Preview

Cry the Beloved Country

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
460 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cry the Beloved Country
Cry, The Beloved Country

"Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much."

Cry, the Beloved Country, the title in itself tells us of the intensity of the love the author has for his country, his beloved country. It is a story of comfort in desolation. Such contrasting aspects are displayed throughout the book. In this book the statesman, the poet and the novelist meet in a unique harmony. The story is set in 1940's and 1950's South Africa and discusses social problems present at that time. It really involves experiences all humans encounter in their lives: fear, repentance, and redemption. His themes expel any restriction of time, location, or ethnicity. The journey, the contrast, the resulting growth and awareness, the understanding and and acceptance all mix together to create a really powerful image. It is a social protest against the injustices present in the african society. It is a country fraught with racial tensions and searching desperately for a solution to its problems. The turmoil and confusion and poverty and physical beauty of South Africa is enthralling, as is the passion of the handful of South African characters who are committed to seeing justice one day served in their country. The author tries to bring out these issues in this book through various characters and their journey lead them to make different discoveries about the effects of the inequality in South Africa. South Africa herself is also a main character. "Cry, The Beloved Country" is written between a mix of a description and narration. The time period and setting of the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The poem is set in Sydney on busy day that has been disturbed by the weeping of a single man. Repetition is used to enhance the fact that, “No one can stop him,”, as the Narrator describes. It becomes apparent that the reason his crying is not stopped is simply because of the way he cries, not with shame or pity, but with a mature dignity that stops any one from stopping him. The next few stanzas of the poem describe the awe, and even reverence that the observers feel towards this man’s weeping. The narrator describes how the crowd feels, “their minds/longing for tears as children for a rainbow,” describing how their fears of expressing emotion are now realized. This poem provides the insight into emotional expression by describing the feelings that the people feel when they are struck with realization of the loss of emotion in modern…

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    settle for ever and the home country turn into a beloved object whose loss is mourned as…

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    As you read Cry, the Beloved Country, you will take notes with a dialectical journal. Doing this will help you to track your progress and can be used as a resource both during the reading and once you are done. To fill out your journal, select quotes that you find interesting or significant. If the passage you have chosen is too long, paraphrase or summarize the passage briefly. On the right side, include commentary that addresses your choice. Why do you think this is significant? Is it an important turning point in the plot? Does it reveal a new aspect of a character? Is it strong writing,…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Plot Summary Stephen Kumalo, a priest in the small South African village of Ndotsheni receives a letter stating that he must travel to Johannesbur, New York City of South Africa. Upon arriving to Johannesburg, Kumalo is overwhelmed but is helped by a fellow priest named Msimangu. Kumalo finds his sister Gertrude living the life of a prostitute and attempts to sway her from her ways. While various events occur that teach the listener and Kumalo about the racial cleavages plaguing the country, Kumalo discovers that his son who he came to Johannesburg to find has accidentally murdered a prominent black South African rights advocate, Arthur Jarvis. Kumalo befriends his son’s pregnant girlfriend and takes her under his wing as a sort of adopted child. Absalom is eventually ruled guilty of murder by the South African courts and is sentenced to hang. Grief stricken, Kumalo returns to his village to find it in a state of disrepair. While in Johannesburg we were introduced to Arthur Jarvis’ father, James Jarvis who comes into an uneasy relationship/friendship with Kumalo at this point. Arthur Jarvis’ son, who is learning Zulu and is eager to learn about the Black South African culture, introduces many helpful reforms to the…

