Alan Paton

many advances through history, it is still plagued by many injustices throughout all societies. In literature, two of the greatest books pertaining to the topic of social injustice are I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton. If humans could avoid social injustices like the ones in these books, they would be able to advance and thrive at a much faster rate. In the autobiography I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai a young Pakistani girl just has a dream of achieving…

Response How structure impacts and changes throughout the book. Composed of three books, Cry, the Beloved Country, by author Alan Paton, uses a heavily unbiased, neutral description and view of the living conditions in both Johannesburg and the neighboring tribes to put into perspective the true apartheid bubbling beneath the story, even though we are all the same at our core. Paton relies heavily on interspersed, intercalary chapters throughout the book that seem to give us a glimpse into the…

there exists no way to avoid the inevitable. In a South Africa divided by apartheid, the old minded tribe struggles to strike a delicate balance with the new white rule with neither side willing to give into the other’s demands. Neither is able to In Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country, change dominates the landscape and society without signs of stopping in subtle antithesis, symbolism, and the characterization of Stephen Kumalo -from naïve clergy to suffering father- to craft the unstoppable…

so similar? In the novel, Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton, Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis were two characters that had a very different lifestyle that turned to be quite similar. Kumalo is a Black South African priest with a son frequently in trouble. Jarvis is a wealthy white South African farmer whose son devotes his time to mostly helping out the black community which is unusual for a white man to do. Throughout the book Paton shows how the two fathers start a quest to find their…

giving a speech, Msimangu says, “Perhaps we should thank God he is corrupt. For if he were not corrupt, he could plunge this country into bloodshed. He is corrupted by his possessions and he fears their loss, and the loss of the power he already has” (Paton 221). Although John Kumalo is gifted with a bull voice, he does not employ it to its full potential. While he could sacrifice his life for martyrdom, he is blinded by materialistic motives. John Kumalo plays chords of music to excite the…

When we read literature, we attempt to understand another perspective. Just as one understands the words of a book, one “attends to [the] suffering” (Schweizer) of the author, starting “an endless act of comprehension”. We can use literature as a device to understand another life. Literature helps readers gain perspective and understanding. However, Harold Schweizer questions the readers’ intents when he states “suffering can become the occasion of an endless act of comprehension”. Reading…

Jarvis In most fictional novels there is an existence of two main characters, a protagonist or the hero of the story, and an antagonist that might be portrayed as the villain. However this is not always the case. In Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton, the notions of protagonist and antagonist rivalry is ignored as the author creates parallel lives for the two main characters Stephen Kumalo, and James Jarvis. By sharing the similar experience of losing a child, Stephen Kumalo and James…

Throughout the novel Cry the Beloved Country, author Alan Paton captures the struggling dedication of Reverend Stephen Kumalo for the land of South Africa and the dwindling cultural bond of family. The author’s canvas of words; vividly illustrated the depth of oppression that embedded itself into the very fiber of the Zulu population. The oppressor evolved throughout the entire story. Quite similar to a to the traits of a predator, the oppressor transformed itself into a device that prayed on…

might be on the verge of a racial war. Racism is when one thinks his/her race is race is superior. When racism occurs then superior race gets better things for less and the segregated race gets less for more work. In the story Cry, The Beloved Country, Alan Paton’s character John Kumalo wrote “we know we do not get enough”. What John…

Effects of Fear on Apartheid South Africa In the novel Cry, The Beloved Country, Alan Paton shows how fear between races was a substantial issue in apartheid-era South Africa. Paton offers a stunningly harsh and realistic view of racial fear and the harmful effects it has on everyone. In South Africa at that time, unfortunately, racial segregation was legal and the native Blacks were treated differently from the white Afrikaners. Their unequal treatment led to fear and resentment of one…