by Alan Paton

Background information and context

 Background you need to know:
 Apartheid in South Africa:
 http://home.snu.edu/~dwilliam/f97projects/apartheid/Document5.html
 Background (2):
 European Colonization of South Africa:
http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu29me/uu29me03.htm
 Background (3):
 Johannesburg founded in 1886
 Mining town vast, newly discovered gold deposits
 Center of the most populated region of South Africa.
Key Facts
 Narrator: 3rd person omniscient primarily; also many
other points of view on temporary basis
 Point of View: Books I & III told from Kumalo’s point
of view; Book II from Jarvis
 Other chapters told from montage of voices from
different areas of S African society
 Narrator also shows things from other characters’
perspective occasionally
 Intercalary chapters: chapters which do not move the
plot along, but give key information necessary to
understand the novel
More Key Facts
 Tone: lyrical, grieving, occasionally bitter
 Tense: past
 Setting:
 Mid-40s, just after WW2
 Ndostsheni & Johannesburg, SA
 Protagonists: Stephen Kumalo & James Jarvis
 Major Conflict:
 Stephen Kumalo struggles against the forces: white
oppression, corruption of city life that destroy his
family & country
 Plot Summary
 black priest from Ixopo, Stephen Kumalo
 goes to Johannesburg to search for his
son and sister
 discovers that his sister has become a
prostitute
 his son has murdered the son of a white
Ixopo farmer
 Stephen Kumalo returns to Ixopo with
his pregnant daughter-in-law, and his
sister's son—sister remains behind
 Kumalo seeks to reconcile with the
murdered man’s father
 bring Gertrude back to the village.
Story Chart
 Rising Action:
 Kumalo travels to Johannesburg to search for his son
 Climax
 Absalom is arrested for the murder of Arthur Jarvis
 Falling Action
 Absalom is sentenced to death
 Jarvis works with Kumalo to improve conditions in the
village
 Absalom is hanged
Biblical Reference: Absalom
 There are many biblical references throughout the
novel.
 Names: Absalom, the son of Stephen Kumalo, shares
his name with the son of King David, who rose up
against his father in rebellion.
 Also, in the New Testament Book of Acts, Saint
Stephen was a martyr who died rather than give up
his beliefs.
More Biblical Allusions
 Absalom requests that his son's name be Peter
 Name is one of Jesus's disciples
 Peter's known for impulsiveness
 after Christ's arrest, he denied knowing Jesus three
times, and later wept in grief over this.
 After the resurrection, Peter renewed his commitment
to Christ and to spreading the Gospel.
 All of this suggests Absalom's final repentance, and
his commitment to the faith of his father.
More Allusions
 Arthur Jarvis is described as having a large collection
of books on Abraham Lincoln, and the writings of
Lincoln figure heavily in the novel.
 Paton describes Arthur's son by using the same
characteristics that Arthur had when he was a child.
This alludes to the rebirth of Christ.
Stephen Kumalo
 One of the 2 protagonists in novel
 Elderly Zulu Anglican priest
 Spent entire life in quiet country village: Ndotsheni
 Quiet, humble, strong faith in God
 Has outbursts of anger; his words occasionally cause
pain to his family
 Dignity & faith despite the suffering he sustains
 Moral center of novel
 His journey is a physical one to find his son & sister in
the corrupt city
 James Jarvis
 Novel's other protagonist
 White landowner whose farm overlooks Ndotsheni
 Jarvis a conservative farmer
 Man of few words
 Only son, Arthur, murdered
 Leads him to Johannesburg
 Begins to rethink his opinions and his relationship to
the villagers that live next to his farm.
 His journey is a spiritual, mental one
 Theophilus Msimangu
 Young minister at the Mission House in Sophiatown
 Msimangu understands the problems that face South
Africa
 He helps Kumalo understand the people and places
 Sympathetic to Kumalo, makes Kumalo's quest his top
priority.
 Absalom Kumalo
 Stephen Kumalo's son
 Leaves home for Johannesburg
 Absalom turns to crime
 Commits murder
 Lack moral compass, influenced by bad companions
 John Kumalo
 Stephen Kumalo's brother
 Formerly humble carpenter and a Christian
 John Kumalo becomes a successful businessman
 One of the three most powerful black politicians in
Johannesburg
 He has a beautiful and powerful voice, uses to speak
out for the rights of black South Africans, but he fears
punishment & is corrupted.
