Cry, the Beloved Country

Chapter 4

The train to Johannesburg travels a full day and night, climbing through many hills and villages. The regions Kumalo passes through are unfamiliar to him, with foreign landscapes and signs written in Afrikaans, which he does not speak. The great mines of South Africa come into view, and Kumalo’s fellow travelers, many of whom are miners, explain how the mines are excavated. They point out the great pulley that hoists the broken rocks, and Kumalo is awestruck. Overwhelmed by the modern surroundings, he keeps mistaking the passing landscape for Johannesburg, but his fellow passengers laugh and tell him of buildings in Johannesburg so tall they can barely describe them. The train arrives in Johannesburg, where Kumalo moves through the crowds that swarm throughout the station. Outside the station, the rush of traffic so terrifies Kumalo that he stands petrified on the sidewalk, unable to decipher the traffic lights. Speaking in a language Kumalo does not understand, a young man appears and offers to help Kumalo find his way to Sophiatown.

The young man leads Kumalo to the bus station, where he tells Kumalo to wait in line for the buses while the young man buys him a ticket. Eager to show his trust, Kumalo gives the young man a pound from his precious savings. He begins to suspect that something is wrong, however, as soon as the young man turns the corner. An elderly man takes pity on the helpless Kumalo and informs him that his money has been stolen. When it turns out that they are both headed for Sophiatown, the elderly man invites Kumalo to travel with him. He guides Kumalo safely to Msimangu’s Mission House.

This chapter focuses primarily on the descriptions of Johannesburg as an imposing and threatening place. Paton establishes that the city is foreign to Kumalo in many ways, even in language; Kumalo has so little experience with urban areas that he mistakes a mining area for a big city. Kumalo is therefore the outsider when he reaches Johannesburg. This is important in several respects. His outsider status allows Paton to use characters, most importantly Msimangu, to explain the workings and logistics of Johannesburg that would be obvious to an actual citizen of urban South Africa. Lastly, Kumalo's being an outsider, as this chapter certainly demonstrates, makes him a ready victim for opportunists.

The relationship between Reverend Msimangu and Stephen Kumalo will be an important one throughout the novel. Msimangu, like Kumalo, is a deeply religious man, yet his experience in Johannesburg has given him a much different perspective. He will serve essentially as the guide to Stephen Kumalo as he journeys throughout the South African city on his various quests.

Cry, the Beloved Country

Chapter 3

The train takes Stephen Kumalo from the valley into the hills of Carisbrooke, as he worries about the fate of his sister, the cost of the trip, and the possible adversities he might face. He remembers the story of the woman, whose son was killed in the street of Johannesburg when he stepped into traffic. His most pressing fear, however, concerns his son.

Perhaps the most important trait of Stephen Kumalo that Paton establishes is that Kumalo is a man who is reaching obsolescence. He is a rural priest who does not live in the modern world and is growing to find that his world is collapsing around him.

Once the train leaves the station, however, Kumalo’s old fears return. He worries about the city, about the fate of his family members, particularly his son, and about his feeling that he “lives in a world not made for him.” As the train rattles along toward Johannesburg, Kumalo takes refuge in his Bible, the only thing that brings him comfort in these troubled times.