The country and the city life depicted in Alan Paton's novel Cry, The Beloved Country portray two different aspects of life in South Africa in the later half of the 1940's. The country life in the book is Ndotsheni and the city life is Johannesburg. Neither country life or city life would be considered perfect. Both living areas enjoyed positive aspects and negative drawbacks. The country was looked at as the backward part of South Africa, and the city was looked at as the advanced part of South Africa. For the most part though people living in the country would rater stay in the country, and those who make their living in the city would rather live there. These two parts of the country were only separated by a day's worth of travel on train rides, but the societies within them were as different as night and day.
Life in Ndotsheni was that of agricultural tribal communities. The people were mostly all simple, illiterate, African pastoralists trying to live off the land. It would have been hard to grow the crops needed to survive, such as maize, because of the arid environment. Drought was not at all uncommon, and it is quite hard to grow a food supply or feed cattle when there is no water to replenish the land. The tribesmen needed help from men educated in agriculture to help cultivate the land. A person with education will know exactly what seeds to plant and when to plant them. He would also know the importance of the cattle dung to make the soil rich. If the soil is not good enough to produce crops then the villagers will be forced to move to the city along with the people who have received an education, and work for the white man's wages. "A boy with education did not want to work on the farms, and went off to the town...
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...te basin, and water cold and hot, and towels worn but very white, and a modern lavatory too."(51) The Africans were not subjects of the chief anymore when they lived in the cities as well, and some looked at the chief as nothing more than a lackey for the whites.
These are two entirely different lifestyles of South Africa depicted in Paton's novel. Neither of them is perfect, but they are the options. One can either live in the backward rural country, or in the industrialized city. When one was raised in a society he would not think much of different societies unless he visited them. Then he would be able to see how different two worlds can be. Even though both societies are just trying to survive and prosper they go about it in much different methods. The are both hoping for the same outcome though, that their children's lives will be better than their own.
Blomkamp builds the movie’s credibility by demonstrating and providing many accurate depictions of geography. Blomkamp does by extrinsically because he is a South African-Canadian who was born in South Africa and spent the first 18 years of his life there (IMDb). After moving to Canada, Blomkamp continued to visit his hometown yearly. This builds his external ethos because he is able to know exactly what the country is like when it comes to geography, and what the country has gone through in the recent tough times that have hit both Johannesburg and the rest of the world. Andrew O’Hehir of the Salon says that the movie shows the “social realities of contemporary Johannesburg, South Africa” (O’Hehir). This played a role in the making of the film because Blomkamp was able to capture the realities that Johannesburg was going through due to his prior knowledge of the area and history.
In Alan Paton's novel Cry, the Beloved Country two characters, Absalom's girl and Gertrude, show the how society in Johannesburg is as a whole. Absalom's girl symbolizes how girls her age are mothers and have even become divorced several times before. On the other hand Gertrude, Kumalo's sister, illustrates the qualities of a young woman who becomes corrupt from Johannesburg's filthy system of stealing, lying, and prostitution. Both of them show the ways of Johannesburg as a whole.
Cry the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton is a novel inspired by the industrial revolution. Paton describes in detail the conditions in which the Africans were living during this time period, 1946. This story tells about a Zulu pastor who goes into the city in search of his son and siblings who left in search of a better life. The pastor sees this immense city where a ruling white group is oppressing the black population. This novel is more than just a story, but it depicts the effects imperialism and the Industrial Revolution had on South Africa. Although the government has intervened to protect the people, some of these effects are still present in our societies.
...ms by which to live. An individual confronts many challenges in society, whether it be crime and punishment, struggle to grow, or other rapid modifications. Cry, The Beloved Country and Things Fall Apart exemplify how societies can be disrupted and how people react to interruptions to their traditional way of life. Some choose to adapt to society’s new ways, while others resist assimilating themselves with the innovative public. Societal change happens no matter where you are, however, how someone allows it to affect them remains determined by that person. Society maintains their own way of punishment, production of a particular type of person, and causes some to prevent from adapting to its evolving ways.
In 1930’s and 1940’s South Africa, many people suffered through traumatic events, whether it be a robbery, a loss of livelihood, a beating, or the ultimate tragedy, the loss of a loved one. In his novel Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton makes sure that this is not left out of his true-to-life, albeit fictional, account of life in South Africa. James Jarvis is the recipient of this tragedy in the novel. His son, Arthur Jarvis, is murdered in his home by Absalom Kumalo during a botched robbery attempt. This sudden loss breaks Jarvis’ heart and sends him reeling. He goes to Johannesburg for the trial and ends up realizing that he really didn’t know his son at all. Reading his son’s writings causes him to have a moral conversion, and he begins his new life when he returns to Ndotsheni. Even though James Jarvis is a man of few words, he has much to say after his son’s death and he speaks through his actions.
