Comparing Ndotsheni and Johannesburg

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Asif Jordan once said, “Under the surface of contradiction, lies similarity.” Authors often use the idea of contradiction to bring out the similarities of people or places. Just looking at two places they seem extremely different. In truth, they are usually different, but are dealing with a lot of the same main issues of the story line. Alan Paton uses this idea in Cry, the Beloved Country when he exposes the characteristics of both Ndotsheni and Johannesburg. Paton is describing the actions of South Africa by showing both a rural and an urban environment to contrast the views of the two places.

Paton’s purpose for writing his novel was to show South Africa the actions that it was taking. In order to do so, he had to contrast both the urban and the rural life. For the story he chose the town of Ndotsheni and the city of Johannesburg. Both of these places are described differently, but later on you can see how they are facing some of the same issues. Ndotsheni is a simple place that is composed of mostly black people. These people live for their tribe and for the life of their neigh...

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