aspects of man’s relationship with man. These things bring people together and tear them apart. Throughout Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton utilizes anaphora to develop this theme of man’s relationship with man. The anaphora emphasizes these aspects and highlights their importance.

It was once stated, “Success will require an acceptance that, in many respects, we are a sick society” (Mandela 2). Nelson Mandela’s State of the Nation Address was an awakening moment for the people of South Africa. Although this is one of the most influential speeches of time, is it more powerful than a fictional novel? Nelson Mandela’s State of the Nation Address along with Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address were defining moments in history. Cry, the Beloved Country is not a nonfiction book, but it is based on events from the past. The connection between all three sources are known and make people think, yet the content and actions of Lincoln’s and Mandela’s speeches leave a profound impact on people’s lives.

Next, I’d like to discuss the ways in which the conditions of “Living, Loving, and Lying Awake at Night,” and the roles that were plagued amongst the women in South Africa and how forced migrations affected their situations. Due to the Apartheid era, and men's non existence in their families life because of forced migration, women began to feel as though they could only do for themselves causing for their acceptance without man's presence. In an early reference to the chapter, leaving, the author shows the ways that apartheid affected the women. For instance, “As year went from the woman had come to

was the husband of Gertrude, who in turn, went to look for him and found other men