Cry, the Beloved Country

Cry, the Beloved Country Context

Alan Paton, author Born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa Birthday: January 11, 1903 Father: Scottish Farmer Mother: South African of English heritage

Paton, cont. Attended Natal University At 22, became a teacher and taught at two of South Africa’s elite, all-white schools. Ten years later, became principal of the Diepkloof Reformatory, a prison school for black youths.

Paton, cont. While principal, he tried to loosen the restrictions on the students and prepare them for life outside the reformatory walls.

Paton, cont. He traveled to study reformatory schools worldwide. It was on one of these trips, shortly after WW2, he wrote Cry, the Beloved Country. It was published in 1948. After its success, he resigned to pursue writing fulltime.

Setting Set in South Africa in 1940’s. The story is set against a backdrop of economic and political tensions that have a lengthy and complicated history.

South Africa without Europeans • Thousands of years before the first Europeans arrived, southern Africa was populated by various African tribes: • The San  • The Khoikhoi • Bantu-speaking people (ancestors of modern Zulus)

The Dutch arrive • The first European settlers in South Africa were the Dutch in the 1600’s. • They only wanted to set up trade, not colonize the country, so they met with little resistance.

The Dutch get pushy • By the mid-1700s, the Dutch had… • Come to be known as the Boers • Developed their own language, Afrikaans • Begun to settle deeper into the country

The Dutch get pushier In a process similar to the displacement and destruction of the Native Americans in the US, African tribes were forced off their lands. Many Africans died from disease and loss in battle against the well-armed Boers.

The English arrive English settlers first arrived in 1795. Unlike the Dutch, by the early 1800s, the English decided to make it a full-fledged colony.

Dutch and English clash Concentrated in the coastal cities, the English soon found themselves in conflict with the Boer farmers, who called themselves “the white tribe of Africa.” The Boers moved north, away from the coast, leaving the English alone.

English and Zulus fight • While the Dutch moved north, the Zulus (led by the famous warrior-leader Shaka), pressed south on a military campaign. • They and the English fought many bloody battles before the Zulus were defeated.

English pick a fight with the Dutch…again The Boers created several independent republics and kept to themselves. When diamonds and gold were discovered in their territories, however, the British moved to annex them. This led to the first Anglo-Boer war in 1881.

Dutch win…kind of The Boers regained independence of their territories, but when gold was discovered on their land in 1886, the British invaded the area again. The second Anglo-Boer war lasted from 1899 to 1902. The British won and officially established the Union of South Africa in 1910.

Cry, the Beloved Country Cry, the Beloved Country takes place after these upheavals and immediately before the implementation of apartheid (in 1948). During this time, black workers were permitted to hold only unskilled jobs and were subject to “pass laws” that restricted their freedom of movement.

CBC In 1913, 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.

CBC This led to massive overcrowding. Because of this, many black South Africans moved to Johannesburg to work in the mines. Those in power welcomed all the cheap labor that was coming into town, but they didn’t build sufficient housing for all of them.

CBC These are the circumstances under which the character Stephen Kumalo leaves his impoverished rural village to search for his son in Johannesburg.

CBC 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 introduced apartheid.

Apartheid Under apartheid, every South African was classified according to race. The Group Areas Act enforced the physical separation of blacks from whites. Every aspect of South African life was racially segregated.

Nelson Mandela Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) began protests against the new laws in the form of strikes and marches. After decades of struggle and bloodshed, the ANC prevailed, and South Africa held its first free election in 1994.

Mandela, cont. Mandela was elected president and apartheid was dismantled.

Themes 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 the people. And yet, the message of the novel is one of hope.

Themes, cont. Characters such as Stephen Kumalo, James Jarvis, and Theophilus Msimangu reveal a potential for goodness in humankind. They are able to defuse hatred, overcome fear, and take the first steps necessary for mending a broken nation.

Cry, the Beloved Country