Cry, the Beloved Country
History of South Africa
Cry, the Beloved Country is set in South Africa in the 1940s. Its story unfolds against a backdrop of economic and political tensions that have
a lengthy, complicated history. Thousands of years before the first Europeans arrived, southern Africa was populated by various African tribal
groups, including the San, the Khoikhoi, and, later on, Bantu-speaking peoples who were ancestors of the modern Zulus. The first European
settlers in South Africa, the Dutch, arrived in the mid-1600s. The Dutch wanted only to set up bases for trade, not to colonize the country,
and they met with little resistance. But by the mid-1700s, the Dutch, who had come to be known as the Boers and who had developed their
own language, Afrikaans, had begun to settle deeper and deeper into the country. In a process similar to the displacement and destruction of
Native American life in the United States, African tribes were forced off their traditional lands, decimated by disease, and defeated in battles
against the well-armed Boers.
English settlers first arrived in 1795. Unlike the Dutch, by the early 1800s the English decided to make South Africa a full-fledged colony.
Concentrated in coastal cities, the English soon found themselves in conflict with Boer farmers, who called themselves “the white tribe of
Africa.” The Boers moved north, away from the coast, while the Zulus, led by the famous warrior-leader Shaka, pressed south on a military
campaign. Inevitably, the two groups clashed, fighting a number of bloody battles before the Zulus were defeated. The Boers created several
independent republics, but when diamonds and gold were discovered in the Boer territories, the British moved to annex them, leading to the
first Anglo-Boer war in 1881. The Boers regained the independence of their territories, but when gold was discovered near what is now
Johannesburg in 1886, the British invaded the area again. The second Anglo-Boer war lasted from 1899 to 1902. The victorious British were
able to establish rule, and they officially established the Union of South Africa in 1910.
Cry, the Beloved Country takes place after these upheavals and immediately before the implementation, in 1948, of apartheid, which codified
the systematic inequalities depicted in the novel. During the time in which the novel is set, black workers were permitted to hold only
unskilled jobs and were subject to “pass laws” that restricted their freedom of movement. In1913, the Natives Land Act radically limited the
amount of land that black South Africans were permitted to own. As the character Arthur Jarvis states in the novel, just one-tenth of the land
was set aside for four-fifths of the country’s people. The resultant overcrowding led many black South Africans to migrate to Johannesburg to
work in the mines. Those in power welcomed the influx of cheap labor but failed to provide adequate housing or services to address the
mass migration. These are the circumstances under which the character Stephen Kumalo leaves his impoverished rural village to search for
his son in Johannesburg.
Though Paton’s novel helped raise the social consciousness of white South Africa, things got much worse before they got better. In 1948,
the National Party (representing Afrikaner and conservative interests) gained power and introduced apartheid. Under apartheid, every South
African was classified according to race, and the Group Areas Act enforced the physical separation of blacks from whites. Every aspect of
South African life was racially segregated. Under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, the African National Congress (ANC), a political party
representing black South Africans, began protests against the new laws in the form of strikes and marches and even acts of terrorism
(approved yet condemned by both sides). After decades of struggle and bloodshed, the ANC prevailed, and South Africa held its first free
election in 1994. Mandela was elected president, apartheid was dismantled, and the country ratified one of the most liberal constitutions in
the world.
Background of novel
Cry, the Beloved Country was published in 1948 to overwhelming international acclaim—at the time of the author’s death, in 1988, more than
fifteen million copies of the novel had been sold, and it had been published in twenty different languages. In Paton’s native South Africa,
however, praise for Cry, the Beloved Country remained muted, and the novel’s objective takes on the problems of racial inequality in South
Africa created much controversy.
Although apartheid, South Africa’s infamous system of enforced racial segregation, was not instituted until after the novel’s publication, the
South Africa of Cry, the Beloved Country was nevertheless suffering from the effects of racial segregation, enforced inequality, and
prejudice. The crime rate was high, and attacks on whites by black agitators caused panic among the country’s white citizens. Black South
Africans found themselves adrift as the traditional tribal cultures gave way to the lure of the cities, and many South Africans were left without
any moral or social organization to turn to. Whites held a monopoly on political power, and they did nothing to alleviate the extreme poverty
among black South Africans, which in turn led many young black men to crime. The gold mines, which were so vital to South Africa’s
economy, depended on cheap black labor to remain profitable, and as a result, the workers were paid barely enough to survive. But those in
power inevitably broke up attempts to strike or seek a better wage.
