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Theme Of Forgiveness In Cry The Beloved Country

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When thinking about forgiveness and what is required one might just decide to stay angry and never address the situation that occurred. However, neglecting to truly forgive can essentially hold you back emotionally as well as physically depending on the level of damage that happened to you. Throughout the novel, “Cry, the Beloved Country”, by Alan Paton forgiveness seems to be one of the main themes. In the novel, the characters suffer countless heartbreaking situations. These situations would cause the holiest person to completely turn their back on their faith and family. The vital way to get past all this is forgiveness. By forgiving and truly opening your heart you can let go of the hurt which makes a way for sympathy and confidence.
The first heartbreak that we see in the novel is when Kumalo receives a letter stating that his sister Gertrude is ill. Kumalo leaves his village to go tend to his sister. He leaves a place that he is familiar with to go to Johannesburg, which cost him a good chunk of money. When he arrives and finally obtains more information about his sister, he discovers that she is a prostitute and sells liquor. This piece of information greatly disappoints him. He sees his sister and he makes his point clear, “You have shamed us, he says in a low voice, not wishing to make it known to the world. The liquor seller, prostitute, with a child and you don’t know where it is? Your brother a priest. How could you do this to us?” (61). His sister begins to cry

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