The story takes place during a time of great unrest in South Africa between the native populace and the white people. The white people fear that they will soon be overrun by the much larger native population so they enact legislation that keeps the local salaries low and the working conditions very hard. This angers the natives and they threaten to strike and rebel. These threats endanger the well-being of all of South Africa as it is heavily dependent on the gold and silver that comes from the mines that are mined by the native inhabitants. Cry, The Beloved Country is the story of two men, Reverend Stephen Kumalo and civil rights activist James Jarvis, on their quest to find racial equality and fairness for the indigenous people of South Africa.
Stephen Kumalo is a minister in the small mountain town of Ndotsheni. Kumalo’s journey begins with him getting a message from a pastor in Johannesburg telling him that his sister is very ill and that he should come immediately. He discovers that Gertrude is living the life of a prostitute and is a single mother. Seeing her in such a sad state greatly distresses Kumalo; but he has compassion on his sister and offers to take them to Ndotsheni and help raise her child. After his sister agrees to return to Ndotsheni, Stephen, along with Pastor Msimangu set out to find his son, Absalom. They learn that he is in jail and has a pregnant girlfriend. They convince her to marry Absalom and to return to Ndotsheni with them. Through continued investigation Kumalo and Msimangu find that Absalom has murdered the engineer and civil rights activist Arthur Jarvis. After acquiring a lawyer Kumalo finds out that his son did not want to kill the man but shot him because he was scared. After several week...
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...malo and the Harrisons.
While Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis may have come from two different views of life, both were enlightened on their trip to Johannesburg. Kumalo gained hope that the tribe could be restored while Jarvis realized that not every facet of South African society is good and took up his son’s mantle as a civil rights activist. Both saw the need for better education and working conditions of the indigenous people and acted upon that need. Kumalo was able to find his long lost family and save some of them from ruining their lives. Thanks to the improvements brought to them by James Jarvis and the agricultural teacher, the people of Ndotsheni were able to finally begin the process of restoring their land and way of life. James Jarvis and Stephen Kumalo were able to become friends and allies in the battle to restore South Africa.
A federal removal policy altered the lives of many Cherokee indians and Cherokee families in the United States. The idea surrounding the federal removal policy was that by pushing the indians off of the land they were currently residing on would allow the white men, families, and farmers access to desirable land. As part of president Jackson’s removal policy indians were forced to leave their land behind and migrate westward on foot and horseback to reside in the area of the Luisiana Purchase.
“To be Indian is to lack power – the power to act as owners of your lands, the power to spend your own money and, too often, the power to change your own condition.” Jean Chretien, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, 1969 “White Papers”
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.
At first, the Algonquian Region was an oasis for its Native American’s who inhabited the land. Thousands upon thousands of Mohegan Indians, Agawam Indians, Chappaquiddick Indians, Pequot Indians, and even the Naragansett neighbored and collectively made up the Wampanog Indians. Each one of these subtribes spoke a different dialect; however, they were all mutually intelligible (We Shall Remain, Episode 1). All the tribes, or subtribes, shared and traded with one another. They established order for marriages; they had their own political beliefs and issues. They all dwelled near the Atlantic Ocean and were known as a “community of communities” (We Shall Remain, Episode 1).
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.
Cry, the Beloved Country is not another novel of common strife between man and his fellow. It is an entirely higher sense of what "brother against brother" is. Seemingly harmless characters like Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis reveal the bigger picture of racism around the entire country. The effect of extreme poverty, the responsibility of the whites, made this story possible. The solution to the problem is portrayed through Absalom, his crime, and Arthur Jarvis. "'Bexxuse the white man has power, we too want power,' he said. 'But when a black man gets power, when he gets money, he is a great man if he is not corrupted [Paton 70].'" John Kumalo's words were rebuke against the white nation. The blacks had the same vices and values as the whites, yet the whites were more dominant. Why should it be that way? This story is the protest against that white domination.
Reconstruction failed to create equity between the races and the previous practices of discrimination and exploitation of the blacks continued. The reconstruction period failed to redistribute wealth and modernize the southern society. The question of land ownership remained the same with the black community unable to own land. This situation left the black community vulnerable to exploitation by the land owning white community in the south despite having been freed. Reconstruction notably failed to prevent violence perpetrated against the black community; especially through the spread of the Ku Klux Klan. The end of reconstruction never realized the potential for change created by the thirteen, fourteen and fifteen amendments. Despite these failures,
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.
The tribe and its people go through change and hardship, yet in the end make it through. The tribe is in shambles because of the state of the land and because of the presence of white South Africans. The tribe is broken when the majority of its people leave for better land and better futures. The tribe is broken even more so when word of Absalom’s murder arrives. “Yes–it was true, then. He had admitted it to himself. The tribe was broken, and would be mended no more” (Paton 120). Stephen Kumalo reaches a dead end for himself and the tribe. He feels that Absalom’s murder has turned the tables in the acceptance of native South Africans. Kumalo has lost hope in the tribe being restored because he feels that it is impure due to Absalom’s killing. Kumalo loses sight of the end of the tunnel. But, through all of Kumalo’s suffering, he reaches a turning point. “So the days passed. Kumalo prayed regularly for the restoration of Ndotsheni, and the sun rose and set regularly over the Earth” (Paton 281). Kumalo looks towards his faith in God to forgive Absalom and restore the tribe. Kumalo also observes the sun rising and setting. This symbolizes that light will come after darkness. This perspective of hope gives Kumalo the motivation to restore the tribe and his faith in his
Imagine a world where you can live off of the land, have unrestricted access to education, and where you don’t have to worry about wars and conflict. Sounds too perfect to be true, right? Well, a new discovery of a lost tribe has been recently revealed that they lived peaceful and harmonious lives based on the native language of the tribe. Anthropologist have been studying and focusing on the tribe’s language. They discovered that the tribe had a very family oriented lifestyle. Anthropologist also learned about the lost tribe spiritual beliefs, education, the way they lived, how they lived, and the geographical area where they settled.
Native American culture has been losing it's meaning for a long time and soon will be lost by it's people as they are taught more american things so they can adjust to modern society. I believe that native american culture should be saved because people with out culture is something know one want's because you will not be remembered for what they have done in there life. When people stare losing there language and culture they have nothing to give to the world. The Navajo live in poverty and don't have many jobs for there people so people have to move out and find jobs elsewhere to help provide for there family. Navajo people also seem to be losing there language because most people in america only speak english so they are taught to learn
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.
Throughout his novel, Cry, The Beloved Country, Paton writes about how social inequality affects a country. Social inequality causes people pain and prevents them from advancing in the ranks of society. Paton uses tone to establish the negative result of segregation and explain how to overcome it. Paton stresses that fact that people must eliminate segregation, unite as a people, and communicate with each other. From his book, people can understand how to overcome segregation and grow from
As Stephen grows, he slowly but inexorably distances himself from religion. His life becomes one concerned with pleasing his friends and family. However, as he matures he begins to feel lost and hopeless, stating, "He saw clearly too his own futile isolation. He had not gone one step nearer the lives he had sought to approach nor bridged the restless shame and rancor that divided him from mother and brother and sister." It is this very sense of isolation and loneliness that leads to Stephen's encounter with the prostitute, where, "He wanted to sin with another of his kind, to force another being to sin with him and to exult with her in sin.
The drama surrounds the story of a young woman called Anowa who disobeys her parents by marrying Kofi Ako, a man who has a reputation for indolence and migrates with him to a far place. Childless after several years of marriage Anowa realises that Kofi had sacrificed his manhood for wealth. Upon Anowa’s realisation Kofi in disgrace shoots himself whiles Anowa too drowns herself.