Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton :: Cry, The Beloved Country Essays

The novel Cry the erotic love Country is based on the true- brio story of south African apartheid, and the indigenouss struggle for equality. During the book, Stephen Kumalo goes on a journey to find his sister, and his son, for they meet left the tribal land of KwaZulu-Natal a great time ago, and neither Kumalo nor his wife have heard of the whereabouts of either family members. As he goes on his journey, the things that he sees, and experiences tell the much vaster story of Apartheid in South Africa. When Kumalo arrives in the city, he is in the midst of the poverty and confusion that is the great city of Johannesburg where people from all the native tribes go to find jobs, money, and caparison among other things. He sees everything that is going on around him, all the oppressiveness that his people have to go through, and the agency they are treated. When he went and ground his sister, she was living in horrible conditions, and this really was the way that most siniste r people lived. They had their own part of the city, with their own schools, and their own busses, because the apartheid issue was so strong. By going along with Kumalo we, the reader, see how harsh normal life is for the natives of South Africa. While Kumalo was on his journey, he passed through the shantytowns where only color South Africans lived, and the busses that they were striking against. We see how difficult it is to go through everyday life as a black person, and how herculean it is to get from address to place if you do not know all the right people. This is the way that true South African life was for most people who lived there. It was not a good situation for anyone to be in. There was much sickness being spread throughout, and in the awfully crowded living conditions it was hard to escape it. Another congresswoman of the apartheid that was shown through Kumalos journey was the example of the bus strike. None of the natives agreed to take the bus for as long as they would have to pay outrageous rates.