Cry, The Beloved Country

In the book Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton, there is much talk about a broken tribe. When they say “broken tribe”, they refer to the culture of the native Africans being destroyed. Many accusations are are made about who is at fault for breaking the tribe. But realistically, the initial culprit is the European men, who have come to exploit Africa and its people for their own gains and have done nothing for the natives but destroy their way of life. In chapter 7 of this book. Stephen and his friend Kumalo find the great politician and brother of Stephen, John Kumalo, and they start to converse about the broken tribe and why it has become sick. John goes on to say that the reason for this is because the church is corrupt and

John says that white men think “South Africa is built on mines” but in reality “it is built on [the natives’] backs, on [the natives’] sweat, on [the natives’] labor”(Paton 68). They leave their wives, children and family to come to work in Johannesburg which in of itself literally pulls families

The reason for this is because it is them who have taken over the chiefs of the native tribes and have led people to move to the city because they think “ at least I am free of the chief .. who is nothing but a white man’s dog”(Paton 67). Either way if they move to the city or not, their culture is destroyed. If they stay where the chiefs are used as puppets, the way of life is changed and the culture of the white man is adopted. But most of the time, the native has no choice but to move to the city, and this is when they adopt the European customs overtime and leave their old ones behind. This happens at the same time as they are being exploited in the gold mines of Johannesburg and also at the same time as they are tempted to live corrupt lives in order to be able to keep their heads over the water. This is what makes the European man the true reason for why the tribe has been broken