A Reflective Land

In the book Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton uses the land as an important theme. With every event, Paton describes the land that surrounds the characters and why it is important. Paton’s descriptions involve diction, imagery, and detail. He tells about how some land is broken and dead. He tells about other land that is alive and well. He talks about how no one can appreciate the land if they are scared, and how the land reflects the human spirit. All these descriptions of the land strengthen the story in a way that appeals to the readers’ senses.

            

In the beginning of the book, Alan Paton tells about and describes two different sides of South Africa. One side “keeps men, guards men, cares for men.” This side is like a well farmed field. It has just enough rain and sun to flourish, and the people take care of it. The other part of land that Paton describes does just the opposite of the first. It “no longer keeps men, guards men, cares for men.” It is a broken and dying land that can not be used to for good. The people do not care for it and do not appreciate what it could be. This land is like what South Africa is turning into. In Chapter 12, Paton talks about “fear in the land.” He says that if someone is afraid, they can not enjoy the land. If there is too much badness happening around them, they can not see the good, no matter how hard they try. Here Paton is nudging the idea that one must not be afraid, but one must prosper through hard times. “Destroy the land and man is destroyed.”

            

In Chapter 15 Stephen Kumalo is talking with Father Vincent. In their conversation, Kumalo tells a story of man that is sleeping through a “the greatest storm of all his days.” The man has no idea what is going on around him, just like Stephen Kumalo. Just like the man, Kumalo is going through the pain of not being able to do anything about the destruction happening all around him. His family is falling apart, but he can not do anything about it. Here the land is being used to give a visual picture of what Kumalo is having to deal with.

            

Alan Paton uses the land in Cry, the Beloved Country to tell the story. He helps the reader imagine what life was actually like in those times, and how the land showed that struggle. The discrimination of South African people also discriminated South African land. Some land was alive, some was dead. Some was well taken care of and privileged, some was neglected to the point of destruction. These descriptions match the way the people were treated at that time. White people were privileged; blacks were neglected. This knowledge also helps the reader understand the difference between good and evil. The reader can have a mental picture of the difference, so they understand better. The land is a main part of this book.