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.