Cry the Beloved Country - Critical Commentary

Harold C. Gardiner, S.J. wrote a very interesting article entitled, "Critical Commentary." He wrote his essay in the year 1948. Throughout his work, his main idea is to praise the book, "Cry, the Beloved Country", written by Alan Paton. Gardiner is very satisfied with the book's subject matter of tension between Negroes and whites.
For the first part of Gardiner's article he focuses on summarizing the novel. He explains that the book takes place in Southern Africa and he tells the reader about Kumala, the main character. Gardiner says that the theme of the book has two parts. One is "the struggle of natives, attracted from the land and their tribes to the huge mining towns…." The other is "the decline of tribal life…" (page 1- paragraph#2 [both quotes]). Gardiner goes on to describe Kumalo's quest into the huge city of Johannesburg. Kumalo is in search of his sister, and his son. Both of which had not had any contact with their parents since they left home. Gardiner explains that Kumalo's son has run away from reform school, and has been involved in a killing. The victim of this crime is the son of a white man who owns lands near the pastor, Kumalo's church. Later Gardiner states that "There are no sweeping and grandiose statements about ‘the race problem'." (Page 1 – paragraph#4) In the book Paton puts a black man and a white man "shoulder to shoulder" (page 1 – paragraph#4). Gardiner says that the novel suggests that every one should start looking at each other as individual people, rather than a color or ethnic group. Gardiner displays a lot of praise towards Paton for his excellent presentation of this idea. He also says that the book shows the characters having no regard for "race". Next Gardiner is presenting more acclimation for the book. He is siting parts of the book in which he feels strong compassion towards. After a couple of examples of his favorite passages Gardiner states that the readers of his article must read the novel if they wish to obtain any more motivating phrases. Gardiner closes his essay by telling the readers that "the loud and startling are not always the significant things in life" and that this also applies to novels. He goes on to say that "Cry the Beloved Country" is not about the evil in racism, but rather in the love, and compassion that can help solve the race problem. I feel that Gardiner is a very intelligent writer, and that he is a very intellectual man. His essay is very interesting and heart rending. He clearly explains the true meaning of the novel. Hopefully by reading this book, and using this easy for understanding, people can start to work on solving the race problem.
Harold C. Gardiner, S.J. wrote a very interesting article entitled, "Critical Commentary." He wrote his essay in the year 1948. Throughout his work, his main idea is to praise the book, "Cry, the Beloved Country", written by Alan Paton. Gardiner is very satisfied with the book's subject matter of tension between Negroes and whites.
For the first part of Gardiner's article he focuses on summarizing the novel. He explains that the book takes place in Southern Africa and he tells the reader about Kumala, the main character. Gardiner says that the theme of the book has two parts. One is "the struggle of natives, attracted from the land and their tribes to the huge mining towns…." The other is "the decline of tribal life…" (page 1- paragraph#2 [both quotes]). Gardiner goes on to describe Kumalo's quest into the huge city of Johannesburg. Kumalo is in search of his sister, and his son. Both of which had not had any contact with their parents since they left home. Gardiner explains that Kumalo's son has run away from reform school, and has been involved in a killing. The victim of this crime is the son of a white man who owns lands near the pastor, Kumalo's church. Later Gardiner states that "There are no sweeping and grandiose statements about ‘the race problem'." (Page 1 – paragraph#4) In the book Paton puts a black man and a white man "shoulder to shoulder" (page 1 – paragraph#4). Gardiner says that the novel suggests that every one should start looking at each other as individual people, rather than a color or ethnic group. Gardiner displays a lot of praise towards Paton for his excellent presentation of this idea. He also says that the book shows the characters having no regard for "race". Next Gardiner is presenting more acclimation for the book. He is siting parts of the book in which he feels strong compassion towards. After a couple of examples of his favorite passages Gardiner states that the readers of his article must read the novel if they wish to obtain any more motivating phrases. Gardiner closes his essay by telling the readers that "the loud and startling are not always the significant things in life" and that this also applies to novels. He goes on to say that "Cry the Beloved Country" is not about the evil in racism, but rather in the love, and compassion that can help solve the race problem. I feel that Gardiner is a very intelligent writer, and that he is a very intellectual man. His essay is very interesting and heart rending. He clearly explains the true meaning of the novel. Hopefully by reading this book, and using this easy for understanding, people can start to work on solving the race problem.