The Theme of Hope by Farah Ahmed 7A and Abdullah EL Hakim 7B

Although “Cry, the Beloved Country” is a novel that records extreme social injustice and often reveals a sense of hopelessness about the depth of the problem, it also envisages the possibility of reconciliation between the races and the rebuilding of black communities.

Even within the darker sections of the novel, there are usually some bright spots in which people exhibit human kindness to one another, regardless of race. One example is found in the mission house where all priests, black and white, regard each other as equals. “And there he met many priests, both black and white, and they sat down after a prayer and ate together,” explains the narrator. The quote shows how not only did the two races co-exist, but they prayed and ate together as brothers. Father Vincent, a white priest from England, is one that stands out. He genuinely likes Kumalo and talks to him in an equal manner.

The example of the young white man who gives rides to the black people walking to Alexandra because of the bus boycott validates Msimangu’s idea that love has an incorruptible power. The story of the whites giving rides to the blacks shows that racial harmony and human decency are possible. Moreover, solidarity between the whites the blacks triumphs over racism as South Africans risk trouble with the police in order to give rides to the striking blacks. Even if the boycott did not succeed in reducing the bus fare, it has done a great deal of good because it has shown the solidity of the natives and has aroused the conscience of many whites. This proves that the situation is not hopeless and many whites are on the side of the right, “Many of the white people stopped their cars, and took in the black people, to help them on their journey to Alexandra.”

Another representative of hope is the young white man who works at the reformatory to which Absalom Kumalo is sent. He tries everything he knows to set him on a more productive path in his life, for Absalom has deviated from the right path. As a result he became a criminal. The young man never gives up trying to aid Absalom, “ Do not give up hope Umfundisi. I will not give up the search,” he tells Stephen Kumalo. The people we read about in the reformatory reinforce the idea that there are white men of goodwill in South Africa who want to be constructive by helping the natives. The white man at the reformatory is a representative of the white people who are kind, helpful and respectful towards the black natives.

Of course, one major example is Arthur Jarvis. The hope for the future lies in the fact that the races are capable of cooperation, if individuals decide to overcome the false barriers that have been set up between them. Jarvis is one of the white people who was trying to bridge the gap between the two races. Because the non-racist whites are few, the loss of one is a great loss as he has been shot dead by black natives. Jarvis wished to help the blacks regain their rights, “this is a great loss for this Arthur Jarvis was a courageous young man, and a great fighter for justice.” Unfortunately, a black criminal , Absalom Kumalo, is the one who shot Arthur Jarvis

The novel suggests that societal change will only come when there is a change within mens' hearts, but it holds out the hope that such change can and will happen.

Reconciliation and Hope
Although Cry, the Beloved Country is a novel that records extreme social injustice and often reveals a sense of hopelessness about the depth of the problem, it also envisages the possibility of reconciliation between the races and the rebuilding of black communities.
Even within the darker sections of the novel, there are usually some bright spots in which people exhibit human kindness to one another, regardless of race. An example is the white man who goes out of his way to give rides to the black people who are walking because of the bus boycott. Another example is the young white man who works at the reformatory to which Absalom is sent. He tries everything he knows to set Absalom on a more productive path in life.The major example is of course Arthur and James Jarvis. The hope for the future lies in the fact that the races are capable of cooperation, if individuals decide to overcome the false barriers that have been set up between them. The novel suggests that societal change will only come when there is a change within mens' hearts, but it holds out the hope that such change can and will happen.

Dubala and John

There is nothing like listening to a well prepared oratory. While several people can write powerful speeches, not everyone has the charisma and oratory skills to move and influence the audience. In “Cry, the Beloved Country”,  there is no better orator than Dubala and John Kumalo. Both give inspiring speeches, though driven by different motives; one seeks fame and power, while the other works for the welfare of his race.

John Kumalo has broken with the church and with the tribe; he has  shed all the old tribal values and has adopted the more impersonal ways of the city. John is glad to be away from the domination of the chief because now he can assert his own importance. He tells his brother, “Here in Johannesburg, I am a man of some importance, of some influence.”