 Arthur Jarvis
 Arthur Jarvis first appears after he has been murdered
 He is an engineer and fierce advocate for justice for
black South Africans
 Is shot dead in his home by Absalom Kumalo
 Mrs. Kumalo
 Strong-minded, supportive, loving wife
 Makes household decisions with her husband as an
equal
 She bears hardship gracefully
 Kumalo is inclined to brood
 She rouses him to action
 She supplies the courage needed to read the bad news
the mail brings from Johannesburg
 Gertrude Kumalo
 Stephen Kumalo's sister
 Original reason for his trip to Johannesburg
 Gertrude, twenty-five years younger than Kumalo
 Went to Johannesburg to find her husband
 Turns to alcohol and prostitution
 Her young son returns to Ndotsheni with Stephen
Kumalo, but she remains in Johannesburg
Form & Structure
 Problem or sociological novel
 Social issue is racial discrimination in South Africa
 Propaganda novel?
 Strongly influenced by Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath
 Books are alike in structure:
 Chapters 9, 12, & 23 are intercalary or inserted chapters
 Give you a picture of society as a whole
 Do not advance the plot
 Lead to full understanding of the setting for the story
Structure
 Novel is circular
 Begins in Natal-Moves to Johannesburg-Ends in Ndotsheni
in Natal
 Plot & Themes presented in 3 part structure
 Book 1: search for Stephen Kumalo’s son & sister
 Theme of tribal disintegration stronger than tribal rebuilding
in this book
 Book 2: trial, intercalary chapters give more social issues
background
 Both major themes appear, but breakdown of traditional
order is still stronger
 Book 3: resolution; Kumalo & Jarvis work to change village of
Ndotsheni
 Stress on theme of rebuilding; promise of hope for future
Style
 Realistic
 Uses symbols:
 Names of characters
 Titihoya bird—symbol of land
 Meals sometimes a communion
 Mountains & uplands seen as good places
 Valleys, places of decay—except Johannesburg
 Language
 More common English patterns when white man is
thinking
 Harsh & to the point; more complicated than his main
style
Language
 Paton invented special style for the book
 Simple vocabulary
 Use of biblical patterns
 Use of Zulu & other Bantu languages
 Symbols like light & darkness
 Short clauses connected by but or and
 Repetition
 Used to represent speech or thoughts translated from Zulu &
give comments from the omniscient narrator
 Both styles are seen in Chapter 22 where prosecutor’s
style contrasts with Absalom’s
Theme: Reconciliation between fathers &
sons
 Search of 2 fathers for their sons
 Kumalo’s is a physical search
 When Kumalo & Absalom are reunited they are
strangers to each other
 Trial brings them closer; but verdict allows Kumalo to
finally understand his son
 Letters from prison show repentance & the little boy
he remembers
Jarvis & his son
 Not a physical search
 Realizes knows nothing about his son
 Arthur was an advocate for South Africa’s black
population
 He & his father disagree on this
 Reconciliation with a dead man occurs
 Jarvis finds the way through Arthur’s writings
 Gives Jarvis clear insight into who Arthur has become
 Jarvis feels pride for his son
Inequality & Injustice
 Massive inequalities towards non-whites
 Black Africans can only own limited amounts of land
poor quality, overworked
 Land won’t support young adults—they must leave to
work in the mines or Johannesburg
 Absalom & Gertrude—examples
 Economic lure of city leads to danger
 Limited opportunities to earn money; separated from
family and tradition turn to crime
 City full of slums and gangs
 These conditions lead to anger and violence
 Rob white homes
 Whites become afraid and loose sympathy for the
blacks
 More injustice occurs and this makes situation worse
 Absalom’s lawyer claims Absalom is society’s victim
 Whites get government troops to crack down and the
situation explodes
 Christianity and Injustice
• Kumalo’s main source of strength is God
• Christianity also aids in resisting oppression
• Arthur Jarvis calls the mine policies un-Christian
• Religion is seen as a way to bring social justice without
violence
• Christianity is also part of the injustice
• Black priests paid less than white ones
• Religion says to suffer; not fight back
• Arthur Jarvis also discusses that religious figures claim
God wants whites to rule blacks
Depiction of Nature
 Contrasts the beauty of Natal against the ugliness of
South Africa
 Hills & Rivers of the whites more fruitful & lovely
