Reoccurring Motif
Jacqueline Carrillo
April 21, 2011
Cry, the Beloved Country Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton, tells the story of Reverend Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom and of their relationship as father and son. At the time the novel is set, many events are occurring: tribal societies are falling, urban cities are growing, and social injustices have become very common during this time. These events cause drastic changes in the live of these two men and many other characters in the novel. Alan Paton has a reoccurring motif throughout the whole novel to help portray his themes more clearly, such motif is that of fear. Paton shows the readers that the people of South Africa fear of society and of the mysterious nature of life. Through the use …show more content…
Fear causes people to grow apart, and it makes people to question the nature of life. The cure that can help with this fear can be found anywhere, making Cry, the Beloved Country an inspirational novel. When Kumalo is facing the death of his son Absalom he comes to realize that: “such fear could not be cast out, but by love” (311). Love has the power to help people at their hardest times, which is what Kumalo needed to be able to surpass all these adversities thrown at him. The last line of the novel is very important because it comes to a sudden realization that fear will end and the human spirit will no longer be troubled. People anxiously wait for that to happen, a sudden rebirth of the human soul. Paton explains: “But when that dawn will come, of our emancipation, from the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear, why, that is a secret” (312). Paton realizes that everyone will have their moment of salvation, the moment where the spirit will be free of troubles, reaching its “emancipation.” The human spirit will be free from the “bondage of fear” and “fear of bondage,” meaning that the human spirit will be free from being influenced by fear and of the fear of being influenced by anything. Paton says that when this “dawn” will come is a “secret.” It is a dawn because the earth experiences through dawn every day, it is something that will come for sure, so the moment the human race will be free of fears is sure to come, but when it comes is a secret. One can be sure that emancipation will come, just as dawn comes. These words are very inspirational and make the troubles of fear seem acceptable one knows that there will be better things to
April 21, 2011
Cry, the Beloved Country Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton, tells the story of Reverend Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom and of their relationship as father and son. At the time the novel is set, many events are occurring: tribal societies are falling, urban cities are growing, and social injustices have become very common during this time. These events cause drastic changes in the live of these two men and many other characters in the novel. Alan Paton has a reoccurring motif throughout the whole novel to help portray his themes more clearly, such motif is that of fear. Paton shows the readers that the people of South Africa fear of society and of the mysterious nature of life. Through the use …show more content…
Fear causes people to grow apart, and it makes people to question the nature of life. The cure that can help with this fear can be found anywhere, making Cry, the Beloved Country an inspirational novel. When Kumalo is facing the death of his son Absalom he comes to realize that: “such fear could not be cast out, but by love” (311). Love has the power to help people at their hardest times, which is what Kumalo needed to be able to surpass all these adversities thrown at him. The last line of the novel is very important because it comes to a sudden realization that fear will end and the human spirit will no longer be troubled. People anxiously wait for that to happen, a sudden rebirth of the human soul. Paton explains: “But when that dawn will come, of our emancipation, from the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear, why, that is a secret” (312). Paton realizes that everyone will have their moment of salvation, the moment where the spirit will be free of troubles, reaching its “emancipation.” The human spirit will be free from the “bondage of fear” and “fear of bondage,” meaning that the human spirit will be free from being influenced by fear and of the fear of being influenced by anything. Paton says that when this “dawn” will come is a “secret.” It is a dawn because the earth experiences through dawn every day, it is something that will come for sure, so the moment the human race will be free of fears is sure to come, but when it comes is a secret. One can be sure that emancipation will come, just as dawn comes. These words are very inspirational and make the troubles of fear seem acceptable one knows that there will be better things to