Cry The Beloved Country Essay

The time period of the publication of Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton coincides with the transitional era prior to the official beginning of the apartheid that lasted a few decades in the South African history. This period in the South Africa was important for the history of the country because it determined the future of the direction chosen by the nation. Those were the years when despite the fact that things were bad, there still was hope about the future of Africa and its people. This feeling of hope, regardless of the terrible conditions that the black Africans had to deal with, is one of the central ideas in the Paton's novel. The author points out to the problems of social and political injustice, as well as the racial discrimination
Both characters go through dynamic evolution throughout the novel. Stephen Kumalo starts his path as a naïve, rural priest, who wishes to reunite his family by brining his sister, Gertrude and his son, Absalom back. In the process of his journey, he loses his naivety by facing the consequences of his son's failure. Although he loses his son, who was finally hung for killing Arthur Jarvis, Kumalo discovers a newfound maturity and wisdom. His effort to reunite his family is comparable to his wish to reunite his people, the black South Africans among themselves and with the whites. Kumalo is coming to realization of that while listening to Msimangu, "I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white men and black men, desiring neither power nor money, but desiring only the good of their country, come together to work for it" (71). Through the burden of guilt and shame for his son, disappointment in his brother, and his nephew John, who betrayed Absalom, Kumalo finds strength to overcome his pain and open his eyes to see that there are people on the other side, on the white side, who also want to help awaken the