The Cycle of Inequality/Injustice

http://www.france24.com/en/20100211-apartheid--inequalities-south-africa-mandela-anniversary-economy

This news article covered the topic very well in my opinion. Although things have gotten better there still is inequality between the races today. In Cry, the Beloved Country inequality is all throughout the book. Many blacks have to leave their farms and go to Johannesburg because the rich white men have the best land. Many women go from being good wives to becoming prostitutes. Black families have to leave their houses and move to huts made out of scraps in Shanty Town. They are taken advantage of because of their reliance on the buses. Bus fairs were raised hurting the poor black people heading back and forth to work. Blacks are treated worse when they commit crimes, and are given less leniency for the most part. All these problems lead back to money and power. The rich want to stay rich. The dominant race wants to stay on top. To stay on top the wealthy white minority created a cycle of injustice to keep the power they held.

• "It is not permissible to add to one's possesions if these things can only be done at the cost of other men. Such development has only one true name, and that is exploitation."
  - Alan Paton, Cry, The Beloved Country, Ch. 20

This photo shows the Shanty Town I was referring to. It's not fair that some people have to live in huts while others have big houses. The effect of this poverty and inequality is crime. Poor black people sometimes are forced to steal just to stay alive. In the book Absalom was desperate and ended up killing a man. Many blacks turn to other illegal acts as well. This cruel cycle of injustice hurts everyone in a way. If everyone was treated equal crime would go down and the country can function a whole lot better as well.

• "The truth is, our civilization is not Christian; it is a tragic compound of great ideal and fearful practice, of loving charity and fearful clutching of possessions."
  - Alan Paton, Cry, The Beloved Country, Ch. 21

The Unifying Power of Love

Love is a very powerful emotion.  It seems that most novels include love because it can be so powerful and it provides something that people everywhere can connect with.  Love could easily be taken as the main theme in this book.  Stephen Kumalo goes to Johannesburg because he loves his sister and wanted to go help her. He had no clue that her sickness was prostitution but when he found out, he loved her enough to still bring her back to Ndotsheni with him.  Because he was already going to Johannesburg, Kumalo decided to look for his brother and his son.  He obviously loved his son very much and he was devastated when he learned that his son would be hung for killing Arthur Jarvis.  Also, Msimangu and Kumalo developed a love for each other after all the time that they spent together.  When Stephen is going back to Ndotsheni, Msimangu gives him all his money because he is forsaking the world and didn't need the money anymore.  This kind deed performed by Msimangu is a good indicator of the love he had for Kumalo.  Kumalo was also loved a lot.  At the end of the book, when he came home from Johannesburg, all the people who saw him were shouting and talking about how much they missed him.  But the thing that was loved the most was the land.  The land in Ndotsheni was doing really bad and all of the people were sad because they loved and depended on the land.  Kumalo was especially sad about it.  When the land started to recover at the end of the book, people were rejoicing, Kumalo being the happiest out of all of them.  Those are just some of the many examples of love present in the novel.

Being able to talk about love is one thing, but talking about the unifying power of love is a little different.  It is the same because Stephen and Msimangu developed a love for each other and were unified by it.  But on the other hand, Kumalo  didn't become too unified (during the novel) with his sister even though he loved her a lot.  A great example of the unifying power of love is with Kumalo and James Jarvis (pictured below).

Jarvis and Kumalo talking about the church in the film "Cry, The Beloved Country."

Their relationship didn't exactly start on a good note, it basically started with Kumalo telling James that Absalom killed Jarvis' son, Arthur.  But James had seen all of his son's work for equality and his hear had changed.  James decided to help out the natives, especially Kumalo, and he provided means for a new church and hired an agricultural expert for them.  This shows that Jarvis truly became unified with Kumalo and the native people.  In fact, they were so unified, when Jarvis said he was leaving, this was Kumalo's response:  "Kumalo stood shocked at the the frightening and desolating words. And although it was dark, Jarvis understood him, for he said swiftly, I shall be here often." (Cry, the Beloved Country pg 306).  I really think that shows how connected they became because Kumalo didn't want Jarvis to leave after all that he had done for the natives.  Kumalo had a special connection with Jarvis that nobody else in the novel has.


When I thought of the unifying power of love, I thought of an episode of "Psych" called "The Tao of Gus." It is about a community of people in the mountains that is based all on loving each other.  They are all unified and they do about everything together.  This connects to the novel because people had become very unified (they do each other's laundry by hand) and in the book Kumalo is Unified with many people because of his love for them.
(Here is a link for the "Psych" episode:  http://www.hulu.com/watch/308129/psych-the-tao-of-gus#s-p1-so-i0)

The Effect of Fear

• "Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear."
  - Alan Paton, Cry, The Beloved Country, Ch. 12

I really enjoy this quote from the book. I feel that it captures the story in one sentence. Fear is a large part of this book. Fear is what caused Absolom to kill the white man. Fear is what made Gertrude turn to prostitution and selling alcohol for a living. Fear is what causes both sides to hate each other.

