beloved country cry essay

This student essay consists of approximately 3 pages of analysis of The Theme of Fear in Cry the Beloved Country. This section contains 782 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) The Theme of Fear in Cry the Beloved Country Summary: Discusses the novel Cry the Beloved Country, by Alan Patton. Explores the theme of fear. Describes the practice of apartheid in South Africa. Alan Patton uses fear as a recurring theme in his novel, Cry the Beloved Country. Throughout its course, specific examples of fear are brought about to define the life of black and white people in South Africa. John Kumalo fears losing his family and tribe to the sinful margins of the city of Johannesburg. In Johannesburg whites fear violent acts brought against them, from the blacks that seek reprisal from the prejudicial acts and hatred that are notorious in segregated South Africa. And for one black man, the fear of having the power to incite, and pilot the blacks into violent riots. Throughout the novel, just as Alan Patton reiterates the theme of fear, so does he give solutions to finally put and end to them all. Because of the immense drought and harsh conditions in Ndotsheni, many Zulu youth have left the tribe and traveled to Johannesburg. (read more) This section contains 782 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) Copyrights The Theme of Fear in Cry the Beloved Country from BookRags. (c)2016 BookRags, Inc. All rights reserved.
The central problem of the novel is stated by Msimangu: it is the problem of a people caught between two worlds. The old world of ritual and tribal adherence, of respect for the chief, and of tradition has been destroyed, but nothing has been offered in its place. The white man has disrupted the old ways but refuses to accept the native in the new world. Currently the natives live in an unstructured world where there are no values and no order to adhere to. This idea is represented in the novel by Absalom and Gertrude, who lose their old values and become part of the lawless life in Johannesburg. The damaging result of this change is fear. As soon as the tribe is broken, the people live in fear because they have no place to turn. Some white spokesmen recognize this fact. Arthur Jarvis was working on plans that would give the native a sense of direction and worth, but his life was cut short by the very forces that he was working to improve. The novel is not only a study of social problems but also a study in human relationships. Kumalo, interested at first only in reuniting his own family, comes to understand the greater problems facing his race. In such a novel as this, the absorbing social message must be realized by vivid, human characters in order to make the theme memorable. Many of the ideas of the novel are presented through the suffering of Kumalo. In fact, through suffering, several persons undergo a significant change. James Jarvis, through the suffering he undergoes as a result of the death of his son, learns to understand his son, whom he had not previously really known. Furthermore, he comes to a better understanding of his own self, and finally he develops an understanding of the social situation of the entire country. As a result of this suffering and consequent understanding, he becomes a reformed man and continues the work begun by his deceased son by.
Average Overall Rating: 4.5 Total Votes: 465 Essay Q&A 1. How does today's South Africa differ from the country depicted in 1948? How did the changes happen? South Africa today is almost unrecognizable from the country depicted in Cry, the Beloved Country. Huge political and social changes have taken place since 1946, the year in which the novel is set. But things got considerably worse before they got better. In 1948, when the novel was first published, the Nationalist Party came to power and created the system of strict racial segregation known as apartheid. Blacks were barred from many occupations, and wages for blacks were well below what whites earned. Blacks were not allowed to vote or run for office. During the 1950s, the government created separate bantustans, or homelands, for some groups of black people. Protests against apartheid grew during the 1960s, and the South African government cracked down on black activists. Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress, was imprisoned for life in 1962. In 1974, South Africa was expelled from the United Nations. It became an international pariah and many countries imposed economic sanctions on it. In 1976, protesting students in the black township of Soweto, near Johannesburg, were fired on by police. Many died, and in the near anarchy that followed, over a thousand people died, and 13,000 were arrested. Opposition to apartheid continued to grow, despite repression by the government. During the late 1980s, with South Africa internationally isolated, it finally became clear to the ruling Nationalist Party that it could not continue its racist policies. In 1990, Prime Minister, F. W. de Klerk, removed the ban on the African National Congress and freed Nelson Mandela from prison. In 1994, multi-party elections were held. It was the first time in South Africa that blacks had been allowed to vote. The African.
