Cry the Beloved Country
One of the most obvious views of man is the view that man is indifferent towards one another. Our civilization for the greater part has its own orderliness. We each have our own personal tasks and duties to perform and from this, there are not a lot of people who feel the inclination to disturb the occupation of his/her neighbors by interfering with whatever it is they are doing. We can observe the passive manner in which people pass by each other mute, each engrossed by his/her own private thoughts, feeling no tendency to intrude on each other. We look at our human society with a kind of complacent outlook. We seem to co-exist well enough so why bother to try to reach out? We are unwilling to be disturbed, whether it's for help, understanding or kindness. But then again there are those who still believe in random acts of kindness. They believe that human kindness is an integral part of society. In the novel "Cry the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton, Reverend Stephen Kumalo is a simple but faithful country priest who is trying to piece his family back together. He looks for them in the big city Johannesburg wherein certain events occur that will change him and test his faith. Johannesburg is a
n overwhelming city teeming with politicians, reformists, black crime, corruption and poverty. Surprisingly enough, despite the bad things happen to him and bad people he meets up with, he finds people who help him get through his ordeals. Some are people whom we can expect kindness from, or at least not be surprised by it, and there are other people who are total strangers who have astonishingly enough shown him humanity. Such people are, to illustrate: Reverend Theophilus Msimangu, a young white man who works at the reformatory, and Mrs. Lithebe. All of whom, have helped him cope with and learn from the present as move forward to the future on his journey. A person who is a complete stranger to Kumalo but has shown compassion towards him is the young white man who works at the reformatory where Absalom (Kumalo's son) has was sent. Indeed he was a stranger; we don't even know his name. He is a young white man and Kumalo is an old black priest so we are very surprised that we do find kindness from him in the novel, as there was a very intense friction between the white and black people in South Africa. But despite all that he has shown kindness towards Kumalo and goes out of his way to help him search for Absalom. At some point he even broke the custom to help him: They come out of the court, the white on one side, the black on the other, according to the custom. But the young white man breaks the custom, and he and Msimangu help the old and broken man [Kumalo], one on each side of him. It is not often that such a custom is broken. It is only when there is a deep experience. The young man's brow is set, and he looks fiercely before him. That is partly because it is a deep experience, and partly because of the custom that is being broken. For such things are not lightly done (Paton, 237). Another stranger who has helped Kumalo in his journey is Mrs. Lithebe. Who lets him rent a room in her house in Sophiatown (a very populated area). Not only does she take in Kumalo but she also accepts Gertrude, her son, and a young woman who later becomes Kumalo's daughter-in-law, as well. She is sympathetic with Kumalo and takes it upon herself to light
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Approximate Word count = 1466
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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