Cry The Beloved Country Courage

Cry, The Beloved Country Essay Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis were two of the most outstanding characters in the novel Cry, the Beloved Country. Their courage and endurance to overcome the tragic events they have endured throughout the novel has proven that fact indefinitely. Although both of these characters are extremely courageous, James Jarvis proves to be the most courageous because of all the terrible hardships he overcomes. James Jarvis overcomes the hateful racial misunderstandings he has with the natives, the death of his beloved son, the courage to genuinely forgive the murderer, and create a powerful friendship with the murderer’s father and natives in general.
Having the will and courage to overcome a loss of a relative is something extraordinarily tough to do. James Jarvis portrayed this courage, but at an even deeper level because it was his own son that died. His son, Arthur Jarvis, was killed by Absalom Kumalo, Stephen Kumalo’s son. James Jarvis has the courage to not only overcome the death of his son, but forgive to the Kumalo family and form a resilient friendship with them. By having this courage he “understands” what he “did not understand” before about the natives and is awarded with peace. (Alan Paton 214)
When James Jarvis made the decision to forgive the Kumalo family, he was beyond genuine in his forgiveness.
He had the courage risk his reputation by profoundly aiding the native’s reconstruction of a “dirty old wood-and-iron” church. (Paton 174) James Jarvis dropped his blind “anger” that he held with the natives and did not care of the fact that it was in the middle of the Apartheid or how other wealthy land owners would think of him for these kind deeds. (Paton 214) Having the courage to do kind deeds for the natives even though he had been taught a discriminatory nature proves his courageous advantage over Stephen
Kumalo. Racial struggles in South Africa at the time period in the novel are prominent due to the Apartheid theme. James Jarvis himself is described as being a rich white man who has been persuaded to believe that natives are an almost parasitic group that tries to overrun the city. By his son’s death, he eventually gains the courage to learn the true knowledge on the natives; regardless of the racist atmosphere. James Jarvis is “deeply moved” by his son’s writing this ultimately gives him the courage to change his views on the natives. (Paton 188) James Jarvis and Stephen share a lot of similar attributes. Both of them lose their sons, are in the middle of racial tension, and overcome racial misunderstandings. Both men are outstandingly courageous because of the trials they pass. But because of the harder trials that James Jarvis overcomes, he is evident to be the most courageous in the novel Cry, the Beloved Country.

Work Cited
Paton, Alan. Cry, The Beloved Country, New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1948, Print.