Enter Your Search Terms to Get Started! Corruption in Cry, the Beloved Country Corruption is probably the most prominent theme in Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country, as well as in today’s world. In this story, the author pictures many different characters in order to illustrate this widespread corruption of society. John Kumalo, Absalom, and Gertrude are a few of the characters he uses to help carry out this theme. Johannesburg, itself, is the sum of all that is wrong in cities today. There is corruption and poverty; crime runs rampant, and law-abiding citizens are forced to live where only the strong survive. John Kumalo is one of the most typical products of corruption in Cry, The Beloved Country. He lives with a woman that he is not married to. He has no problem hiring a lawyer that will lie to condemn his nephew to death. His only positive trait is that he uses his political power to help further the cause of the African natives, but even this is marred by the fact that he is only doing it to further his own ambitions. His weakness is that he does not have the heart necessary to be a revolutionary leader. If John was willing to go to prison and make sacrifices for what he believed in or wanted, he would have much more power than he has now. Absalom is a good example of corruption that does not come from the heart. Unlike John, Absalom does not want to be corrupt, and he is not proud of what he has done. When he killed Arthur, he was horrified; when the police found him, he didn’t deny what he had done, but confessed. Absalom was simply corrupted by Johannesburg and by his “friends”. Gertrude, the most pathetic character in the novel, is another good example of what Johannesburg does to a person. She has been chewed up and spit out by a city that has no room for decent black people. She goes off in search of her husband and ends up by herself with many husbands.
Alan Paton introduces us first to literally the biggest character of the book: the land of South Africa itself (which we talk about more in our section on Setting ). The land is gorgeous and fruitful, but it is starting to sicken. Thanks to too many cattle and too much farming for grain, the ground is growing barren and unproductive. More and more people are leaving their farms to find whatever work they can in the cities. And once they leave their hometowns, these people usually don't come back. Our main (human, not geological) character, the Reverend Stephen Kumalo, knows all about this pattern of young people leaving their traditional villages for the big city. Kumalo is an elderly Christian priest who lives in the Zulu town of Ndotsheni with his (weirdly unnamed) wife. Kumalo's brother John, his sister Gertrude, and his only son Absalom have all gone off to live in Johannesburg, the biggest city in South Africa. And Kumalo has stopped hearing from all three of them. Except now, Kumalo has gotten a letter from an unknown priest, Theophilus Msimangu, letting him know that his sister Gertrude is very sick. Kumalo makes plans to head into Johannesburg to find her and, he hopes, his son the next day. On his way to the city, an acquaintance asks him to check up on the daughter of a friend of his named Sibeko, who has also gone missing. In Johannesburg, when Kumalo finally meets Msimangu—the good-hearted, knowing, political priest who will lead Kumalo through the city looking for his lost family members—he finds out that Gertrude isn't physically sick. She's just morally sick: Msimangu doesn't approve of her job (prostitution and illegal liquor selling), and he also doesn't like that she has her small boy living with her among the gamblers and johns who visit her house. Msimangu brings Kumalo to Gertrude's house, and Kumalo convinces his sister to return to Ndotsheni.
Cry, the Beloved Country literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Cry, the Beloved Country. GradeSaver provides access to 678 study guide PDFs and quizzes, 3593 literature essays, 1203 sample college application essays, 123 lesson plans, and ad-free surfing in this premium content, “Members Only” section of the site! Membership includes a 10% discount on all editing orders. Join Now Log in HomeLiterature EssaysCry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country exhibits the effects of living in Johannesburg; though it is a city divided by race, its inhabitants lead parallel lives (Cry, the Beloved Country 33-312). The lives of the two main characters, Stephen Kumalo. 'Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?' (Matthew 7:3). Scholars are fast to uphold the severe wisdom of this advice, yet very few are entirely capable of following it. When Arthur Jarvis is shot and killed, a key event to the plot, the Bishop himself comes to the funeral and talks of a life devoted to South Africa, of intelligence and courage, of love that cast out fear (181). This idea of love versus fear is. Written at the pinnacle of South Africa's social and racial crisis, Alan Paton's novel Cry, the Beloved Country traces the struggle of two families, black and white, through their shared suffering and the devotion to their beloved country that. The House on Mango Street and Cry, the Beloved Country both involve themes emphasizing the home and family. From the old umfundisi seeking for his prodigal son to Esperanza searching and wanting a place of her own, both of these prolific stories. Copyright © 1999 - 2016 GradeSaver LLC. Not affiliated with Harvard College.