Alan Stewart Paton's Cry The Beloved Country

2399 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What cry beloved country means

Jbari Bonner Mrs. Gregory AP English 23 March, 2014 Period 6 General text Summation: Cry The Beloved Country Section One: Facts on Author and History The author of Cry the Beloved Country Alan Stewart Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu Natal on January 11, 1903. He is the son to James Paton and Eunice Warder. Neither of his parents possessed top tier educations but his father James was deeply religious and used the Bible, and most importantly the Old Testament as a basis for knowledge and inspiration. This had a deeply profound impact on Alan as he was encouraged to pursue a quality education. Growing up Alan admired the works of Walter Scott, Charles Dickens and Rupert Brooke. Paton began his studies at the University of Natal. In 1935 Paton was selected as Principal of Diepkloof Reformatory where he served for thirteen years. This in particular experience had a tremendous impact on his political growth. During the 1940’s Paton travelled to Sweden, Norway and North America to study prisons and reformatories. Paton began writing his first, and perhaps Paton’s most prominent, novel Cry the Beloved Country in 1946 in Trondheim, Norway. He concluded the novel on Christmas Eve of the same year in San Francisco. In April 1988 Paton was diagnosed with inoperable throat cancer. He passed away in Durban on 12 April 1988, writing until his death. Section Two: Genre The genre of the novel Cry the Beloved Country is evidently a drama, but it has three diverse aspects to the drama. The aspects this novel supplies are that of a tragedy, coming of age and a family drama. Cry the Beloved Country can be broken down into a drama because of the constant struggle between Kumalo and his family struggles. Kumalo has to deal with his c... ... middle of paper ... ...gonist on down. The main figure in the story that parallel Christ was Arthur Jarvis. Arthur Jarvis was someone who tried to spread his knowledge and impact everyone he came across and was regarded as a missionary. His goal o spread peace and ultimately leads to his death much like Christ. Section Sixteen: Letter to the Author Dear Mr. Paton How are you Mr. Paton? Where do you currently reside? Well I won’t be before you long; I just wanted to ask a couple questions. I always wanted to know coming from a relatively poor country and family, how do you let those things inspire you rather than become a product of your environment. I’ve always been curious! How was it seeing Nelson Mandela rise fall and come back, it must be amazing to witness history on full effect in front of your eyes? Well these were all my questions thank you for time Sincerely Jbari Bonner

Show More
Related

  • CIA Rhetorical Analysis Cia

    1730 Words  | 4 Pages

    The author targets the emotions of parents who are forced to think about losing their children as result of the war. Moreover, readers are overcome with sadness due to their emotional bond established with the character in the previous chapters. The passage relates to the author’s purpose in that particular chapter by providing a window into the hours after the Khost tragedy.

    Read More

  • Book Analysis Of The Crying A Lot By Thomas Pynchon

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    I am going to summarize and analyze the novel named ‘’The Crying a Lot’’. This novel belongs to Thomas Pynchon. I will try to analyze this complicated but escapist novel.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Movie, The Yellow Earth

    494 Words  | 1 Pages

    One member of this society is not as eager to keep the status quo. Cuiqiao is seen in the beginning apprehensively observing an arranged marriage. Her older sister had been beaten by her betrothed and the audience is never informed on how her mother died. Cuiqiao expresses her sorrow in song, most pitifully in th...

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Cry, the Beloved Country

    535 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Alan Paton's novel Cry, the Beloved Country two characters, Absalom's girl and Gertrude, show the how society in Johannesburg is as a whole. Absalom's girl symbolizes how girls her age are mothers and have even become divorced several times before. On the other hand Gertrude, Kumalo's sister, illustrates the qualities of a young woman who becomes corrupt from Johannesburg's filthy system of stealing, lying, and prostitution. Both of them show the ways of Johannesburg as a whole.

    Read More

  • Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cry the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton is a novel inspired by the industrial revolution. Paton describes in detail the conditions in which the Africans were living during this time period, 1946. This story tells about a Zulu pastor who goes into the city in search of his son and siblings who left in search of a better life. The pastor sees this immense city where a ruling white group is oppressing the black population. This novel is more than just a story, but it depicts the effects imperialism and the Industrial Revolution had on South Africa. Although the government has intervened to protect the people, some of these effects are still present in our societies.

    Read More

  • The Reality Of Racism- As Exhibited In Cry, The Beloved Country

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cry, the Beloved Country is not another novel of common strife between man and his fellow. It is an entirely higher sense of what "brother against brother" is. Seemingly harmless characters like Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis reveal the bigger picture of racism around the entire country. The effect of extreme poverty, the responsibility of the whites, made this story possible. The solution to the problem is portrayed through Absalom, his crime, and Arthur Jarvis. "'Bexxuse the white man has power, we too want power,' he said. 'But when a black man gets power, when he gets money, he is a great man if he is not corrupted [Paton 70].'" John Kumalo's words were rebuke against the white nation. The blacks had the same vices and values as the whites, yet the whites were more dominant. Why should it be that way? This story is the protest against that white domination.

    Read More

  • Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton and Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe both encompass many different aspects of the effects political unrest conveys on society. An entire society does not change easily, and uprooting customs all at once, and replacing them with something unlike customs previously established, does not resonate well with the members of that society. Although an individual can willingly change with little hesitancy, that one person does not represent the whole. On the other hand, when others are introduced to new customs, the transition overwhelms them. The tensions of societal change that the characters of Cry, the Beloved Country and Things Fall Apart confront consist of so-called crimes committed, the environmental circumstances, and their willingness and unwillingness to abide by the new rules.

    Read More

  • Fear and Redemption in Cry the Beloved Country

    553 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fear and Redemption in Cry the Beloved Country & nbsp; Fear grips all black societies and is widespread not only among black people but also white people. An unborn child will inherit this fear and will be deprived of loving and relishing his country because the greater he loves his country, the greater will be his pain. Paton shows us this throughout this book, but at the same time he also offers deliverance from this pain. This, I believe, is the greater purpose of this book. & nbsp; When Stephen goes to Johannesburg, he has a childlike fear for "the great city" Johannesburg. Khumalo's fears about his family are exactly the same as every other black person in South Africa.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Language as Expressed in “Learn! Learn!” by Hugo Martinez-Serros

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... of language and education is the most important in this story and society. The make use of two different languages in a narrative, provides a reader a perplexing yet fascinating image of characterization and customs. Multilingual story telling pushes the reader to decelerate and acquire supplemental focus on the expressions which are in the small fragments, however as soon as the reader has figured out the foreign words, he or she acquires a priceless picture of the theme of this story. The panorama of native words and phrases, cultural perceptions, and class dispute taken from the incorporation of two different languages are helpful for the reader to obtain significance that he or she couldn't gain if exclusively one language was employed in the story. Just as the power of language is applied to unveil a society, a better comprehension is provided to the reader.

    Read More

  • Compare & Contrast Essay

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    The famous French playwright Moliere once said, “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” Throughout our lives, we often are faced with hardships that cause us to change ourselves, the people around us, and the situation itself. Because of this, it may reveal our true characteristics to show who we truly are. In the memoirs “The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls and “Warriors Don't Cry” by Melba Patillo, they vividly illustrate the story of how they faced their struggles. They both prevailed because of their tenacious mind sets, but handled the situations in both different and similar ways. The characteristics of the characters Jeannette and Melba show the similarities and differences between the characters.

    Read More

  • Woody Guthrie's This Land Is Your Land

    457 Words  | 1 Pages

    Woody Guthrie inspired millions of people. He did this with his most popular song still to this day, “This Land is Your Land”. He had hundreds of his songs that he would sing. To us Americans, his song is like an anthem of our country. In 1940, Guthrie came out with the song and traveled across the nation with it. The songs purpose is to express that USA is for everyone and not just the people who can afford it. The quotes that he declared and his songs and very similar, yet so different.

    Read More

  • Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cry, the Beloved Country is such a controversial novel that people tend to forget the true meaning and message being presented. Paton’s aim in writing the novel was to present and create awareness of the ongoing conflict within South Africa through his unbiased and objective view. The importance of the story lies within the title, which sheds light on South Africa’s slowly crumbling society and land, for it is the citizens and the land itself which are “crying” for their beloved country as it collapses under the pressures of racism, broken tribes and native exploitation.

    Read More

  • Comparison of Paton's Cry, The Beloved Country and Conrad's Heart of Darkness

    1344 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Cry, the beloved country, Alan Paton tells the story of his journey across Africa, his experiences with the colonized Africa, and the destruction of the beautiful, pre-colonialism native land of Africa. Heart of Darkness also tells the story of a man and his experiences with colonialism, but a man who comes from a different time period and a very different background than Alan Paton’s Stephen Kumalo. Although, both Joseph Conrad and Alan Paton portray the colonized areas as very negative, death filled, and sinful places, it is when one analyzes the descriptions of the native lands of Africa that the authors reasons for their disapproval of colonialism are truly revealed. When comparing the writing styles of Alan Paton and Joseph Conrad, their descriptions of the land and the people in both works reveal their different attitudes and views towards colonialism. While Paton and Conrad ultimately oppose colonialism, Paton is concerned with the disappearance of African tribal tradition, whereas Conrad is concerned with the perceived corruption of the white colonists.

    Read More

  • Cry the Beloved Country Movie versus Film

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cry, the Beloved Country is a moving story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom. They live in an Africa torn apart by racial tensions and hate. It is based on a work of love and hope, courage, and endurance, and deals with the dignity of man. The author lived and died (1992) in South Africa and was one of the greatest writers of that country. His other works include Too Late the Phalarope, Ah, but Your Land Is Beautiful, and Tales from a Troubled Land.

    Read More

  • Racism Exposed in Cry, the Beloved Country

    1107 Words  | 3 Pages

    Racism Exposed in Cry, the Beloved Country. The purpose of Cry, the Beloved Country, is to awaken the population of South Africa to the racism that is slowly disintegrating the society and its people. The. Alan Paton designs his work to express his views on the injustices and racial hatred that plagues South Africa, in an attempt to bring about change and.

    Read More

More about Alan Stewart Paton's Cry The Beloved Country

Open Document