The Theme of Cry, The Beloved Country

The Theme of Cry, The Beloved Country

Cry, The Beloved Country is a book written by Alan Paton which is set in Apartheid South Africa. The book is told from the prospective of Stephen Kumalo a preacher whose son murdered, on accident, an activist for the equality of everyone in South Africa. Thus to the point, the theme of the novel is that racial inequality is a viscous cycle that only cause of many negative things. Throughout the novel the main character’s life is affected by the racial tensions of the Europeans and the Natives. In fact, Kumalo’s journey not only showcases the poor conditions Native South African’s where made to live, but it also showcases the root of native crime,  and demonstrates the growing angst between the two aforementioned groups.

It is clear from the start of the book that Kumalo is not overwhelmed with wealth which, is not an uncommon thing in his setting. This is seen in the first chapter which contrasts the high land and low land. The high land which the White Europeans live is described and as having “rich and matted grass” and being “well kept”; however the low land which Kumalo and the other Natives live is described as “red and bare” and as having “too many cows that feed upon the grass”.  The stark contrast between the two dwellings clearly shows which of the two groups has the short end of the stick. The author did a great a job getting the point across that the equality……well there is no equality. The whites get the first pick and the natives get the leftovers.

I guess some of the natives got sick of leftovers because in the book there is a rise of native crime. This is seen in chapter five when the preachers discuss the newspaper specifically the article “Couple Robbed and Beaten in Lonely House. Four Natives Arrested.” This foreshadowing of events alludes to the natives’ desperateness and displays the measures they have to resort to in order to survive. This in-world reference also, as I said earlier, is also a foreshadowing of his son’s crime of breaking and entering and murder of Arthur Jarvis the activist who, as irony would have it, was writing a book entitled The Truth about Native Crime which as revealed by Paton metaphorically is desperation.

As you can imagine, the Europeans didn’t like that crime was on the rise especially since the natives where the one committing them. In fact, Mismangu says things where getting so bad that the “the white people from Norwood, Orange Grove, and Highlands” got so tired of it they started “a great petition” to demolish Alexandria a well-known stomping ground of prostitution, crime, and bootlegging. The author was creative when finding an “avatar” for the White Europeans’ voice; he used Mismangu an elderly Native priest to express the pure disdain of Native Crime. By doing this, Paton not only reveals that the Native community knows the Europeans intentions, but puts forth the point that even though the whites are the ones that originally “broke the tribe” and caused the ghetto to arise and fester with crime they only want to preserve their peace and will once again steal away the homes, no matter how impoverished and crime ridden, of the natives.

The main theme of Cry, The Beloved Country is that racial prejudice, inequality, and hate is a viscous cycle. The oppressed lose their rights, the oppressed fight back, and the oppressors fight back harder. Alan Paton knew this and he knew the one cure to the problem. Through Mismangu Paton says this, “I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white men and black men, desiring neither power or money, but desiring only the good of their country, come together to work for it.”

By: Bryce Mitchell
Word Count: 639