Cry The Beloved Chapter Nine

In chapter nine of Cry, the Beloved Country, the point of view of the novel changes from a third person, omniscient point of view to an objective view. The objective point of view is an unbiased approach, which affects the novel by allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions. In this case, the change is incurred in an attempt to explain the setting to the reader. While at first the chapter may confuse the reader, they soon realize that it is the author’s way of introducing them to the poverty in some areas of Africa during apartheid. The chapter is a positive addition to the book, adding a new perspective to the reader’s arsenal.

The objective point of view occurs when the narrator disappears into the background of the story. They work as the reader’s eyes by simply dictating what occurs before them with a lack of adjectives and opinion. The use of this allows the reader to make their own inferences in order to form

The characters introduced in this chapter, Mrs. Seme and Mr, Dubula, are meant to introduce the levels of poverty among the black community in Shanty Town, and likely throughout the rest of the South Africa. They are seen as outsiders with a lack of medical care, proper housing, and in need of help, “(white men) take photographs of us...They come and wonder what they can do, there are so many of us. What will the poor devils do in the rain?” (Page 90) They are treated as if they were animals in the streets nobody ever bothers to help for fear of jeopardizing their own safety. They look, but they do not touch. Only black doctors can aid them, and care is not brought immediately. Through these observations, Paton is setting up an impoverished and unwanted place that Kumalo must soon endure. Shanty Town’s plight underlies the overall message of racial inequality in the