 First US edition | |
| Author | Alan Paton |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | novel |
| Set in | Johannesburg andNatal, 1940s |
| Publisher | Scribners (USA) &Jonathan Cape (UK) |
Publication date | 1 February 1948[1] |
| Publication place | South Africa |
| Media type | Print (hard~ &paperback) |
| Pages | 256 (hardback ed., UK) 273 (hardback ed., US) |
| ISBN | 0-224-60578-X (hardback edition, UK) |
| OCLC | 13487773 |
| 823.914 | |
| LC Class | PR9369.3 .P37 |
Cry, the Beloved Country is a 1948 novel by South African writerAlan Paton. Set in the prelude toapartheid inSouth Africa, it follows a black village priest and a white farmer who must deal with news of a murder.
American publisherBennett Cerf remarked at that year's meeting of theAmerican Booksellers Association that there had been "only three novels published since the first of the year that were worth reading…Cry, The Beloved Country,The Ides of March, andThe Naked and the Dead."[2] It remains one of the best-known works of South African literature.[3][4]
Two cinema adaptations of the book have been made, the first in1951 and the second in1995. The novel was also adapted as a musical calledLost in the Stars (1949), with a book by the American writerMaxwell Anderson and music composed by the German emigreKurt Weill.
The story begins in the (fictional) village of Ndotsheni, near the real-life village ofIxopo, where the Christian priest Stephen Kumalo, aZulu, receives a letter from the priest Theophilus Msimangu in Johannesburg. Msimangu urges Kumalo to come to the city to help his sister Gertrude because she is ill. Kumalo goes toJohannesburg to help her and find his son Absalom, who had gone to the city to look for Gertrude but never came home. It is a long journey to the great city of Johannesburg, and Kumalo sees the wonders of the modern world for the first time.
When he gets to the city, Kumalo learns that Gertrude has taken up a life of prostitution and beer brewing and is now drinking heavily. She agrees to return to the village with her young son. Assured by these developments, Kumalo embarks on the search for Absalom, first seeing his brother John, a carpenter who has become involved in the politics of South Africa. Kumalo and Msimangu follow Absalom's trail, only to learn that Absalom has been in a reformatory and will have a child with a young woman. Shortly thereafter, Kumalo discovers that his son has been arrested for murder. The victim is Arthur Jarvis, awhite man who was killed during a burglary. Jarvis was an engineer and an activist for racial justice and is the son of Kumalo's neighbour, James Jarvis.
Jarvis learns of his son's death and comes with his family to Johannesburg. Jarvis and his son had been distant, and now the father begins to know his son through his writings. Through reading his son's essays, Jarvis decides to take up his son's work for South Africa's black population.
Absalom reveals at his trial that he was pressured into committing a burglary by and with his three "friends", who later denied their involvement and threw all the blame on Absalom. Absalom issentenced to death for the murder of Arthur Jarvis. Before his father returns to Ndotsheni, Absalom marries the girl carrying his child. She joins Kumalo's family. Kumalo returns to his village with his daughter-in-law and nephew, having found that Gertrude ran away the night before their departure.
Back in Ixopo, Kumalo makes a futile visit to the tribe's chief to discuss changes that must be made to help the barren village. Help arrives, however, when James Jarvis becomes involved in the work. He arranges for adam to be built and hires a native agricultural demonstrator to implement new farming methods.
The novel ends at dawn on the morning of Absalom's execution. The fathers of the two children are devastated that both of their sons have wound up dead.
Cry, the Beloved Country is a social protest against the structures of the society that would later give rise toapartheid. Paton attempts to create an unbiased and objective view of the dichotomies it entails: he depicts whites as affected by "native crime" while blacks suffer from social instability and moral issues due to the breakdown of the tribal system. It shows many of the problems with theUnion of South Africa, such as the degrading of the land reserved for the natives, which is sometimes considered the central theme, the disintegration of the tribal community, native crime, and the flight to urban areas.
Another prevalent theme inCry, the Beloved Country is the detrimental effects of fear on the characters and society of the Union of South Africa, as indicated in the following quotation from the narrator in Chapter 12:
Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red theveld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much.[6]
Paton frequently uses literary and linguistic devices such asmicrocosms,intercalary chapters anddashes instead ofquotation marks for dialogue to indicate the start of speech.
