Paton, who grew up in Pietermartizburg, Natal, South Africa; always enjoyed the beauty around him. At the age of 22, he began a teaching career, first at a native school in the village of Ixopo, then at Pietermartizburg College. Years later he abandoned teaching to begin a career as a reformatory worker. He was appointed principal to the diepkloof reformatory, where he attempted to loosen the restrictions placed on the boys and emphasizes preparation for life outside the reformatory walls. He traveled extensively to study reformatories throughout the world. It was on one of these trips that he was inspired to write cry the beloved country, the novel that made him famous.

In the 1930's and 40's South Africa was a nation torn apart by racial segregation, enforced inequality, and prejudice. A wave of crime, mostly by

Most interesting to me was how Paton used the transition chapters where he took us away from the story of Kumalo and his son, and gave us a detailed picture of everyday life in South Africa. These intercalary chapters give us images such as the racial conflict and how a solution won't be found until people have an open mind. Also these chapters focus on the bus boycotts, the miner's strikes, and native crime. Paton shows excerpts from the late Arthur Jarvis' essays on the problem with native crime. These sub-chapters take us away from the personal conflict of Steven Kumalo and James Jarvis, and take us to problems on a much more global scale. Paton uses such vivid imaging, and creates so blunt a reality, that one can't help but imagine the experiences that these people actually went through.

black natives and largely upon wealthy white citizens, was leading to a kind of national panic among the white minority. Paton's novel finds its setting in this fragile society, where fear and hatred diminish the beauty and good of the nation.

The interesting part is that the overall message of this novel is one of hope; of hope in a better economy, a better life, more opportunities, and especially a hope in an equal South Africa. The idea that good can be found in all men is a predominant theme running through the novel. Characters such as Kumalo and Msimangu demonstrate how people who are complete strangers - and yet have so much in common by being under the same circumstances - can come together and help each other so unselfishly. Though, when potential for good in a person comes to mind, the character Jarvis would have to be the most deserving of praise. Upon the realization that Kumalo's son had indeed been the mur

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Approximate Word count = 1161
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)