Theme Of Racism In Cry The Beloved Country

He seeks to imply that judgement of a person should be based more on the content

Naturally, the narrator feels the pressure of being a minority. At first, he wants to be like everyone else, to be a part of white society. Then, he realizes that such society is not what he imagines it to be. As a result, he wants to reconnect with his family, this time appreciating them as his own. Nevertheless, the narrator is afraid of what his father

Racism is a big part of this book. It shows the absurdity of what people thought back then, which is an important lesson. It is important for us to learn what people’s views used to be, and how important it is not to go back to that mindset.

The most important theme in this book was the trials and tribulations of racism because it was woven in every part of the plot, it contributed to the conflict and resolutions, and gave the story a connection to current events, helping the reader’s comprehension.

Through Atticus and Tom Robinson, the reader gets a first hand account of the minority’s perspective, the hostility antipathy, that the African American race had to evade everyday of their lives, in work or at school. Hatred for specific minorities, specifically blacks, has been portrayed more through violence instead of civil protests, or even ignorance. Hate crimes became more popular during the protests of the 70’s and 80’s, the hate crime laws were passed in

the reality of a racist society. He must also discover for himself that his father is wrong

Try thinking about every time you have been bullied or feel segregated from a group of people. There are countless amounts of times where we can recall a time where we feel like the odd person out or the last person picked to play kickball. “Oh, they have John! We are definitely going to win now!” are never words you want to hear about you ever. Our natural instincts as humans is bottle up all of our negative energy and attempt to forget about what had just transpired and move forward. For some people, this may be very difficult due to the fact that their life depends on it. Apartheid in South Africa segregated races in order to purify their country. It can be easily seen that most of these blacks would have been very unhappy with the government they are apart of. The negative energy doesn’t always get bottled up in this case and sometimes it leads to revolt, such as in Sophocles’, Antigone, and in The Island by Athol Fugard. Unfortunately, many people get killed when this such event occurs. Since the entire country of South Africa is under racial prejudice, similar to Creon’s rule in Antigone, the characters in both The Island and Antigone feel the obligation to protest authority and change the course of their lives in similar methods.

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 white citizens racism and fear, and chapter 23 shows the goals of social movements. The choral chapter that shows the issues that existed in South Africa most effectively was chapter nine. It not only shows the economic and housing struggles of the black population, but it also shows the conditions in the shanty towns, and the treatment of the black population by the white minority with power.

The main character Robert, regrets moving to Africa and wishes he could move back to Europe. He wishes he could move back because people are not acceptive of him, like when Ivan yells at him. In the book, the text stated, “‘So? You’re still a Pom. In what way do you think you’re not a Pom, Pommie?’” (Wallace 25). This was a conflict for Robert because people from Africa were being mean to him because of his ethnicity. A pommie or pom is a derogatory term to use when referencing to a British person. This created discord between Robert and Ivan because Robert grew negative feeling towards him. Another example of how discrimination can cause problems is when Robert the main character, just helped his friend Nelson stand up to the bullies. People are sour to Nelson because he is African American. In the book, the author states, “And if someone had told me then how badly I would actually come to let him down-and in the way I did it-I would never, ever have believed them.” (Wallace 11). What this piece of evidence shows is that Robert is going to hurt his friend Nelson. Robert hurt his friend physically so badly, that Nelson never came back to school. He did this because people told him he had to since Nelson was a different race. Discrimination can cause many problems between characters because people can get physically and emotional hurt because of

This section demonstrates how the fear manifested itself among the whites. The Afrikaners’ power is not in numbers, as “they were few” but instead in political authority. They exploit this and impose harsh laws on the black to try to control and restrict them. However, they have bound themselves in their fear of the natives, a force that is perhaps more confining than their rules. Instead of trying to understand their fear and show their compassion towards these other human beings, they instead choose to hide it so that they will not appear weak. Additionally, the solution of love that Paton suggests presents a conundrum. In order end the fear, they must love, but to love they must stop being afraid. This demonstrates the almost impossible nature of true equality occurring between the natives and the Afrikaners.

By not sacrificing power, the whites are bringing this fear upon themselves. “And our lives will shrink, but they shall be the lives of superior beings; and we shall live with fear, but at least it will not be a fear of the unknown.”(Pg. 79) The question is: how long can this unstable and superficial lifestyle endure before the dawn of a new equity? Future generations will have to deal with these issues which are left unsolved by a power hungry nation. And if problems are left unsettled for too long, hatred may establish a permanent residence in South Africa.

In Alan Paton’s Cry The Beloved Country, the character Stephen Kumalo experiences an epiphany concerning the brokenness of his family, tribe, and of South Africa as a whole. The tribal breaking began with Gertrude, who left for Johannesburg. She fell into a bad lifestyle as a prostitute and by selling alcohol. She struggles to find motivation to leave this corrupted city and is in devastation due to her condition. Not long after her absence, her nephew Absalom also goes to Johannesburg. He cannot escape the norms of the city because he commits murder and also is the father to a child out of wedlock. While Absalom is serving his time in prison, his father Stephen comes to Johannesburg and realizes that his own family members are suffering in a city full

Many of the contemporary issues in South Africa can easily be associated with the apartheid laws which devastated the country. The people of South Africa struggle day by day to reverse “the most cruel, yet well-crafted,” horrific tactic “of social engineering.” The concept behind apartheid emerged in 1948 when the nationalist party took over government, and the all-white government enforced “racial segregation under a system of legislation” . The central issues stem from 50 years of apartheid include poverty, income inequality, land ownership rates and many other long term affects that still plague the brunt of the South African population while the small white minority still enjoy much of the wealth, most of the land and opportunities

Imagine being systematically oppressed from the moment you exited the womb. All your civil rights, based on the amount of melanin in your skin. Drinking from the wrong water fountain, could even get you thrown into jail. Coincidently; this was the life, of black South Africans from the moment of Dutch colonization in 1652, to the first true democratic election in 1994. Apartheid, meaning “separateness” in Afrikaans; was legal segregation enforced by The National Party (NP) from 1948 to 1994. It legally imposed preexisting policies of racial discrimination on the Majority of the South African population. The entire basis of the racist policies, was the darker your complexion the less legal rights you had. Presumably this injustice, could have continued much longer if it weren’t for all involved in the fight against the NP, however the man who arguably contributed the most, was Nelson Mandela. He ended an apartheid, with both his philanthropy and political prowess. He united a nation that used to be segregated; which seemed a daunting task at the time, but through the sweat and bloodshed he achieved the impossible. This alone exhibited his heroic characteristics, but to be more precise: both his actions and inactions lead to his success. Furthermore, Mandela was both a strong leader and forgiving at the same-time. Being in the forefront of the abolishment movement, was an extremely risky move during the apartheid. He risked his life for what he believed in, and this personal

In both texts language and the stylistic feature of imagery is used to present the impact of the belief of superiority of race to enhance the idea of racism in both texts. In Cry, The Beloved Country, Alan Paton bases the novel around black African people living in South Africa, awakening others to realise the lives of non-whites living in South Africa. Cry, The Beloved Country is set during a period of time of historical racial tension in South Africa which lead to a strict political policy where white people