Cry, The Beloved Country
There are many themes in Cry, The Beloved Country , the themes most directly relating to our thematic statement " Overcoming obstacles is vital to the advancement or continuance of a people and their culture" are emancipation and nature.
THEMES IN CRY, BELOVED COUNTRY
Emancipation
Page 312 in Cry , The Beloved Country -" Yes, it is the dawn that has come...The great valley of Umzimkulu is still in darkness, but the light will come there. Ndotsheni is still in darkness, bu the light will come there also. For it is the dawn that has come, as it has come for a thousand centuries, never failing. But when that dawn will come, of our emanciptation, from the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear, why, that is a secret." This quote and theme of emancipation tie in with our thematic statement because apartheid was a huge obstacle for the South African people. Apartheid didn't allow the South African natives to be independent, by giving them curfews, mandating that "colored" people carry passes , and not allowing "colored" people to work in certain trades or jobs. In order for the native South Africans to continue and pass on their traditions to their future generations, the natives had to be emancipated. They had to be able to live as equals, with the same rights and freedoms that other men possess. The South Africans "dawn" of emancipation did eventually occur.Native South Africans have been enjoying their freedom since the 1990's. |
Nature
Pages 33-34 in Cry, The Beloved Country -"The grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil. It holds the rain and the mist, and they seep into the ground , feeding the streams inb every kloof. It is well tended, and not too many cattle feed upon it ; not too many fires burn it, laying bare the soil...But the green rich hills break down. They fall to the valley below , and falling, change their nature. For they grow red and bare; they cannot hold the rain and mist, and the streams are dry in the kloofs.Too many cattle feed upon the grass, and too many fires have burned it." The theme of nature Cry, the beloved country is relating both to the nature of the South African people and the nature surrounding them. The deterioration of the nature surrounding the native South Africans is representative of their deteriorting morality. The obstacles faced in this case are more spiritual than physical. The oppression of apartheid has the tribal structure away from the native South Africans, in doing this , the South Africans have lost the structure in their lives, Without the tribe , the South Africans have begun to take the nature God has given them forgranted. When the land begins to be restored so will the morality of the people. Towards the end of the book, James Jarvis begins to realize this ; he then helps to restore Ndotesheni. |