Beloved Country Parallel
Cry, The Beloved Country, a book by Alan Paton, set in Ndotsheni and Johannesburg, South Africa, 1946. Cry, The Beloved Country is known to be parallel to second Samuel. Both Absalom and Stephen face fear and prejudice in Cry, The Beloved Country parallel to Absalom and David when facing injustice and grief in Second Samuel chapter thirteen through twenty-three.
Fear, an emotion felt by anyone, including Stephen and Absalom throughout the book. He fears for the land, for his son, for Jarvis, for all he sees in the city. Everyday a new fear arises and the greatest is that his faith is somehow pointless. This fear is a very important element a crucial juncture in the novel (Telgen 103). Kumalo lifted to his friend a face that was full of suffering. This thing, he …show more content…
The bible states, “And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!"(English Standard Version Bible,II Samuel, 18:33). The account of David grieving over Absalom’s death is one of the most moving passages of mourning in ancient literature.In all of this, David, though often weak and indecisive, is somehow sympathetic. The account is at pains to note the mitigating circumstances of David’s failures and human shortcomings. After the death of Absalom, the grief-stricken father is unable to attend to the affairs of the kingdom until he is roused to action by Joab’s rough admonition (19:1-8) (Birch 140). In spite of these events that seem to show David as weak and vacillating, he is nevertheless defended as God’s anointed one and more worthy of the throne than his scheming, violent sons. In his grief over Absalom he shows himself a compassionate and loving father in spite of his son’s treachery (Birch
Fear, an emotion felt by anyone, including Stephen and Absalom throughout the book. He fears for the land, for his son, for Jarvis, for all he sees in the city. Everyday a new fear arises and the greatest is that his faith is somehow pointless. This fear is a very important element a crucial juncture in the novel (Telgen 103). Kumalo lifted to his friend a face that was full of suffering. This thing, he …show more content…
The bible states, “And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!"(English Standard Version Bible,II Samuel, 18:33). The account of David grieving over Absalom’s death is one of the most moving passages of mourning in ancient literature.In all of this, David, though often weak and indecisive, is somehow sympathetic. The account is at pains to note the mitigating circumstances of David’s failures and human shortcomings. After the death of Absalom, the grief-stricken father is unable to attend to the affairs of the kingdom until he is roused to action by Joab’s rough admonition (19:1-8) (Birch 140). In spite of these events that seem to show David as weak and vacillating, he is nevertheless defended as God’s anointed one and more worthy of the throne than his scheming, violent sons. In his grief over Absalom he shows himself a compassionate and loving father in spite of his son’s treachery (Birch