Alan Stewart Paton's Cry The Beloved Country

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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

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