He is the archetype of the successful businessman known for his stirring oratory. Msimangu explains to Stephen how powerful John's speeches are and how strong his impact is on his listeners. Msimangy says that, "they say he speaks like a bull and makes noises in his thorat like a lion." He talks to his brother and Msimangu as if addressing an invisible audience summing up the Blacks’ suffering, “ But it is not built on the mines, it is built on our backs, on our hard work.” In Brief, he is a voice without heart and morals.

Although John speaks out for justice for the natives who are overwhelmingly poor, he is afraid. He loves his money and power, he loves that people will listen to him, but he knows that if he says anything to push the people to revolt, he will be put in prison. He never lets his speeches get too intense because his desire for self-preservation is too high and it makes him afraid to endanger himself even for a good cause. His fear of punishment prevents him from pushing people to seek radical change. Msimangu informs Kumalo that, “ he could make men mad if he wanted, but they say he has not enough courage, for he would surely be sent to prison.”

While John sits like a chief and talks of vague ideas, Dubala , another black political activist, shows great care and dedication to the Blacks’ cause. He is quiet, humble and extremely effective, for he works with one small but practical area, an area of immediate concern to his people.  John operates from corrupt motivations, but his friend and colleague Dubala works tirelessly and selflessly for his people. Dubala leads the bus boycott, hoping to fight the economic prejudice against his race. He convinces Kumalo and Msimangu of his case using his “silver tongue”. He tells them, “We are here to stop you. Not by force, but by persuading you.” Readers can see how Dubala is concerned about his people who are treated unjustly every day and are treated as an inferior race deprived of all basic humn rights. To convince Kumalo of his case, he talks to him about the tough life conditions that the Blacks have to endure in this new world; he says, "Men as old as you are doing it every day, sometimes to start off again with nothing but hot water in their stomachs. This is a cause to fight for. "

While John is afraid of the government, the government is obviously more afraid of Dubala because he wants nothing personal out of his dedication and therefore cannot be easily corrupted. He wants “to make trouble. They say he has given up his own work to do this.” Clearly Dubala’s work involves a lot of sacrifice and sincere devotion to the Blacks’ case. He has dedicated all his life, energy and power to fight injustice and help his race regain their rights and identity. He simply does not care about what life has to offer and he wants nothing for himself. The major difference between the two great orators is expressed in Msimangu’s words, “They say your brother has the voice, but this man has the heart.”

Through Paton’s portrayal of the characters of John and Dubala, he supports the idea that it is difficult to avoid being corrupted by power unless you are full of love. Paton believes that love and selflessness are the only way to save South Africa from its racial struggles. Selfless people like Dubala can really effect a change, while John fails to have a constructive role in the society due to the fact that he works mainly for self- interest.

Cry, the Beloved Country

Chapter 10

In the beginning of Chapter 10, Kumalo still feels that there is a great gulf separating him and his sister. He will have this same feeling when he meets his son. However, Kumalo feels some relief by his response to Gertrude's son and sees in the young boy a hope for the future. But at the same time that Kumalo is seeing all types of suffering and despair, he himself feels helpless. Throughout these chapters, he contemplates more and more about the basic value and nature of life.

The picture of the reformatory and the staff member reinforces the idea that there are white men of goodwill in South Africa who want to be constructive, creative, and kind, although the odds are overwhelmingly against them. The young director of the reformatory represents the frustration of continual disappointment when working with the natives. Absalom was thought to be still redeemable, but when Absalom fails again in the outside world, the young director becomes rather bitter and disillusioned. Furthermore, the good Reverend Msimangu loses control of himself and expresses some bitter thoughts about the girl Absalom has deserted. Thus when even Msimangu and the director resort to bitterness and disillusionment, the situation must be desperate. The girl, though, has long ago given up hope, if indeed she ever had any. She is a Johannesburg girl, born and reared there, and her fate is simply to exist without a trace of human dignity or happiness.

Cry, the Beloved Country

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 begins the search for Absalom — a search that will lead Stephen Kumalo through a series of new experiences and new revelations. The first of these is the encounter with the bus boycott when he meets Dubula. Msimangu then explains more about the leaders and the new movement. Stephen's brother John has the voice, but Dubula has the heart. Thus, in contrast to John, who may be working partly for self-interest, Dubula's work involves great suffering and great dedication and sacrifice. John sits like a chief and talks of vague ideas, but Dubula is quiet, humble, hard-working, and extremely effective, for he works with one small but practical area, an area of immediate concern to his people. Consequently, the government, according to Msimangu, is more afraid of Dubula, because he wants nothing personal out of his dedication and therefore cannot be easily corrupted.

