Cry The Beloved Country Sparknotes

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Both stories are compelling and both have strong suits and weaknesses. However, the method that best conveys Apartheid as a whole and addresses it's issues effectively and clearly was the novel. The novel had every advantage of storytelling at its disposal while Mandela's biography was hindered by the boundaries of reality.
The novel had multiple options in its disposal when telling this story. Since it is a fiction story it wasn't hindered by a single point of view or a single story line. This is a major advantage over a biography because the novel is allowed to detail multiple themes and ideas while feeling natural and compelling. Liberties that can be taken that differ from history; characters that never existed, crimes never commited, etc. all can be used to its advantage to give the reader a better understanding of its message and in this case of South Africa and it's racial issues.
Where a biography is a chronological recount of a person's life, a novel has a wide range of narrative structures to choose from when telling a story. The narrative of Cry, the Beloved Country is a 'adventure' plot where a character sets out with a mission or …show more content…

Kumalo isn't the only one who suffers. Jarvis lost his son, the movement of civil rights in Africa lost what might have been a great supporter, and the people with power, John, loses nothing. The story is a compelling detailed account of the struggle for both. Even to the point where even the helpful supportive white men are a bit pandering towards them. Near the end of the novel, the farm hand, says that he, *"Hopes they will soon not have to take the white man's milk and we will make our own." Kumalo scolds him but later reflects how many of his fellow black men think he is, *"A white man's dog." The novel portrays both sides of the racial issue

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