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
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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
Considering the circumstance of racial inequality during the time of this novel many blacks were the target of crime and hatred. Aside from an incident in his youth, The Ex-Colored Man avoids coming in contact with “brutality and savagery” inflicted on the black race (Johnson 101). Perhaps this is a result of his superficial white appearance as a mulatto. During one of his travels, the narrator observes a Southern lynching in which he describes the sight of “slowly burning t...
It starts with remembering events where human rights were violated. Many people went missing while they in police detention. The stories would be that the people would commit suicide, which the black community did not believe. Steve Biko, who was the founder of black conscious movement, was said to have banged his head on the wall. They drove him to Pretoria when he was already near an emergency treatment and naked to make the matters worse. When people questioned it, it was completely ignored by the officers. The judicial system was corrupted and was unfair to the black community. The Nuremberg trial wasn’t helpful, it caused lost of being that could have gone to education and housing, evidence never survived, and cabinet minister and commissioner of police would lie. With Tutu being in the chair of commision, the people now tell their stories and not be afraid.
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.
Kaffir Boy enlightens the understanding of apartheid by exposing the crippling mental, social, and economical effects it had on blacks in South Africa, preventing them
One's morals are can be broken like bones, where damage to, if not dealt with correctly, can lead to affliction and adversity. In Cry, the Beloved Country, Msimangu says, “The tragedy is not that things are broken. The tragedy is that things are not mended again,” alludes to that belief of morals (56). Alan Paton discusses that and how economic, racial, and social injustices lead to the corruption of someone’s morals, which was common in South Africa during the 1940’s. In order to connect with the reader about the problems dealing with morality, Paton utilizes the literary techniques of imagery, juxtaposition, and allusion to elicit sympathy.
The author distinguishes white people as privileged and respectful compared to mulattos and blacks. In the racial society, white people have the right to get any high-class position in a job or live in any place. In the story, all white characters are noble such as Judge Straight lawyer, Doctor Green, business-man George, and former slaveholder Mrs. Tryon. Moreover, the author also states the racial distinction of whites on mulattos. For example, when Dr. Green talks to Tryon, “‘The niggers,’., ‘are getting mighty trifling since they’ve been freed.
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.
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.
To conclude, the criticisms of the book The New Negro are mostly distributed by the experience of the author who did not get exposed enough to understand his own race even though he seems to show his
We remember Mrs. Lithebe's words, "For what else are we born?" and we see that there are some white men who do care. We also learn of James Jarvis's suffering and fear.
“But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings. That there will be a place with no more suffering.” These are lyrics from a song by Jeremy Camp and describe the story of the Joad family in The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and Kumalo and his tribe in Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. Throughout the novels, the characters are faced with many difficult situations. They rely on their hopes to get them through. Like the lyrics say, they hold on to hope that there will come a time of no more suffering. A sense of hope in difficult times gives people the strength and courage to keep going.
In the novel Cry the Beloved Country, author Alan Paton tells the story of the breakdown that is occurring in his native country of South Africa and ways in which to fix it. In the novel, the main character Reverend Stephen Kumalo embarks on a mission to the city of Johannesburg in order to find his missing son Absalom. Throughout his journey Kumalo sees and experiences many injustices that clearly illustrate the growing divide between blacks and whites in the country. Paton incorporates his diagnosis of the racial divide that occurs within the country and the reasons behind it. Along with his diagnosis, Paton in the novel Cry the Beloved Country uses the setting of the land of South Africa to illustrate hope for the oppressed groups, even when all hope seems to be lost.
I just finished the excellent book Trevor Noah’s born a crime. Trevor was born in South Africa under Apartheid to a Black Xhosa mother and a Swiss-German father. He recounts “the only time I could be with my father was indoors” or if he was with his mother and the police came she would pretend not to know who he was since being mixed under apartheid was illegal. The book details snapshots of his life in the township of Soweto, where his maternal grandmother lived and he gives an unsettling yet honest account of growing up in South Africa under Apartheid. I absolutely loved this memoir, Trevor is a gifted storyteller that I could relate to yet sympathize with at the same time.
In the book Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton, there is much talk about a broken tribe. When they say “broken tribe”, they refer to the culture of the native Africans being destroyed. Many accusations are are made about who is at fault for breaking the tribe. But realistically, the initial culprit is the European men, who have come to exploit Africa and its people for their own gains and have done nothing for the natives but destroy their way of life.
In conclusion, Mandela's autobiography is a brilliant book written by an incredible individual. I wish I could of read the whole book for this essay, but that was not possible. It is hard to write an essay on the first 5 parts when I know some things that happened further in the book. I did not know if I should include that information in the essay, but I did not involve it. This book helped to show the other side of the story. We always hear the victor's story and in this class we got to hear the other side of the story.