Even if the boycott does not succeed in reducing the bus fares, it has done a great deal of good because it has shown the solidity of the natives and has aroused the conscience of many whites. Both of these factors are important in the novel because they illustrate that the situation is not hopeless and that the issue is not purely a racial one of whites versus blacks. It is a matter of right and wrong, and many whites are on the side of the right. In the action of the whites giving the blacks a ride, we see a foreshadowing of the action that Jarvis will later undertake. These small actions then lead to greater acts of justice on the part of the whites.

Cry, the Beloved Country

Chapter 7

John represents a different way of life in that he has broken with the church and with the tribe and is now living with a new wife. He has shed all the old tribal values and has adopted the more impersonal ways of the city. This outlook stands in direct contrast to Stephen, who has adhered strongly to the old values embedded in the tribe and church. Furthermore, John is glad to be away from the domination of the chief because now he can assert his own importance. We must also realize that he is being used by the party solely because of the strength of his voice; in other words, he has become a voice without heart or morals.

When Kumalo brings Gertrude and the child from the slum area, he immediately buys them new outfits. Symbolically, he is preparing them to accept a new way of life as expressed by the discarding of the old clothes and accepting the new ones.

Throughout the novel, Msimangu is the spokesman for the author; it is he who identifies one of the principal evils of society: the white man has power and the black man wants this same power so as to be like the white man. At first the black man says he wants power so that he can correct injustice and the wrongs of the society. But the tragedy lies in the fact that as soon as the black man receives power, he uses it as badly as does the white man; that is, he is content to enjoy all the rewards of power and forgets about correcting the injustices.

Students' answers to exam questions:

What picture of the narrator do you get from the poem? Which of these words best describe her tone? Explain your choice.

1) The picture that I get of the narrator is that she is optimistic in  life and gives everything a person’s quality as if it is all alive. She is optimistic because she gives everything a bright side and looks at it from a good side.

Alia El Hossieny

2) Her tone is observant as she gives vivid details and description to the objects around her: the trees, the dead leaves , the grass and the clouds.

Youssef Wael Hatem

3) The narrator is talking about nature. She pictures the ocean’s waves clashing sound and the leaves floating in the air. The clouds are passing across the blue sky making the sunshine glance to the grass. The poet is extremely observant and happy.  She captures all the beauty of nature and describes it in a poem with a variety of adjectives.

Nadine Wael

4) The poem gives a picture of the narrator: a hopeful, excited young being, soaring through the storm, keen and eager and delighted to see every beautiful thing. Only one word could describe her tone: excited, the lines indicate her eagerness to soar the skies and explore the splendours the storm aroused.

Abdullah El Hakim

Bronte’s poem helps us to imagine the power of the storm through the uses of powerful imagery .Pick TWO figures of speech and explain them fully.

1) ‘’The bare trees are tossing their branches on high’’ Bronte uses this personification to show that the storm was so powerful, and the winds were strong that tree was bare of their leaves and swayed strongly and their branches broke. This makes the storm seem more vivid and easy to imagine. ‘’The long withered grass in the sunshine is glancing’’ This is also personification used to show the storm has led for the grass to wither but it still looks stunning in the sunlight.

Mahmoud Ramzy

2) The poet uses powerful imagery to create an image in our mind. She uses a personification in ‘’The dead leaves, beneath them, are merrily dancing’’ She describes that the leaves are dancing ,but they couldn’t to picture that the wind carries the dead leaves away as if they were dancing. This signifies that the leaves are loose and the wind is powerful. The second figure of speech is when she uses a metaphor in ‘’and hear the wild roar of their thunder today!’’ The thunder doesn’t roar but its sound is so high and like its roaring This signifies that the thunder’s sound is like roaring of the lion.

Youssef Amir

How do you feel reading the above poem? Describe your mood and use verses from the poem to support your answer.