    • 1030 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the poem, the father cannot remember a new story to tell his son. With this, the father starts to think of the upsetting idea that his son will be “packing his shirts…” and leaving. The father then yells and tries to give an explanation for his quietness. This reaction shows the father’s fear of his son leaving and losing him to time. The father’s view of his son leaving involves a plea to tell him one more story and to not leave. This contrast of the father, a man that forgot a new story and the parent in love with his child, makes for a better understanding of the deep relationship the father has with his…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is established that there are conflicting perspectives between past and present, with people of the present having a greater understanding of the implications of apartheid. However, some are still ignorant - shown when a woman tries to give a Springbok Jersey to a young African child. Another lady informs her “If he wears it, he will get beaten up. For them, Springbok still represents apartheid.” Within this scene, the director uses positioning to held audience understand tensions, and close ups to show the confusion on the woman’s face and the shock of the boy. This small scene is representative of how some white Africans are trying to reach out, but still do not understand the existing implications of…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The title of the poem, the widower in the country immediately gives the reader the impression of an individual in a vast area. This lets the readers know that the widower is alone and isolated. Already, the reader already feels sympathy for the widower, not only because he has lost his wife, but he now lives alone in a vast and empty area.…

    • 776 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The poem “My Country” by Dorothea Mackellar portrays a much brighter, more liveable and loveable country. This is evident by the use of high modality words, like ‘I love’ and ‘Her beauty’. The poem also use rhyming words throughout the poem in a subtle, yet effective pattern that is; A, B, C, B.…

    • 274 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    gang leader for a day

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages

    This book is about a Sociologist named Sudhir Venkatesh who is a graduate student at the University of Chicago and was interested in the poor black neighborhoods that surrounded the university and he wanted to study them. He wanted to explore how the black folks lived in the projects, he wanted to know how life was like the challenges it took for those folks to live in there. The sacrifices it takes to move forward and how poverty affects the way of living. But he did not know what was going to happen ahead of him. He did not know that he would become the best friend of the gang leader of the Black Kings J.T. I read this book because I wanted to see how this text ties to what I have learned in my sociology class and from what I have read in my sociology book, and to be honest I am surprised that there is a lot of similarities found in this book. Some of the theories I learned are presented in this book in examples of Sudhir’s experiences in his journey with J.T. and within the black neighborhoods.…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Biblical reference within the story Cry the Beloved Country Many times in literary pieces, allusions are put in novels, used to foreshadow the ending of a book. The most common types of allusions are those from the bible. This is probably because many are familiar with the bible and its stories. The goal of foreshadowing is to provide a way for the reader to think more about the big picture, rather than what is happening page by page. In the novel, Cry the Beloved County, allusions to the Bible are very apparent and hold high significance in the story. The character Absalom shows tremendous similarities to the Biblical Absalom and almost seem to be made out of the same mold. Steven Kumalo from the novel and the simple man Job from the bible…

    • 1447 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The event’s that occur in the novel such as the racist attitudes of the town and the unjust ruling of the court are global issues, which are common occurrences in today’s society.…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever looked into the main factors that make a plot line function? Well, in Alan Paton’s Cry, The Beloved Country, fear plays an integral role in South African society. This can be seen in how the plot moves, in the souls of African natives, and in the white society.…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Terra-Cotta Girl

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The poem has clear, wide-open drama while managing ambiguity and open-endedness. A sort of modern local color piece tinted with Southern elements, it nevertheless makes its characters real and sympathetic, treats important themes that are both topical and general, and offers an apt objective relationship with universal implications.…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Nelson Mandela Paper

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages

    When most people think of a prominent figure in South Africa one name always comes to mind; Nelson Mandela. Imagine a time in South Africa when, similar to old America, whites held most of the power. Due to the previous conflicts of the European countries in South Africa, there were many Europeans who heavily discriminated against the original African people. This is exactly the type of place Mandela was born into. Born in 1918, his family was part of a common South African clan, where he always enjoyed hearing the elder’s stories. These stories consisted of the black Africans’ struggle against whites during the time of the Boer war (Nelson Mandela Center of Memory). It is because of this individual that the world looks at South Africa the in way it is done today. Nelson Mandela has left his mark on the country, for without him there may not be equality, democracy, and learning opportunities for the black people of South Africa.…

    • 1054 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poem starts off in a world full of greed, gossip and a life of no time, and there is a man - crying in the middle of the street, yet no-one knows why. The town take an interest in this scene - a fully-grown man crying in public is unacceptable behaviour so everyone stands around, not knowing what to do. Some police try and stop him, or even try to take him away to end the commotion, but are held back and silently admire his bravery to show his emotions.…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays