The Effect of Social Inequality in Cry, The Beloved Country
Every society has segregations: segregations according to race, according to wealth, according to level of education, and others. Alan Paton in Cry, The Beloved Country uses tone to highlight the racial segregation in South Africa. Racial segregation leads to social inequality.
People naturally segregate themselves. Social inequality occurs not only in Johannesburg, where big corporations take advantage of the naïve, but even in Ndotsheni, a small village. Paton uses a hopeless tone to convey feelings of isolation and defeat. He emphasizes the impact a class system has on the culture of South Africa: “Down in Ndotsheni I am nobody, even as you are nobody, my brother. I am subject
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Paton uses the tone of humility to reveal how after Kumalo experiences the class system in Johannesburg, he can better understand his own people: “After seeing Johannesburg he would return with a deeper understanding to Ndotsheni. Yes, with a greater humility, for had his own sister not been a prostitute? And his son a thief? And might he himself be a grandfather to a child that would have no name?” (120). Paton shows how even though Kumalo cannot stop segregation all by himself, he can grow from the trials, and learn to better communicate and relate to his people. Furthermore, Paton says that if people want to save their world, they must forget the inequalities and unite – person with person – to keep everyone equal and safe. Throughout his novel, Cry, The Beloved Country, Paton writes about how social inequality affects a country. Social inequality causes people pain and prevents them from advancing in the ranks of society. Paton uses tone to establish the negative result of segregation and explain how to overcome it. Paton stresses that fact that people must eliminate segregation, unite as a people, and communicate with each other. From his book, people can understand how to overcome segregation and grow from
Racism is an attribute that has often plagued all of American society’s existence. Whether it be the earliest examples of slavery that occurred in America, or the cases of racism that happens today, it has always been a problem. However, this does not mean that people’s overall opinions on racial topics have always stayed the same as prior years. This is especially notable in the 1994 memoir Warriors Don’t Cry. The memoir occurred in 1957 Little Rock, Arkansas and discusses the Melba Pattillo Beals attempt to integrate after the Brown vs. Board of Education court case. Finally, in Warriors Don’t Cry, Melba Pattillo Beals discusses the idea that freedom is achievable through conflicts involving her family, school life, and friends.
Younge, Gary. "America dreaming: the horrors of segregation bound the US civil rights movement together. Fifty years on from Martin Luther King's great speech, inequality persists--but in subtler ways." New Statesman [1996] 23 Aug. 2013: 20+. Student Resources in Context. Web. 28 Jan. 2014.
Both Hosseini and Hinton, although writing about very different scenarios, characterize the same theme in each of their novels - class separations harm all people. Learning from their work, we can aim to break down these barriers between social classes and bridge the gap between our separated societies.
For example, when Mrs. Tryon heard Rena was coloured, she was disappointed. “The lady, who had been studying her as closely as good manners would permit, sighed regretfully.” (161) There, Mrs. Tryon might have a good plan for Rena, but the racial society would not accept; since Rena was a mulatto, Mrs. Tryon could not do anything to help Rena in white social life. The racial circumstance does not only apply to mulattos, but it also expresses the suffering of black people.
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.
I will explore how social classes frankly appear and build up the story of the book by comparing and contrast with a modern social hierarchy. Today, we’re living in a society with social classes existing. We can be classified in different classes and so do I. I wish I could designate my social status, but unfortunately, our social classes are usually determined by wealth (income), occupation, education and prestige. Social class can be shown in a pyramid structure and it usually comprises with upper class, upper middle class, lower middle class, working class and lower class.
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.
These members don’t benefit from helping advocate for racial equality, but recognizes that disparaging a large population of individuals to keep an elite class of citizens from having their balance upset, is not beneficial to the whole of the community. They exercise political friendship by working with black individuals advocating for their cause. A lack of political friendship is also seen, which is the result of certain individuals holding their own status above those of others. The narrator is aware of his systematic oppression and the lack of political friendship. In the beginning his habits were to be eager and work hard, offering his trust and respect for others and being hopeful he’d receive it in return. By the end, he grows wearing of receiving little back, and becomes inflexible in his friendships and withdraws his efforts towards cooperation. He struggles with working with whites or even coexisting as he is bitter at his discrimination, and doesn’t trust them. By the end, his psychological state is rather broken and unstable, and he ends up withdrawing from the community, existing as a recluse, as he doesn’t want to contribute to a society that he cannot trust and who doesn’t trust or respect
The society of the small urban town called Ndotsheni, from which both Stephan and Author come, is based largely on the native African tribal system. This town also suffers from a drought that drives away the young men to work in the mines of Johannesburg. Johannesburg directly contradicts Ndotsheni with no tribal system and the brake down of the moral fibers of its people. Yet in Johannesburg there is also hope for the future and ideas that help lead to the restoration of Ndotsheni. During the time the story is set in Johannesburg the reader is introduced to two exceptionally different characters. The first is John Kumalo, the brother of Stephen Kumalo. He is a corrupt politician with the voice of a “lion,” but a week hart, who spoke about the injustices of the whites to the blacks and their need to revolt. The other an enlightened priest, Msimangu, who prayed for loving and restoration through coming to amends. Their influences help to shape Kumalo into a new person. Furthermore, throughout his story Paton stresses the idea of irresponsibility contradicted by individual responsibility. Eventually the idea of unified responsibility is shown to be the only manor by which South Africa can be saved.
One great paradox of human life is the balance between security and independence. Many people would say that they are self-sustaining, that they can make it on their own. The question is not always whether or not they can make it, but what the cost of their security is. Some value their personal freedom more than their security, for others it is the opposite. In “Cry, the Beloved Country” characters often wrestle with this issue. Every character responds uniquely according to their situation. The results are meaningful and give information about who they really are and what they value.
In America, many people are divided by what we comprehend as a class system. Within our society, a multitude of people finds themselves not interacting often with those outside of their class and can rarely find similarities with people with a different financial status. In Andre Dubus’ writing “The Land of No: Love in A Class-Riven America”, he speaks about his experience with his girlfriend who comes from an affluent background opposed to his less advantaged upbringing. Dubus shows that the experiences people face from different classes can differ entirely and therefore it makes it difficult to identify with someone outside of your class. In Andre Dubus’ writing, “The Land of No: A Class-Riven America” he is showing
Social injustice in our society portrays the segregation of people among different types of groups. Throughout history, humans have been divided into different social classes from lowest to highest. People in the lower class experiences many hardships when it comes to living and are seen as inferior in society.
Arthur, Napoleon, and Msimangu, all characters from Alan Paton’s book, Cry, The Beloved Country, are used to share Paton’s points of view on the future of South Africa and the apartheid. Paton uses these characters to represent specific views; Arthur expresses clearly that the apartheid isn’t the right way to progress as a country, Napoleon exemplifies how Paton thinks people should take the anti-apartheid effort, and Msimangu explicitly expresses Paton’s ideas of an ideal leader.
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.
The young man’s predicaments all revolve around his need to satisfy those that will judge him and he becomes trapped between the apartheid rule and humanity’s desire for equality and respect towards others. This is purely a personal issue that can be resolved solely by him, but should take into the consideration of those involved. We see glimpses of this coming through the young man, but being raised in an era of apartheid it overpowers his common understanding of respect.