 Land of the black farmers barren, dry, hostile
 Contrast between beauty of the land vs. ugliness of
society shows necessity of change
 Also, offers hope
 Land can be restored
 Titihoya bird represents the land—has deserted the
barren land around Ndotsheni, but still around the
white farms higher up
Repentance
 Many characters lose temper in novel
 Msimangu when learns Absalom abandoned his
girlfriend
 Young man at reformatory is mad at Absalom
 Kumalo loses temper at wife, son’s girlfriend, his
brother, sister
 Sometimes scenes are ugly
 Acts are met by repentance
 Characters are forgiven
 Pattern demonstrates power of caring to overcome
bitterness
Repeated Phrases
 Phrases repeated: show subtle changes in meaning
 As was the custom/or it was not the custom
 Kumalo expects to be treated as an inferior
 When the custom is broken—phrase shows how
important these small acts are
 Not a thing done lightly shows this
 Reconciliation scenes
 Repetition of these phrases shows how often these
taboos are changing
Symbols
 Church
 Ndotsheni church simple, rough structure
 Represents faith that is humble—leaky roof, little
shelter
 Church closely linked to Kumalo
 Jarvis’s offer to build a new church is symbol of his
commitment to the village & friendship with Kumalo
Kaffir Boy-Mark Mathabane
 Excerpt from a novel
 Author born in South Africa, 1960
 Mother dragged him to school when he was 7—stayed
in school to spite his father who beat the mother for
taking him
 Lived in Alexandra, a township outside Johannesburg
 Approximately 150,000 lived in an area of 1 square
mile
 Lived in a shack 15’ by 15’ and slept on cardboard
sheets under the kitchen table
Story excerpt
 Excerpt we read was when his Grandmother took him
to her employer’s home
 They gave him books and occasionally work
 Also gave him a used tennis racket
 He will teach himself to play and enters a tournament
in 1977
 Loses tournament but gains scholarship to school in
US
 At 18 leaves South Africa
 Tennis was his way to further his education and get
out of South Africa
 Only through education would blacks gain rights
Mathabane conclusion
 From experience with the white family who helped
him learned are good and bad whites; just as good
and bad blacks
 Experience in US taught him racism everywhere just
less obvious here
 Has worked to gain opportunities for urban youth
both here and in South Africa
“A Life for a Life”
 Short story by Alan Paton
 Brutal act of violence of a violent person who is acting
with the authority of society
 The white farmer is killed so someone must pay for
this—someone of color
 Title important because the death/murder of Enoch
Maarman by Robertsse
 Deliberate act of murder against an innocent man
that is allowed by society
 Maarman is a Hottentot an African tribe located
around Capetown, South Africa
Hottentots
Khoekhoe
 Proper term for this tribe
 Hottentots is considered
offensive as name was
given by European settlers
who took over the area
around Capetown
 This group was one of the
3 original inhabitants of
South Africa with the
Bantu and San tribes
“Drink in the Passage”
 Also by Alan Pato
 Liberal whites long to have a relationship with the
African blacks
 Edward Simelane personifies all that is best in the
natives according to them
 Their fear however keeps them from inviting him into
their homes and so he is left standing in the hallway
 This puts him at even greater risk
 Whites in story represent ineffectual & ambivalent
efforts of the liberal whites in South Africa
 Protest treatment of natives yet lack power
“Drink . . .” continued
 Protests attract government attention and more
repressive acts towards natives
 Paton worries that South Africa will never change
 Much like the white family in Kaffir Boy excerpt—
want to help but in a way that won’t take away from
material wealth of the whites
Mother and
Child
by Mike
Munyaradzi
Why is this novel so important?
Doris Lessing, the novelist and 2007 Nobel laureate in
literature said:
 “What you have to remember is that the whole of
southern Africa was seen as a very happy, fun place full
of satisfied blacks…. Cry, the Beloved Country
destroyed that vision.”
 “[Cry, the Beloved Country is] the greatest novel to
emerge out of the tragedy of South Africa, and ‘one of
the best novels of our time.’”
~The New Republic
 Helpful Hint:
 As you read the book, remember to refer to the back,
which has a GLOSSARY of African terms you may not
be familiar with.