Cry, the Beloved Country: Change

In undertaking a journey, a person learns and changes.

One may change emotionally, psychologically, as well as spiritually. The

journeyer is scared at first, then usually goes through some pain and

suffering.

In the end, however, this journeyer comes out different then they were when

they began, with some understanding. Stephan Kumalo, James Jarvis, and

Absalom Kumalo undertake this very thing in Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan

Paton. Stephan Kumalo, a priest from the small native town of Ndotsheni,

takes a journey to the great city of Johannesburg. He intends to find his

sick sister and his son, Absalom, who has gone away. At first, Stephan has

"the fear of the unknown, the fear of the great city"(44) where his loved

ones had gone to and not written in months.

Not long after he begins, he realizes "this is a bitter journey"(55) upon

hearing the occupations and practices of his sister. He goes through pain and

suffering, more and more as he learns of his brother's loss of faith in the

church, and the murder his son has committed. But, soon enough he comes to an

understanding of this world in Johannesburg. He learns why there is so much

crime and poverty. He then has hope the success of his daughter in-law and

his nephew in Ndotsheni. He gains hope for the rebuilding of the tribe.

Stephan Kumalo comes away from his journey changing spiritually and knowing

that there is "comfort in a world of desolation"(94). He changes emotionally

and becomes stronger. Also, he changes psychologically and learning the

troubles of Johannesburg and apartheid, and their various causes. James

Jarvis undergoes vast changes during his journey. He is told that his son has

been killed, and he leaves for Johannesburg at once. His son, Arthur, was a

social activist helping natives in South Africa, trying to get better

hospitals and schools for them. These are subjects James Jarvis never thought

about much.

When he arrives at his son's house, the place of Arthur's death, he reads

through some of his manuscripts and books. First, James suffers a lot

thinking about his son's death. As he reads through some of his books and

papers however, he comes to an understanding how great a man his son was, and

what he stood for. "He sat smoking his pipe and was lost in thought"(180)

after he reads a manuscript on what is permissible and what is not