• "I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find that we are turned to hating."
  - Alan Paton, Cry, The Beloved Country, Ch. 7
  • This quote was said by Reverend Msimangu, warning Stephen that hate has to be overcome on both sides or nothing will change. A very good example of someone overcoming hate in the novel was James Jarvis. His son was killed by a group of blacks, increasing his already strong racism. Through his son's writings a great change occurred with James. If everyone came to realize the actual effects of fear and the damage it can cause, racism would be cured.

The problem of fear and the results should be resolved or the next generation will have to deal with the same problems. The country of South Africa has so much potential, but the Effect of Fear held the country back. The story of a man named Nelson Mandela shows how the country of South Africa was freed from the grasp of fear at a time after the novel.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. William Ernest Henley I really like this poem and the movie with the same title. It seemed like a perfect fit for this unit we are doing. Obviously they both pertain to South Africa as a country, and the effect of fear is very strong in both Invictus and in Cry, the Beloved Country. The poem talks about fighting through fear and pain and realizing that God made everyone equal. It helps give me strength to stand up for myself and I know that it gave strength to many others. The movie named after this poem shows the struggle of Nelson Mandela to unite his county in spite of the fear towards the different races. I love how Nelson Mandela was able to come out of jail ready to forgive those who put him in. This gives hope that we can all fight through the effects of fear. This story took place after the novel, so I think that it shows the results of the battle against fear. I think the people listened when Msimangu gave his warning about turning to hating the whites. Nelson Mandela strongly supported this belief when he came out of jail ready to forgive the whites who put him in. Because of the patience and love shown by men like Nelson Mandela, fear was able to be overcome, even through the harsh effects that it has. I like this quote because it asks a good question. I love that through the viewing of new media, in this case the movie Invictus, we can learn the answer.

• "But when the dawn will come, of our emancipation, from the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear, why, that is a secret."
  - Alan Paton, Cry, The Beloved Country, Ch. 35
  

The Importance of the Land

The land is a very important part of this book. It is said that the land is the main character in the book and some suggest that Stephen Kumalo is a representation of the land.

I think that this quote from the beginning captures the importance of the land. It says, "Stand unshod upon it, for the ground is holy, being even as it came from the Creator.  Keep it, gaurd it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares for men.  Destroy it and man is destroyed." (Cry, the Beloved Country pg 33)

Basically, this quote says the only reason man is alive is because of the land.  People need to take care of it so it can continue to provide for them.  I think that the novel is implying that the land is being "destroyed" and that with it, man will be destroyed.  But, man is a symbol.  Depending on how you interpret the book, man could be the tradition of the natives, it could represent the lives of man (the natives), or even man itself.  I think that it is a combination of all of those.  Because the land is dying, the natives traditions are dying and people are leaving because they can no longer find support from the land with the "maize hardly reaches the height of a man" (Cry, the Beloved Country pg 34).  In the novel, the native people's lives are dying also because the land cannot support them.  They have to move away to find work in the mines of in the cities, which was the reason Stephen Kumalo's family was split up.  Man can also simply be man because when the land dies, no food or water can be found there. Without food and water, people die.  Those three reasons is why I feel as if man can represent many different things throughout the novel.

The land could also represent the good and bad times of life.  In the first chapter of  Cry. the Beloved Country it describes the hills first.  It tells of their thick, green grass that is very lush.  There are streams and you can hear the titihoya's beautiful song.  This could be compared to the good times of life because everything is beautiful and you are "high" on the roller coaster of life.  But the hills break down into a valley that is bare and cannot hold water making all of the streams dry.  The valley is basically on its way to death.  This could be compared to the low times of life.  When we are down, everything seems to be dead, or at least heading in that direction.

This video shows the importance of the land in South Africa and how the culture is heavily influenced by the land.

"Tourism Linking Cultures- Cape Town"

I really like the quotes from this video, especially the one that reads, "The land, oceans, and mountains form part of our rich culture and heritage." (It appears at about 1:14)

I think that the quote captures the importance of the land because it says that it is the land that is part of our culture, and, again from the video, the culture in South Africa is very diversified.  It also shows that many South Africans think the land is very important and it needs to be used wisely.  This connects to the novel because both show the importance of the land, the video through the lands effect on culture and the novel because it keeps people alive.  

Bibliography

Jardine, Dan. "Cinemania." Cinemania. www.blogspot.com. Web. 07 Jan. 2012. .

Henley, William Ernest. "Invictus by William Ernest Henley." PoemHunter.Com. Web. 07 Jan. 2012. .

Paton, Alan. "Cry, The Beloved Country Quotes." Http://classiclit.about.com. Web. 7 Jan. 2012.

"Tourism Linking Cultures- Cape Town." southafrica.com. NewMedia Holdings, Inc. Web. 11 Jan. 2012.                    

Parsons, Robert. "Apartheid Long Gone but Inequalities Remain - SOUTH AFRICA - FRANCE 24." International Breaking News and Headlines - FRANCE 24. Web. 11 Jan. 2012. economy>.

"Google Images." Google. Web. 11 Jan. 2012. .

"The Unifying Power of Love and What It Helped South Africa Become." South Africa: Cry the Beloved Country. Web. 11 Jan. 2012. <http://southafricacry.blogspot.com>

"Hulu - Psych: The Tao of Gus." Watch TV. Watch Movies. | Online | Free | Hulu. Hulu.com. Web. 11 Jan.           2012.