Cry, The Beloved Country

Author	Alan Paton
Country	South Africa
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Scribners (USA) & Jonathan Cape (UK)
Released	December 1948
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	256 pp (hardback edition) (UK)
ISBN	ISBN 0-224-60578-X (hardback edition) (UK)

Cry, The Beloved Country is a novel by South African author Alan Paton. It was first published in New York in 1948 by Charles Scribner's Sons and in London by Jonathan Cape. It deals with the Stephen Kumalo, a black Anglican priest from a rural Natal town, and his search for his son Absalom in the city of Johannesburg. Two motion-picture adaptations of the book have been made, the first in 1951 and the second in 1995. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (774x1181, 415 KB) This image is of a book cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by the publisher of the book. ... Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African author. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... Charles Scribners Sons is a publisher that was founded in 1846 at the Brick Church Chapel on New Yorks Park Row. ... Jonathan Cape has been since 1987 an imprint of Random House. ... A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) book is bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth or heavy paper) and a stitched spine. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Alan Stewart Paton (11 January 1903 – 12 April 1988) was a South African author. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1676 Government  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Charles Scribners Sons is a publisher that was founded in 1846 at the Brick Church Chapel on New Yorks Park Row. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Jonathan Cape has been since 1987 an imprint of Random House. ... KwaZulu-Natal (often referred to as KZN) is a province of South Africa. ... City motto: Unity in Development Province Gauteng Mayor Amos Masondo Area  - % water 1,644 km² 0. ...

Plot summary

The novel opens in the village of Ndotsheni, where the black pastor, Winston Steelman, receives a letter from the priest Theophilus Msimangu in Johannesburg. Msimangu urges Kumalo to come to the city to help his sister, Gertrude, who is "sick." Steelman goes to Johannesburg to help Gertrude and to find his son, Absalom, who had gone to the city to look for Gertrude but never came home. Upon his arrival in Johannesburg, Steelman learns that Gertrude has taken up a life of prostitution, and is now drinking heavily. Gertrude agrees to return to Ndotsheni with her young son.

Steelman embarks on the search for his son, first seeing his brother John, a carpenter who has become involved in the politics of South Africa. Kumalo and Msimangu follow Absalom's trail only to learn that Absalom has been in a Reformatory and impregnated a young woman. Shortly thereafter, Kumalo learns that his son has been arrested for the murder of Arthur Jarvis, a white fighter for racial justice and son of Kumalo's neighbour James Jarvis.

Jarvis learns of his son's death and comes with his family to Johannesburg. Jarvis and his son had been distant, and now James Jarvis is looking to come to know his son through his writings. Through reading his son's essays, Jarvis decides to take up his son's work on behalf of South Africa's blacks.

Absalom is sentenced to death for the murder of Arthur Jarvis. Before his father returns to Ndotsheni, Absalom marries the girl he has impregnated, and she joins Kumalo's family. Kumalo returns to his village with his daughter-in-law and nephew, finding that Gertrude ran away on the night before their departure.

Back in Ndotsheni, Kumalo makes a futile visit to the tribe's chief in order to discuss changes that must be made to help the barren village. Help arrives, however, when Jarvis becomes involved in the work. He arranges to have a dam built and hires an agricultural demonstrator to implement new farming methods.

The novel ends on the night of Absalom's execution, which finds Kumalo praying on a mountainside as dawn breaks over the valley. The book ends with a tone of rejuvenation and hope for the country.

Characters in Cry, The Beloved Country

• Winston Steelman – the main protagonist, a black pastor
• Theophilus Msimangu – priest in Johannesburg
• John Kumalo – a carpenter, brother to Stephen
• Absalom Kumalo – Stephen's son
• Becca – Winston's sister
• James Jarvis – Stephen's white neighbour
• Arthur Jarvis – James' son and campaigner for inter-racial justice
• Mr. Carmichael– Absalom's lawyer

Main themes

Cry, the Beloved Country is a social protest against the structures of the society that would later give rise to apartheid. Paton attempts to create an unbiased and objective view of the dichotomies this entails: he depicts the Whites as affected by 'native crime', whilst the Blacks suffer from social instability and moral issues due to the breakdown of the tribal system. It shows many of problems with South Africa such as the land reserved for the natives degrading, which is sometimes considered to be the main theme, the disintegration of the tribal community, native crime and the flight to the urban areas. The quote below shows another recurring theme which is how fear affects the characters and society of South Africa. A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ... Cry, The Beloved Country is a novel by South African author Alan Paton. ...

Paton makes frequent use of literary devices such as microcosms, intercalary chapters, dashes instead of quotation marks for dialogue, and a number of other things to show the state of South Africa. A microcosm is a form of symbolism that uses a small thing to depict something on a larger scale. Intercalary chapters are literally chapters that are 'in between': they have almost nothing to do with the story, but often are microcosms. There are no double quotes in the whole book; instead Paton uses dashes (–) to indicate the start of speech acts. This may not seem like a literary device at first, but soon it becomes evident that they do a lot more than would be expected. Because there are no phrases such as "he said" or "she said", it is faster to read and, especially in the intercalary chapters, adds a feeling of desperation and rapid progress towards the novel's final catastrophe. Macrocosm and microcosm is an ancient Greek schema of seeing the same patterns reproduced in all levels of reality. ... A dash is a punctuation mark, and is not to be confused with the hyphen, which has quite different uses. ... For the Wikipedia quotation template, see here. ... Intercalation may refer to: The insertion of a leap day, week or month into some calendar years to make the calendar follow the seasons. ...

