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Cry, The Beloved Country was written by Alan Paton in 1948. Like his three other books, Cry, The Beloved Country is set in South Africa and tells of the racial struggles during apartheid. The story begins with Stephen Kumalo, a black Anglican Zulu priest who lives in a small village in the Ndotsheni valley. Stephen Kumalo journeys to Johannesburg, seeking lost members of his family.
He is looking for his sister and his brother, but mostly for his son Absalom, who has disappeared into Johannesburg as surely as the original Absalom of the Old Testament, was lost to King David. In Johannesburg, Kumalo is befriended by the Reverend Theophilus Msimangu, who aids him in his search for his relatives. They find his sister, who has become a prostitute, and his brother, a politician fighting apartheid, very quickly. Kumalo and Msimangu are led on a wild goose chase in search of Absalom, only to find that Absalom has killed a prominent white man. Ironically, Arthur Jarvis had dedicated his life to fighting apartheid, and he was the only child of James Jarvis, a wealthy farm owner in the Ndotsheni valley.
Absalom is sentenced to death by hanging, and Stephen Kumalo returns to Ndotsheni with Absalom's girlfriend, who is pregnant. Kumalo befriends the son of Arthur Jarvis, who is now living with his grandfather. Arthurs son tells James Jarvis about the horrible conditions in the village, and Jarvis hires a man to teach the villagers better farming techniques. Cry, The Beloved Country is a novel of forgiveness and the restoration of faith. Stephen Kumalo shows the worlds and his own faults, but still manages to make the world a better place for himself and those around him. The relationship between James Jarvis and Kumalo is the ultimate example of friendship and mutual respect that can be obtained in a country where race relations are so strained that whites can be killed for assisting blacks.
Cry, The Beloved Country shows racial tension, family and community unity, mercy, and justice. Cry, The Beloved Country also shows that every cloud has a silver lining. Arthur Jarvis death, although it was horrid and tragic, set about a strange turn of events that led to the restoration of the Ndotsheni valley. Arthur Jarvis wife and children moved in with Arthurs parents, who lived in the hills above Ndotsheni. Arthurs nine-year-old son befriends Kumalo, and the boy, upon learning that many young children were dying because of lack of milk, convinces his father to provide milk for the village. James Jarvis hires a man to teach the villagers better farming techniques, which enables the village to make a comeback after a six-year drought.
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Research essay sample on Critical Analysis Of Cry The Beloved Country