Cry, the Beloved Country is set in this tense and fragile society, where the breathtaking beauty of the nation’s natural landscape is tainted by
the fears of its people. And yet, the message of the novel is one of hope. Characters such as Stephen Kumalo, James Jarvis, and
Theophilus Msimangu reveal a potential for goodness in humankind, and are able to defuse hatred, overcome fear, and take the first steps
necessary for mending a broken nation.
Alan Paton
Alan Paton (1903-1988) was born into a Scottish Presbyterian family in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. He graduated from the University of
Natal with a degree in physics and became a science teacher in several schools for the rich and privileged white population of the nation.
While suffering from an illness in 1934, he decided that he didn’t want to spend his life teaching the children of the rich, and applied for a job
with the Ministry of Education. Much to his surprise, he was offered a position as principal of the Diepkloof Reformatory - a reform school in
Johannesburg for poor blacks who had run afoul of the law, where he served for thirteen years, bringing sweeping changes to the
reformatory that are reflected at least to some extent by the character who heads the reform school in Paton’s most famous novel. His desire
for prison reform led him to take a tour of Europe and America to examine prison conditions in other lands. While he traveled, he wrote the
manuscript for Cry, the Beloved Country. The book received immediate plaudits, both in South Africa and in America. In addition to his
writing, Paton was the founder and national president of the Liberal Party, which worked for improved race relations in South Africa, though
the party was eventually banned by the apartheid government in 1968. Paton gave evidence to attempt to mitigate the terrorism charges the
government leveled against Nelson Mandela in 1964 before Mandela was sentenced to life in prison for his political efforts supporting more
rights and freedoms for blacks in South Africa. Paton died in 1988, before Mandela’s release in 1990 and before the official end of apartheid
in 1994 when Nelson Mandela was elected and inaugurated the president of South Africa.
Major characters
Stephen Kumalo – A Zulu pastor from the rural village of Ixopo who goes to Johannesburg in search of his sister and son. Over
the course of the novel, events bring him into contact with his wealthy neighbor in Ixopo James Jarvis, and the relationship between these
two men is central to the novel. Stephen also has a wife, Mrs. Kumalo.
Gertrude Kumalo – Sister of Stephen Kumalo. She is 25 years younger than Stephen and she has a son.
Absalom Kumalo – Son of Stephen Kumalo. Absalom gets in trouble with the wrong crowd of friends and commits a crime
which affects the course of the plot. Absalom has a mistress (this woman is never named).
Theophilus Msimangu – A pastor in Johannesburg who befriends Stephen and helps him through many events.
Mrs. Lithebe – Owns the home where Stephen stays during his time in Johannesburg.
John Kumalo – Brother of Stephen, father of John Jr., Absolom’s cousin. John is a powerful businessman and a politician in
Johannesburg working for black civil rights.
Matthew Kumalo – Son of John Kumalo. John Jr. and Johannes Pafuri are accomplices with Absalom in Absalom’s major act of crime.
James Jarvis – A wealthy white man who lives near the Kumalo family in Ixopo. Events lead him to get to know Stephen and
the development of their relationship is a central development throughout the novel. Married to Margaret Jarvis.
Arthur Jarvis – Son of James and a social reformer who works for racial justice. Married to Mary Jarvis and they have a son
(who isn’t named in the novel) who, like his father, treats black Africans with respect.
Father Vincent – A white Anglican priest in Johannesburg who assists Stephen and Absolom.
John Harrison – Brother of Mary Jarvis (a.k.a. brother-in-law of Arthur) who also supports racial justice.
Mr. Harrison – Father of Mary Jarvis (a.k.a. father-in-law of Arthur). A conservative who blames native South Africans for
country’s problems (though he respects his son-in-law’s courage as a social reformer).
Dubula and Tomlinson – Two of the most powerful black politicians working in Johannesburg who work with John Kumalo.
Central Ideas
As you read, take extra notes in explaining the author’s intended message (theme) in regards to the following central ideas:
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Christianity (church, faith, hope, love, forgiveness, redemption, mercy, reconciliation, repentance, justice, nature)
The importance and power of family
The importance and power of individual conscience
Social injustice (causes in South Africa, causes in all societies, racial injustice, economic injustice, freedom, equality)
The power and the beauty of nature and the land