I felt excited as I was reading the first line, ‘my soul is awakened, my spirits soaring.’’ It showed that the sense of excitement has started because there is a powerful storm coming and storms always give a sense of excitement to me rather than fear and this means that I am feeling that a storm is coming every time I read this poem.  

Mahmoud Shady

In the light of this headline that appeared in Johannesburg Mail, consider the effect of the racial discrimination on the blacks.

Left rudderless and working for meagre wages, it is not surprising that crime rates among the blacks are on the rise. Beside, the whites has disrupted the black man’s world and refuse to accept them in the new world, for they are afraid that the black’s gain education and become more powerful. This makes the white man avoids helping the black man to continue exploiting them for their own personal gain. As a result, blacks are suffering from ignorance, poverty and diseases which makes them steel and beat people as a source of life.

Farah Ahmed

Do you think Gertrude is a victim or a villain? Explain fully and give evidence to support your answer.

1) I think Gertrude is a villain, as she is normally corrupt she is a woman of streets with a child. She is morally and spiritually sick. Also, she is a sinner and her soul is lost because of all the sins she has done. This is her job, she makes and sells liquor. She has been to prison more than once. She sleeps with many men for her price. She didn’t adhere to the values and morals of her tribe and church. I believe that the culture of Johannesburg cannot change a person. She does not care about her child and leaves him without even knowing where he is. Finally, I believe that her immorality is distasteful and very upsetting not only to Kumalo, her brother, but to any community. Alia Bahig

2) A sensitive and debatable topic is whether blacks twisted and corrupted by the whites’ discrimination are considered villains or victims. Gertrude is one example, and I believe that she is both a villain and a victim. Accordingly, she shouldn’t have been sucked away into sin and Johannesburg’s temptations, yet it is not a fault of her own that she was excluded from the new world. At first it was essential to adhere to sin to be able to survive: she and her child, but later she had the choice to return, but didn’t seize it. Kumalo at first is angry and regards her as a villain thinking that ‘’ you have shamed us.’’ Then he sees she was forced by whites’ faults and forgave her saying, ‘who am I not to forgive?’’

Abdullah El Hakim

Comment fully on the following quote:                                                   

“How does one find one’s way in such a confusion?

Kumalo said these words to himself in Johannesburg when he saw Johannesburg's high buildings , cars , stations and its other facilities . He felt very confused and scared. For a simple man of God,he found himself in a complicated world full of dangers and traps while his own world is simple and natural . Kumalo has lived his life in a simple tribe that has no technology, but when he sees little liveliness,he feels very scared and nervous as he said "God watch over me, God watch over me. "

Youssef Emara

S    Sample Essay: Stephen Kumalo’s character

     Often known throughout the novel as "umfundisi," which is a Zulu title of respect, Stephen Kumalo is highly respected as the native African pastor of St. Mark's Church in the village of Ndotsheni and also as an upstanding, moral, strong member of the native South African community. Yet despite his good heart and soul, Kumalo has a terrible crisis to bear—the tragedy of his son's truancy and the justice that is meted out upon has family as a result. Beyond that, he is also watching the dissolution of the rural way of life he has always lived and championed.

Some traits that come out are his morality and naivete. Kumalo is naive because he has never ventured out of Ndotsheni and when he sees a little liveliness he thinks that that must be a big city. Once Kumalo steps foot in Johannesburg, the reality hits him that he has led a very sheltered life. Innovations brought by the Europeans to Africa, are things that Kumalo has never seen before in his life, and they scare him. Kumalo’s naivete contributes to the fear and confusions he feels his first days in the city, because he led a primitive life in his village. Seeing the streets of the big city, he thinks to himself,” how does one find one’s way in such a confusion?”. His fears of Johannesburg are a part of his inexperience in coping with the white man’s world which for a simple man is a complicated world full of traps and dangers while his own is simple and natural.  

When Kumalo dares to venture into the big city his ignorance of the greater world beyond his village is manifested. Being an outsider, Kumalo is a ready victim for opportunists. After Kumalo steps off of the train, a young man volunteers to purchase a bus ticket for Stephen he does not have to wait in line. Kumalo gives him the money trusting he would get the ticket for him, but the young man does not return. Due to Kumalo’s naivete he is cheated out of his money. Mr. Mafolo explains, “You have been cheated umfundisi.”

