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Suffering Brings Understanding and Compassion In, Cry, the Beloved Country Alan Paton sought to show the disorder and the deep racial segregation of South African nations after World War II. To do this he centers his story around the happenings in a large industrial city. As a result of the break-up of South American tribes by greedy white men and the desolate land left for the natives, one man s son is shot by another. Unforeseen, but inevitable, it affected the lives of many. By focusing on the two main characters in Cry, the Beloved Country, Paton shows that suffering brings understanding that, in turn, brings compassion Kumalo, the main character in Cry, the Beloved Country, is confronted by a number of problems throughout the book. At first he suffers as he tries to adapt to the new place.
When Kumalo receives a letter telling him that his sister is sick, he decides to venture to Johannesburg. When he gets there he is robbed, then treated with kindness (Callan 38). This makes him uneasy and wary of the new place. He visits places of despair and then places of hope (38). This contrast between the two makes him understand the gap between the two.
He ventures into this new society and is presented with the worst and best elements of it (Stine 361). The circumstances presented mold his thoughts on the town. During this time he develops new insights into the nature of life and society (Fitzwater 20). He has difficulty until a kind minister named Msimangu helps him adapt to the new town. He is also faced with the task of trying to bring his personal family back together (Fitzwater 21). Many of the people of Ndotenshi and other towns have left.
The land s desolation has driven them away: The soil cannot keep them anymore (Paton 4). While in Johannesburg he finds his sister, who has turned into a prostitute with a child. He thought he was being summoned because she was sick and when he finds out the real problem he is initially shocked and finds it hard to bear the embarassment of his sister, but he then tries to persuade her to come home with him. She agrees and this makes him feel a little better, but he still struggles. On the morning of their return, however, he suffers again when she runs away and leaves her child behind. This leaves him dismayed.
Also while in Johannesburg he runs into his brother who has become a politician. In fact, he has become one of the greatest political leaders in Johannesburg. For this he is happy, but he discovers that his brother has forsaken God. He has a hard time accepting that another member of his family has forsaken God, but then Kumalo tries to convince him too to come home with him. When his brother turns him down, he is upset. He had expected to win him over too, but fails.
After finding his sister and brother, he turns to the task of finding his son who had left years before in search of work. Wearily he goes from place to place searching. He becomes discouraged after trying many places, but continues his search. Kumalo often returns to Mrs. Libethe, the kind woman he stays with, exhausted and dispirited (Paton 104).
Finally he finds him in jail. He murdered a white man named Arthur Jarvis. He didn t do it alone but he is the one that is tried. Kumalo struggles with the fact that his son is a murderer and tries to cope as his son is sentenced to death.
He does not understand why his son has to die because of the way his environment and his friends led him. When he tries to do a favor for a friend, find his daughter, he ends up running into James Jarvis, the man whose son was shot by his. Fearing the man, he struggles to talk to him. When they met, few words were exchanged, but each read the heart of the other and understood the sorrow and grief (Magill 1415). Eventually he returns to Ndotenshi and mourns over his son s sentence.
His trip to Johannesburg brought much suffering to him. Throughout his trip, he suffers as he is confronted by a family that has deserted God and a son that has gone against all of Kumalo s teachings. James Jarvis, another one of the main characters in Paton s novel is presented with a tragedy that leaves his son dead. First of all, Jarvis is faced with the simple fact of his son s murder.
For any parent this results in an immeasurable amount of emotional stress. He suffers with his son s death and at first has problems standing up. He wonders why it had to be his son as he tries to cope with the problem. Once in Johannesburg he starts piecing together facts about his son s life. He talks to his son s wife s family and learns the values and beliefs that his son stood for. He has problems understanding how his son came to believe in such things and feels like the person they describe is someone other than the son he knew.
When his wife asks him if he understood his son s life, he admits he didn t and says, I didn t know it would ever be so important to understand it (Paton 142). James Jarvis realizes that his son had journeyed into deep waters, (Callan 39). He suffers with the idea that he didn t know his son as well as he would have liked to. To help him deal with this problem he analyzes the work done by his dead son. He returns many times to the writings about social un justice written by his son (38). They give him a new perspective on the problems of the native Africans.
He struggles with this as his old views are now shattered by a new realization. After struggling with the writings, he hears of all the acts of charity his son was committed to for the advancement of the natives. Because of these new realizations Jarvis gains a compassion and understanding which will lead him to perform the charitable acts in the remaining parts of the novel (Fitzwater 37). All the suffering presented to Jarvis helps him gain an understanding into the struggle of native Africans. The understanding that each character gains leads him to have compassion for other people. First of all, Jarvis shows compassion to Kumalo.
Although it was Kumalo s son who murdered his son, Jarvis still is kind. When Kumalo went to the mountaintop to be alone and pray Jarvis wished him to go in peace (Magill 1415). Jarvis, because of the suffering that he himself had gone through, understood Kumalo s pain and is compassionate. Also, when they first met, Jarvis was kindly to Kumalo, although it is not easy for a white man to be kept waiting (Paton 178). Although he did not know who it was, Jarvis could see the suffering in Kumalo s demeanor.
Jarvis is also compassionate to the church. When he visited Kumalo s church, he got a first-hand taste of life for native Africans. Feeling generous, he offered to build the people a new church (Paton 262). Jarvis then shows compassion for the townspeople of Ndotenshi. Hearing that the babies were lacking essential nutrients because of a lack of milk, Jarvis arranged for milk to be sent to the children (Magill 1415). This helps the babies regain there health thereby pleasing everyone.
After seeing and hearing about the stated of the land, Jarvis did the best he could by hiring an agricultural demonstrator (Paton 251). Jarvis sends him there to try to restore the land the best he can. Also, to help the land get the water it needs, Jarvis arranges for a dam to be built. He puts it up in hope that it will help to revive the land to what it once was. He also brings in good seed so that the people of the land can grow the food and plants that they and the animals need to survive. His understanding of the state of the people that came not only from his son s writings, but also from his recent experiences, compelled him to perform these acts.
Although Kumalo does not have much to offer Jarvis, he shows his compassion by friendship. He is as respectful to him as a person can be and tries to offer the best of what he has to Jarvis. Jarvis recognized this and sends a letter thanking him for his friendship (Magill 1415). The understanding that these men gain through their sufferings give them a feeling of compassion for others. Through these men and their experiences, Paton is able to show that personal struggles can create understanding and compassion. The private experiences of Kumalo leads him to understand life and the troubles associated with it.
Throughout Jarvis experiences, he learns to understand the experiences of others including Kumalo and other native Africans. This leads them both to show compassion towards others.
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