Cry, The Beloved Country: The Breakdown and Rebuilding of South African Society
“...what God has not done for South Africa man must do.” pg. 25
In the book, Cry, the Beloved Country, written by Alan Paton, some major conflicts follow the story from beginning to end. Two of these conflicts would be as follows; first, the breakdown of the ever so old and respected tribe; and second, the power of love and compassion and how that it can rebuild broken relationships. This story gives the reader the perfect perspective in learning about the injustices that have taken place in South Africa, and it gives us a sense of the trials and hardships the blacks went through then. Cry, is a story about a Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and how he sets out to bring his family back together. While he sets out about doing this he realizes that his family is completely in the shambles and his family has strayed from the church and tribal traditions. Kumalo eventually learns to deal with this and while he is doing this, he makes a friend, James Jarvis, that changes the way he has looked on life. The tribal breakdown starts to show in book I, with the land that the tribe must use and how the people have used up the natural resources that used to lay there. The whites pushed them out of where they used to reside where the land is so good that it could be even referred to as “holy, being even as it came from the Creator.” (pg. 3). In the rural areas such as this the decay comes as a result of making the blacks live in confined areas where the land is so bad it can't be farmed any more, and the taking of the strong males out of these areas to go work in the mines were things are unsafe and people rarely return. Because of this, the people leave the tribe to go on the roads to travel to Johannesburg, because “All roads lead to Johannesburg.” (pg. 10).
As Kumalo arrives in Johannesburg he finally realizes what a problem he has stepped into. He realizes that nobody in his family, neither brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, even cousins, have any moral ties with each other anymore. He sees his brother get caught up in worldly beliefs, such as: fame, money, power, greed and lying. He also sees his sister and his son living in a horrible life of crime and sin. Kumalo even starts to lose hope for his son, he states that “I can do nothing here, let us go.
how there are contrary belief that living forms are indeed growing in the Badlands country. This caused
Throughout ancient history, many indigenous tribes and cultures have shown a common trait of being hunter/gatherer societies, relying solely on what nature had to offer. The geographical location influenced all aspects of tribal life including, spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices. Despite vast differences in the geographical location, reports show various similarities relating to the spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices of indigenous tribal cultures.
While whites lived comfortable lives in their extravagant mansions and driving their fancy cars blacks had to live in a disease infested neighborhood with no electricity or in door plumbing. Approximately one thousand people lived in shacks that were squeezed together in a one-mile zone. The alleys were filled with dirt, rats, human wasted and diseases. Blacks lived in houses made of “old whitewash, a leaking ceiling of rusted Inx propped up by a thin wall of crumbling adobe bricks, two tiny windows made of cardboard and pieces of glass, a creaky, termite-eaten door low for a person of average height to pass through...and a floor made of patches of cement earth”(31). Living in such a degrading environment kills self-esteem, lowers work ethic and leaves no hope for the future.
In one way it is symbolic of the African Americans’ struggle for equality throughout our nation’s history. The various hardships that the narrator must endure, in his quest to deliver his speech, are representative of the many hardships that the blacks went through in their fight for equality.
The answer served to the explanation of the establishment of the Jim Crow law, which is segregation in the Southern
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.
Although they needed African Americans for their factories and work ethics they did not agree with them having the same rights or sharing any rights with them. They wanted them just to work for them and have authority over African Americans. The more Africans Americans populated their living area, the more whites felt upon to call for action. For example whites wanted to feel much superior...”African Americans had to step off the sidewalk when a white person approached”(Digital Collection for the Classroom). This quote illustrates how whites did anything in their power to feel superior. The Great Migration caused whites to fear and enable them to more injustice actions. Although the Great Migration did benefit many African Americans in certain aspects it also crated unintended consequences. Due to the large growth of the African-American population there was an increasing competition amongst the migrants for employment and living space in the growing crowded cities of the North. Besides, racism and prejudice led to the interracial strife and race riots, worsening the situation between the whites and the African Americans. Racism became even more of a national problem. The Great Migration intensions were to let African Americans live a better life style economically wise and help them from poverty not cause even more issues with racism or become competition against others. Because many white people did not want to sell their property to African Americans, they began to start their own exclusive cities within that area of sell. These exclusive cities were called the “ Ghetto”(Black, 2013). The ghetto was subject to high illness, violence, high crime rate, inadequate recreational facilities; lack of building repairs, dirty streets, overcrowded schools; and mistreatment from the law enforcement. Although the ghetto cities helped unify African Americans as
In one Mississippi black code, the law allowed for blacks to own personal property, but stipulated that free blacks could only rent or lease land, or tenements, within the city limits. This prevented blacks from owning their own farms outside the city. The law was very apparently contradictory to itself in the fact that it stated blacks could own property “to the same extent that white persons may,” but then set the restrictions on renting and leasing land which only blacks were confined to. The law also required that blacks have a “lawful home or employment.” This, combined with the previous restrictions on renting and leasing land and housing, ensured that whites would retain control over where Negroes could live. By requiring them to have a home, and then restricting them to renting ...
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.
Presenting the characters as having one-sided personalities or by referring to them. By a simple label, Paton indicates that these evils are universal. fundamental to human nature. As Stephen Kumalo searches for his son, Absalom, Paton has several events. befall onto Kumalo in order to represent the harsh society that many of the blacks live in.
felt in the aftermath of the Civil War. Blacks, having won the struggle for freedom from
Source A gives a view on the South African governments control over its people and racial discrimination. It is a biased view and makes the South African government seem cruel and racist. It states that the governments "politics are determined by the colour a persons skin". As this is a statement it gives the impression that it is a fact and by giving this impression it also communicates the idea that the South African government IS racist, rather than the South African government COULD be racist. This comes as no real surprise as the advert has been paid for by the ANC (African National Congress), who are a very anti - South African government organization.
A Brief History of Apartheid in South Africa Apartheid is not a new thing. Ever since Dutch colonists landed in 1652, "Blacks" and "Whites" have lived apart in South Africa. Officially started in 1948 when the Afrikaner Nationalist party came to power, apartheid is a system of racial laws devised to "Preserve and promote a white majority over a black majority. " It has a lot of opposition and it led to an international boycott of South Africa because of it. When the Dutch first landed and established a strong colony there, they got on relatively peacefully with the natives.
After the National Party won the elections of 1948 and introduced legislative measures for the promotion of apartheid, harsher political repression arose and led to increased organization among blacks. Before the 1940s, society was often overwhelmed by the numerous acts of rebellion that many blacks carried out in their daily lives; however, many black organizations refrained from visible remonstration of the National Party government. In the 1950s until the mid-1990s, the significant shift to new black political tactics that stressed open protest became a driving force in the fight against apartheid. This new defiance campaign was composed mainly of actions on a wide-scale level in which black political organizations and civic associations took a powerful role in staging protests and creating mounting unrest. The most significant were political activities; even activities that were originally non-political forms of defiance inadvertently became politicized, such as criminal behaviors prominently displayed by youth, squatter movements, and pass-law violations. Activities of political defiance included the organization of anti-apartheid parties such as the African National Congress, Pan-Africanist Congress, and United Democratic Front, and the politicization of labor unions and civic associations; constant government efforts were unable to suppress these actions. Black South Africans' acts of resistance, whether political or seemingly non-political, eventually united them in a massive fight against racial oppression which ultimately destroyed apartheid.
South Africa is a country blessed with an abundance of natural resources including fertile farmlands and unique mineral resources. South African mines are world leaders in the production of diamonds and gold as well as strategic metals such as platinum. The climate is mild, reportedly resembling the San Francisco bay area weather more than anywhere in the world.