Farming is the main supply for a country back then. The crops that farmers produce basically was the only food supply. That makes famers a very important part of society. Farmers back t...
One great paradox of human life is the balance between security and independence. Many people would say that they are self-sustaining, that they can make it on their own. The question is not always whether or not they can make it, but what the cost of their security is. Some value their personal freedom more than their security, for others it is the opposite. In “Cry, the Beloved Country” characters often wrestle with this issue. Every character responds uniquely according to their situation. The results are meaningful and give information about who they really are and what they value.
Cry, the Beloved Country is such a controversial novel that people tend to forget the true meaning and message being presented. Paton’s aim in writing the novel was to present and create awareness of the ongoing conflict within South Africa through his unbiased and objective view. The importance of the story lies within the title, which sheds light on South Africa’s slowly crumbling society and land, for it is the citizens and the land itself which are “crying” for their beloved country as it collapses under the pressures of racism, broken tribes and native exploitation.
In Cry, the beloved country, Alan Paton tells the story of his journey across Africa, his experiences with the colonized Africa, and the destruction of the beautiful, pre-colonialism native land of Africa. Heart of Darkness also tells the story of a man and his experiences with colonialism, but a man who comes from a different time period and a very different background than Alan Paton’s Stephen Kumalo. Although, both Joseph Conrad and Alan Paton portray the colonized areas as very negative, death filled, and sinful places, it is when one analyzes the descriptions of the native lands of Africa that the authors reasons for their disapproval of colonialism are truly revealed. When comparing the writing styles of Alan Paton and Joseph Conrad, their descriptions of the land and the people in both works reveal their different attitudes and views towards colonialism. While Paton and Conrad ultimately oppose colonialism, Paton is concerned with the disappearance of African tribal tradition, whereas Conrad is concerned with the perceived corruption of the white colonists.
Cry, the Beloved Country is a moving story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom. They live in an Africa torn apart by racial tensions and hate. It is based on a work of love and hope, courage, and endurance, and deals with the dignity of man. The author lived and died (1992) in South Africa and was one of the greatest writers of that country. His other works include Too Late the Phalarope, Ah, but Your Land Is Beautiful, and Tales from a Troubled Land.
Poverty on social conditions affects everyone in every part of the world, no matter if they are rich or poor. First of all, everyone is divided into some sort of social class. The most known classes are the economic classes- the lower class, the middle class, and the higher class. The lower class goes through arduous labor all day and night to earn decent amounts of money to provide for themselves and their families. Most likely, they are the only source of income for the entire family. The higher class works hard to keep up or raise their high social status. They also work hard so they don’t loss their social rank, which permits them to hold a higher power over the middle and lower classes. Similarities of decisions made by characters in these two literary works will analyzed to understand the meaning behind the actions and influences of the social classes on each other.
People naturally segregate themselves. Social inequality occurs not only in Johannesburg, where big corporations take advantage of the naïve, but even in Ndotsheni, a small village. Paton uses a hopeless tone to convey feelings of isolation and defeat. He emphasizes the impact a class system has on the culture of South Africa: “Down in Ndotsheni I am nobody, even as you are nobody, my brother. I am subject
The young man’s predicaments all revolve around his need to satisfy those that will judge him and he becomes trapped between the apartheid rule and humanity’s desire for equality and respect towards others. This is purely a personal issue that can be resolved solely by him, but should take into the consideration of those involved. We see glimpses of this coming through the young man, but being raised in an era of apartheid it overpowers his common understanding of respect.
Bibliography w/4 sources Cry , the Beloved Country by Alan Paton is a perfect example of post-colonial literature. South Africa is a colonized country, which is, in many ways, still living under oppression. Though no longer living under apartheid, the indigenous Africans are treated as a minority, as they were when Paton wrote the book. This novel provides the political view of the author in both subtle and evident ways. Looking at the skeleton of the novel, it is extremely evident that relationship of the colonized vs. colonizers, in this case the blacks vs. the whites, rules the plot. Every character’s race is provided and has association with his/her place in life. A black man kills a white man, therefore that black man must die. A black umfundisi lives in a valley of desolation, while a white farmer dwells above on a rich plot of land. White men are even taken to court for the simple gesture of giving a black man a ride. This is not a subtle point, the reader is immediately stricken by the diversities in the lives of the South Africans.
The small African village located on the bank of the river Niger has a story of its own, that only the old and wise are able to des...