Cry The Beloved Country Essay

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The Indian pacifist, Gandhi, once advised, "Be the change that you wish to see in the world". Gandhi knew at the time that the only way his country could be saved from British rule is if he and others lived out the change which they were seeking from their adversaries. This perspective that describes how to overcome life’s difficulties is similar to how Alan Paton portrays some of the characters in his book Cry, the Beloved Country. The characters Arthur Jarvis, his son, and Msimangu are all agents of restorative justice because they seek equality in South Africa by embodying the values they wish to spread. Arthur Jarvis, the victim of Absalom Kumalo’s crime, conveys his ideas that he once lived out postmortem through his writing, desiring …show more content…

Arthur writes on the topic of government that “it is not permissible to watch [the tribal system’s] destruction and to replace it by nothing, or by so little that a whole people deteriorates, physically and morally” (179). Arthur is addressing the ways in which the white government corrupts the innocent people of South Africa. Arthur does not blame the acts of violence on the natives, but on the white invaders who make things better, but only for white people. From his perspective, the radical changes to the government’s structure only benefit one side making it an unjust movement. Arthur also speaks about how segregation is immoral and the reasoning behind most people's discomfort with the subject because he wants to challenge those who see injustice but do nothing. In the following passage, Arthur elaborates on why most people have a reluctance to change: “No one wishes to make the problem seem smaller than it is. No one wishes to make its solution seem easy. No one wishes to make light of the fears that beset us...we shall never, because we are a Christian people, be able to evade the moral issue” (179). …show more content…

Arthur’s son spreads his father’s ideals through Ndotsheni by embodying a simple child-like love and innocence for everyone around him with no preconceived notions involving racism. Arthur’s son was raised to love everyone not taking into account their race, so he greets Kumalo as if he were anyone else for he “raised his cap and said, Good morning. And Kumalo felt a strange pride that it should be so… and an astonishment that the small boy should not know the custom” (268). This white boy begins to break the boundaries of race by simply treating Kumalo as an elder, and all elders should be respected for their immense wisdom and experience. Arthur’s son does not completely grasp the idea of the apartheid that divides his country; he only wishes to be kind and treat those around him as he wants to be treated. He makes no assumptions of the natives in Ndotsheni as being criminals, and he does not act in an entitled manner. Treating a native with respect is a step in the right direction, but a white boy committing himself to be taught by a black man is a leap towards bringing justice to their broken country. A few moments after Arthur’s son shows the preacher his skill with the native speech of Zulu, he declares to Kumalo that “I’ll come and see you again, umfundsi. I’ll talk more Zulu to you. Kumalo laughed. You will be welcome, he said” (270). (Add uniqueness) This passage continues to show

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