       Kumalo has the trait of faith. Throughout the novel Kumalo has faith in God. Whenever he is afraid or in doubt, he resorts to God and to his holy book because “it was this world alone that was certain.”

Kumalo is a caring, trusting, and essentially a humble person, but he is also a man with an inconsistent temperament. He always returns to God and repents for whatever he has done wrong. Like every human, Kumalo often becomes angry with other people and hurts them. Several times during the novel his feelings of anger get the best of him and he intentionally tries to hurt some other person. After each outburst, he is deeply sorry for his anger and makes reparations in some manner. Even in the first pages of the novel, he knows that he hurts his wife. He admits  ” I am sorry I hurt you, I shall go and pray in the church.”

Kumalo is angry with his sister, Gertrude for the way she chose to support her son and herself, and yells at her saying,” You have shamed us. A liquor seller, a woman of the streets, with a child and you do not know where it is. Your brother is a priest, how could you do this to us.” He yells at her out of love because he would like her to return to the way he knew her before, but his actions hurt Gertrude. By making him fallible rather than flawless, Paton ensures that we will be able to empathize with Kumalo’s experience.

Stephen is a virtuous man at heart, and is worthy of being a priest. Outside forces affected Kumalo greatly. The fact that his son, Absalom, went to Johannesburg and did not keep contact with him worried him greatly. After his sister went to look for him and also did not send word back to him, his worries became even greater. He was affected by their decisions and went to look for them. This changed his personality. While hoping they were doing well in Johannesburg, he realized that they were lost in sin. He sums up his suffering saying,“This is a bitter journey.”

Throughout the novel, Kumalo acts as a moral compass, the glue that holds his family together. Kumalo tries ceaselessly to repair the tribe, and to bring Gertrude, Absalom, and the rest of his family to where he believes they can put their lives in prospective, and live happily. However, his efforts are not successful in the end because he cannot make Gertrude or Absalom change their past trespasses, or way of life. He tries to preserve the traditional values he believes are correct, and he tries to make others moral. Stephen's suffering is seen partially in the fact that he wants to restore the family and the tribal system. He fears for his world which is “slipping away, dying, being destroyed, beyond any recall.” But through the course of the novel, he comes to an awareness that the tribal system can never be restored, and he fails in his attempts to restore his own family. Through these failures and the suffering caused by them, he matures into a man who has a larger appreciation for the trials that others must undergo.

Stephen Kumalo changes drastically during the course of the novel. He gains a great awareness of many facets of life by going on a journey to Johannesburg. Before this journey, he was a country priest who was a good man but who had no understanding of the wider world. He respected the tribal ways but had no understanding of why the tribe was breaking down and why the young people were leaving for the cities. Kumalo is the suffering hero; that is, before he can come to a complete awareness of life, he must undergo intense suffering. Only at the end of the novel does he come to understand the meaning of that suffering — that through suffering a person is made more aware of all aspects of life and can better sympathize with others.

Dear students, 

To learn some basic Zulu words, watch this easy video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jndNJAE3sls

NB: If you learn all the words in the video, you will win 4 SMART STUFFS!

QUiz 2 Commentary Question

“Yes, she is very sick. But it is not that kind of sickness. It is another, a worse kind of sickness.”

Comment fully by Mohamed El Touny 7C

Msimangu said these words to Kumalo at the Mission House in Johannesburg when Kumalo asked him about Gertrude and her sickness. Gertrude went to Johannesburg to look for her husband who went there and stopped writing letters and never came back. Msimangu asked Kumalo to come to Johannesburg to help his sick sister. When Kumalo arrives there, he knew that she is not physically sick, but spiritually. She sleeps with men to gain money to get food for her child and became a sinner. Gertrude is morally corrupt, but because Kumalo is a man of God and religion, immorality is distasteful to him and really upsetting. Kumalo was confronted with his first severe disappointment when he learns the truth about his sister. He found himself in a situation he has never encountered before. He did not know how to respond or what to do. This is a clear example of people who go to Johannesburg and change their values.