Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country

905 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: evidence of redemption in cry the beloved country essays

Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country

The book I have chosen to write about is Cry the Beloved Country. This book is about ambiguity and reconciliation. The main character in the story Stephan Kumalo has to deal his the struggle of his family, and trying to keep them together. The first few chapters of this book are place in a small town called Ndotshenti. But the action in this takes place in the largest city on South Africa, Johannesburg. Stephan Kumalo finds out there can be day light even when nothing in you life is going right.

The area of Ndoshenti is known as the “Velds”, which in Zulu means the green grassland. The rural country is what describes Ndotshenti best; on the other side of the town lies the European part of Ndotshenti. This is Ndoshenti where blacks are not allowed to go. Primarily because apartheid, which means total separation between blacks and whites.

Stephan Kumalo is the minister in the small town. Stephan Kumalo helps those in need of help. Also find out very early, he is in need of help too. His son Absalom decides to leave home, because he does not like his father’s new wife. He goes with his friends Johannesburg to work the gold mines.

However his son is not the only person causing stress on Stephan Kumalo, because with in a few days of his son leaving, he receives a letter pertaining to his sister. She very sick, but the man writing the letter says not physically, but mentally. At this point Kumalo is befu...

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Alan Paton's Cry The Beloved Country

    1313 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the 1950’s, oppression of black South Africans was a prominent issue ongoing in South Africa. Alan Paton, writer of Cry, The Beloved Country, illustrates the loss of humanity because of apartheid throughout the novel. This novel is written in a time where white leaders run a black man’s country, which causes friction between the two races, causing them to drift apart into two separate societies. The segregation of races is highlighted through Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis, as seen through

    Read More

  • Alan Stewart Paton's Cry The Beloved Country

    2399 Words  | 5 Pages

    text Summation: Cry The Beloved Country Section One: Facts on Author and History The author of Cry the Beloved Country Alan Stewart Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu Natal on January 11, 1903. He is the son to James Paton and Eunice Warder. Neither of his parents possessed top tier educations but his father James was deeply religious and used the Bible, and most importantly the Old Testament as a basis for knowledge and inspiration. This had a deeply profound impact on Alan as he was encouraged

    Read More

  • Complacency in Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country

    1429 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Cry, The Beloved Country, Alan Paton uses Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis to show that all human beings are complacent about critical issues until a momentous event occurs that forces them to change their minds. This message is very clear in Cry, The Beloved Country as it is in the world, today and historically. People tend to be optimistic about serious issues rather than confront them and solve them. Historical examples like the Holocaust greatly illustrate this point. Stephen Kumalo is complacent

    Read More

  • Injustices Exposed in Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country

    1006 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cry the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton, is the story of the two fictional characters, Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis, who lose their sons in South Africa in 1948. In his story, Alan Paton used the George Hegel's Dialect of thesis, antithesis, synthesis, in order to expose social injustices in a microcosm of South Africa that correlate to the macrocosm of the issues faced by the entire country and what must be done to fix these injustices. Paton subdivided his story into three books. The first

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Country and City Life in Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country - A Biblical Parable

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cry, the Beloved Country, written by one of the greatest writers of South Africa, is the compelling story of how man-made evils in the city of Johannesburg affect the lives of each member of the Kumalo family. Stephen Kumalo, an old priest, has a major problem: he lost his brother, sister and son to the city. Losing them was one thing but later he is shocked to witness what his family has become. His brother, a politician and carpenter, has left the Church, his once decent sister has now moved on

    Read More

  • Security and Independence in Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country

    1441 Words  | 3 Pages

    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. First there is Gertrude, the protagonist’s

    Read More

  • The True Meaning of Cry, the Beloved Country

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    The True Meaning of Cry, the Beloved Country Many debates have been sparked by Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country.  Even the essence of the book's title examines South Africa and declares the presence of the inner conflict of its citizens. The importance and meaning of the title of Cry, the Beloved Country is visible in Paton's efforts to link the reader to forthcoming ideas in the novel, Paton's description of South Africa's problems, and Paton's prayer for the solution of South Africa's

    Read More

  • Comparing the Teachings of Nelson Mandela to Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton

    731 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton and in many of Nelson Mandela’s famous speeches, I have been able to notice many parallels between the messages Mandela always left his audience with, and the concluding chapters of the novel. Throughout the ending of the book, the characters are taught to accept the past, a key teaching of Mandela as well as look towards a brighter future- another main lesson Mandela shares with us. Overall, Nelson Mandela’s motivational and persuasive speeches highly relate

    Read More

  • Alan Paton Sparknotes

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alan Paton There are not very many authors with international fame from South Africa. However, there is one very famous author named Alan Paton. A lot happened during his life period. For example, you have the Cold War, World War I, World War II, The American Dust Bowl, The Great Depression, and many other historical events. When taking a deeper examination at author Alan Paton, one must take account of his personal background, influences, and take major works into consideration, along with many

    Read More

  • Cry the Beloved Country Movie versus Film

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    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. The book was made into a movie

    Read More

  • Biblical Rhythm

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    Biblical Influences on Cry, the Beloved Country or: Cry, the Beloved Country: Like the Bible but Shorter To anyone and everyone: This is one of the great books! It reads like a lovely poem. Enjoy and reflect. --unknown lawyer from Chicago The owner of the South Haven, Michigan bookstore The Hidden Room discovered this simple yet memorable comment written firmly on a memo card of a noted Chicago legal firm. The card was left in a copy of Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country. From his early childhood

    Read More

  • Juxtaposition In Cry The Beloved Country

    913 Words  | 2 Pages

    One's morals are can be broken like bones, where damage to, if not dealt with correctly, can lead to affliction and adversity. In Cry, the Beloved Country, Msimangu says, “The tragedy is not that things are broken. The tragedy is that things are not mended again,” alludes to that belief of morals (56). Alan Paton discusses that and how economic, racial, and social injustices lead to the corruption of someone’s morals, which was common in South Africa during the 1940’s. In order to connect with the

    Read More

  • Racism Exposed in Cry, the Beloved Country

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    Racism Exposed in Cry, the Beloved Country The purpose of Cry, the Beloved Country, is to awaken the population of South Africa to the racism that is slowly disintegrating the society and its people.  Alan Paton designs his work to express his views on the injustices and racial hatred that plague South Africa, in an attempt to bring about change and understanding. The characters that he incorporates within his story, help to establish a sense of the conditions and hardships

    Read More

  • Apartheid and The Future of South Africa in Cry, The Beloved Country

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    Arthur, Napoleon, and Msimangu, all characters from Alan Paton’s book, Cry, The Beloved Country, are used to share Paton’s points of view on the future of South Africa and the apartheid. Paton uses these characters to represent specific views; Arthur expresses clearly that the apartheid isn’t the right way to progress as a country, Napoleon exemplifies how Paton thinks people should take the anti-apartheid effort, and Msimangu explicitly expresses Paton’s ideas of an ideal leader. Arthur Jarvis was the

    Read More

More about Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country

Open Document