Cry, the Beloved Country was written before the passage of a new law institutionalizing the apartheidpolitical system in South Africa. The novel was published in 1948; apartheid became law later that year.
The book enjoyed critical success worldwide. Before Paton's death, it sold over 15 million copies.
The book is currently studied by many schools internationally. The writing style echoes the rhythms and tone of theKing James Bible. Paton was a devoutChristian.
Paton combined actual locales, such asIxopo andJohannesburg, with fictional towns. The suburb in which Jarvis lived in Johannesburg, Parkwold, is fictional, but its ambiance is typical of the Johannesburg suburbs ofParktown and ofSaxonwold. In the author's preface,Paton took pains to note that, apart from passing references toJan Smuts andSir Ernest Oppenheimer, all his characters were fictional.
The novel is filled withBiblical references and allusions. The most evident are the namesPaton gives to the characters.Absalom, the son of Stephen Kumalo, is named for the son ofKing David, who rose against his father in rebellion. Also, in theNew TestamentBook of Acts,Stephen was amartyr who underwent death by stoning rather than stopping declaring the things he believed. TheGospel of Luke and theBook of Acts are written toTheophilus, which isGreek for "friend of God".
In the novel, Absalom requests that his son be named "Peter", the name of one ofJesus's disciples. Among Peter's better-known traits is a certain impulsiveness; also, afterChrist's arrest, he denied knowingJesus three times and later wept in grief over this. After the resurrection,Peter renewed his commitment toChrist and to spreading theGospel. All that suggests Absalom's final repentance and his commitment to his father's faith.
In another allusion, Arthur Jarvis is described as having a large collection of books onAbraham Lincoln, and Lincoln's writings are featured several times in the novel.
Paton describes Arthur's son as having characteristics similar to those of his childhood, which may allude to the resurrection of Christ.
In 1951, the novel was adapted intoa motion picture of the same name, directed byZoltan Korda. Paton wrote the screenplay withJohn Howard Lawson, who was left out of the original credits because he was blacklisted inHollywood for refusing to give information to theHouse Un-American Activities Committee. Kumalo was played byCanada Lee, Jarvis byCharles Carson, and Msimangu bySidney Poitier.[citation needed]
In 1983, a historic stage adaptation was performed by the Capital Players theatre group at the Moth Hall inGaborone,Botswana. The country was at that time one of the leading "frontline states" to apartheid South Africa and a centre for artistic activity that often stood in quiet opposition to the racist regime just across the border. The premiere was attended by Paton himself, who had travelled fromNatal, as well as Botswana's then-PresidentQuett Masire (with political acumen, the director had arranged for the first performance to take place on the President's birthday). School students from across the country were bussed to the capital to see the production.[7]
Another film version was released in 1995, directed byDarrell Roodt.James Earl Jones played the Reverend Kumalo andRichard Harris filled the role of Jarvis.[citation needed]
A stage version by the South African playwrightRoy Sargeant was developed in early 2003; it was first staged at the National Arts Festival inGrahamstown,Eastern Cape on 27 June 2003 and at theArtscape Theatre inCape Town on 8 July 2003. The director wasHeinrich Reisenhofer. The script, together with notes and activities for school use, was published in 2006 byOxford University Press Southern Africa.[citation needed] The play was produced byIndependent Theatre inAdelaide, Australia, in 2006 and again in 2008.[8]
In 1949, the composerKurt Weill, in collaboration with the American writerMaxwell Anderson (book and lyrics), composed a musical based on the book calledLost in the Stars. The originalBroadway production opened on 30 October 1949 at the Music Box Theatre and starred Todd Duncan and Inez Matthews. It ran for 273 performances before closing on 1 July 1950. It was made intoa movie, starringBrock Peters andMelba Moore, and released in 1974.[citation needed]
Lost in the Stars is the last work Weill completed before he died in 1950. Although he was influenced byspirituals,jazz, andblues, Weill's distinctive and original style shines throughout the score.[citation needed]
IsraelicontratenorDavid D'Or performed in a stage version at the Israeli National Theater ("Habima Theater") in 2004.[9][10]Maariv in its review wrote: "D'or's outstanding voice is meant for great parts. His voice and presence embraces the audience, who showed their appreciation by a lengthy standing ovation."[9][11]
In August 2012, theGlimmerglass Opera of New York produced the work, in conjunction withCape Town Opera, directed byTazewell Thompson.[12]
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