Background

Cry, The Beloved Country was written before the implementation of the apartheid political system in South Africa. The novel was published in 1948, with apartheid becoming law later on that same year. A segregated beach in South Africa, 1982. ...

It enjoyed critical success around the world, except in South Africa, where it was banned, due to its politically dangerous material. The book sold over 15 million copies around the world before Paton's death.

The book is studied currently by many schools around the world. The style of writing is often compared to the King James Bible, in which Paton's writing does tend to fit. Paton was a devout Christian. H:For other uses of King James Version, see King James Version (disambiguation). ... Christians believe that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (see Hebrews 8:6). ...

Allusions/references to other works

There are many biblical references throughout the novel. The most evident is found from the names Paton gives to the characters. Absalom, the son of Stephen Kumalo, shares his name with the son of King David, who rose up against his father in rebellion. Also, in the New Testament Book of Acts, Saint Stephen was a martyr who died rather than give up his beliefs. Another biblical allusion is seen when Absalom requests that his son's name be Peter. In the Bible, Peter refused to listen to God. After all those denials, he later on repented for all the sins he has committed. Like in the book, Absalom "murdered" Jarvis' son and later on repented under a tree for the "murder" he has committed. Arthur Jarvis is described as having a large collection of books on Abraham Lincoln, and the writings of Lincoln figure heavily in the novel. Absalom or Avshalom (אַבְשָׁלוֹם Father/Leader of/is peace, Standard Hebrew Avšalom, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAḇšālôm), in the Bible, is the third son of David, king of Israel. ... This page is about the Biblical king David. ... John 21:1 Jesus Appears to His Disciples--Alessandro Mantovani: the Vatican, Rome. ... The Acts of the Apostles (Greek Praxeis Apostolon) is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. ... St. ... Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American politician elected from Illinois as the 16th President of the United States (1861 to 1865), and the first president from the Republican Party. ...

Film, television and theatrical adaptations

In 1951, the novel was adapted into a motion picture, directed by Zoltan Korda. Paton himself wrote the screenplay. Kumalo was played by Canada Lee, Jarvis by Charles Carson, and Msimangu by Sidney Poitier. 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... ... When Canada Lee (1907-1952) walked out on stage in 1946, he shattered a barrier that had never been crossed before. ... Sir Sidney Poitier KBE, (IPA pronunciation: ) (born February 20, 1927), is an Academy Award-winning Bahamian actor, film director, and activist. ...

Another film version was released in 1995, directed by Darrell Roodt. James Earl Jones played the Reverend Kumalo and Richard Harris filled the role of Jarvis. 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla Township, Mississippi in Tate County) is among Americas best known film and stage actors. ... Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator. ...

A stage version, by South African playwright Roy Sargeant, was developed in early 2003, and was first staged at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape on 27 June 2003 and at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town on 8 July 2003. The director was Heinrich Reisenhofer. The script, together with notes and activities for school use, was published in 2006 by Oxford University Press Southern Africa. Grahamstown from Fort Selwyn Grahamstown is a city in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa and is the seat of the Makana municipality. ... The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. ... June 27 is the 178th day of the year (179th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 187 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... City motto: Spes Bona (Latin: Good Hope) Location of the City of Cape Town in Western Cape Province Province Western Cape Mayor Helen Zille Area  - % water 2,499 km² N/A Population  - Total (2004)  - Density Not ranked 2,893,251 1,158/km² Established 1652 Time zone SAST (UTC+2... July 8 is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 176 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Quotation

Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much. — Cry, The Beloved Country, Chapter 12.^[1]

Braai, the Beloved Country

In recent years the humorous term Braai, the Beloved Country has come into use among South Africans, as a reference to the central role that the braai (or barbecue) plays in South African culture. This lighthearted pun is a reflection of South African humour, that to the rest of the world it is characterised by bitterness and is self-deprecating and sometimes irreverent (and quite politically incorrect), but in South Africa, people of all races accept and enjoy such lighthearted humour. Look up humour in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Grilling be merged into this article or section. ... It has been suggested that dajare be merged into this article or section. ... Look up humour in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Self-deprecation is a form of humour in which a comedian makes jokes about himself, his shortcomings, or his culture. ... The Oxford English Dictionary defines reverence as deep respect and veneration for some thing, place, or person regarded as having a sacred or exalted character. ... Political correctness is the alteration of language to redress real or alleged injustices and discrimination or to avoid offense. ...

Release details

• 1948, USA, Charles Scribner's Sons ?, Pub date ? December 1948, hardback
• 1949, UK, Jonathan Cape ISBN 0-224-60578-X, Pub date ? ? 1949, hardback
• 1970, UK Penguin Modern Classics ISBN 0-14-001274-5, Pub date 28 May 1970, paperback
• 2000, UK Penguin Modern Classics ISBN 0-14-118312-8, Pub date 27 April 2000, paperback
• 2003, USA, Charles Scribner's Sons ISBN 0-7432-6217-4, Charles Scribner's Sons, Pub date ? November 2003, paperback

Charles Scribners Sons is a publisher that was founded in 1846 at the Brick Church Chapel on New Yorks Park Row. ... Jonathan Cape has been since 1987 an imprint of Random House. ... Penguin Books is a British publisher founded in 1935 by Allen Lane. ... Penguin Books is a British publisher founded in 1935 by Allen Lane. ... Charles Scribners Sons is a publisher that was founded in 1846 at the Brick Church Chapel on New Yorks Park Row. ... Charles Scribners Sons is a publisher that was founded in 1846 at the Brick Church Chapel on New Yorks Park Row. ...

Footnotes

1. ^ Paton, Alan (1948). "chapter 12", Cry, The Beloved Country. Schribner's.