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When you have received your copy of the novel, don’t begin reading the text straight away! First do the following activities in your study work guide.

To do:

Quickly read (skim) information about the novel provided on its cover, in the introductory section of your copy of the novel and in your study work guide. Use this information and the activities in your study work guide to build your own understanding of the message in Cry, the Beloved Country.

Use the list below to check whether you have read all the information that you need. Find the item on the checklist and tick ✓ after you have read it. To help you find an item easily, indications of where you can find an item in your copy of the novel and in your study work guide appear in brackets after the item. Follow the steps in this checklist to get an overall impression of any novel you plan to read in order to decide whether you want to read it or not.

My information checklist

Information	Tick (✓)
1.Front cover (the front cover of your novel)
2.Title page (follows immediately after the cover page of the novel)
3.About the novel (on the back cover of your novel)
4.Date of first publication (on the back side of the title page)
5.About the author (on pp. vi, vii in your copy of the novel, and in your study work guide)

Notes and questions

1.Cover page: every picture tells a story!

The photograph on your novel’s front cover shows a black and a white man facing in opposite directions. Both are elderly. The clothing of the black man shows that he is a parson. He is leaning on a walking stick, which tells you that he uses it to support him on his journey. The white man is dressed plainly. The body language of the two people suggests that they could be suffering and that they could find it difficult to communicate with each other. This could be an issue that would need attention in the novel. However, they are sharing the same beautiful landscape. The way in which the title is printed on the front cover highlights the word “Cry”.

This word also tells you that the novel will be about suffering. The name of the author, Alan Paton, appears below the title on the front cover.

What does the front cover of your copy of the novel tell you?

2.The title page: more about the title

Read the title Cry, the Beloved Country and the subtitle “A story of comfort in desolation” together because the subtitle explains more about the author’s message in the novel. You can usually predict what the novel is all about by interpreting its title from clues that you find when you have a quick look at its front cover and its title page. For example, the word “Cry” in the title suggests pain and suffering. The phrase “the Beloved Country” tells you that Paton loves the country, South Africa. The word “story” in the subtitle tells you that the author chose to write about issues that cause pain and suffering in South Africa in the format of a story and not in the format of a historical record or a report. The story is about “comfort in desolation”. These words suggest that the author believes in the need for acts of caring to comfort and restore those who are suffering.

Do you agree with this interpretation of the author’s message? Write why you agree or disagree. Write your own interpretation of the title and subtitle to predict the message of Cry, the Beloved Country.

I agree/disagree _________________________________.

Why?

My own interpretation of what the message of Cry, the Beloved Country could be:

3.About the novel

The message of the novel is summarised on the back cover (the blurb). The purpose of this summary is to advertise the novel. It promotes the novel as a classic South African novel that is still relevant today.

Another example of how the novel’s message could be written follows:

Cry, the Beloved Country tells the story of Reverend Stephen Kumalo, an ageing isiZulu parson who leaves the security of Ndotsheni, a rural village in KwaZulu-Natal, to look for his sister and his son in Johannesburg.

He finds his family but he discovers how fear, greed, corruption and racial tension cause suffering and destruction in their lives. He also experiences the comforting power of kindness, hope, respect and love during his stay in Johannesburg and upon his return to Ndotsheni, where he starts rebuilding relationships and his community.

Do you agree that the issues and their solutions mentioned in the summaries could still be relevant today? Give a reason why you agree or disagree.

I agree/disagree _________________________________.

Why?

4.First publication of Cry, the Beloved Country

Paton’s novel was first published by Jonathan Cape in Great Britain in 1948. The first date of publication tells you when the novel was written. Keeping the information that you have already discovered in mind, you can predict that the novel paints a picture of how social and political problems during the 1940s affected relationships in South Africa.

5.About the author: Alan Paton’s life and Cry, the Beloved Country

In the novel, the author communicates his experiences and his views of human nature and nature, society and politics in South Africa during the 1940s. The table on p. 3 in your school edition summarises some of the main links between his life and the novel.

Alan Paton’s life	Cry, the Beloved Country
Childhood
Alan Stewart Paton’s parents were committed Christians who inspired in him a love for God and the Bible.	This love is reflected in the novel’s message about the need for acts of caring to comfort and restore those who are suffering. It tells a “story of comfort in desolation”, as the subtitle indicates. Reverend Stephen Kumalo, the main character of the novel, is a committed Christian.
The author’s father believed in corporal punishment to discipline his sons. Alan Paton opposed corporal punishment when he was principal of Diepkloof Reformatory for Young Offenders.	Relations between father and son are explored in the relationship between Stephen Kumalo and his son, Absalom, and between James Jarvis, the white farmer, and his son Arthur Jarvis. The young white man who worked at the reformatory treated Absalom with trust instead of harshness.
Alan’s father instilled in him a deep love for nature.	The descriptions of the valley of the Umzimkulu River bring the landscape to life; in this way, nature becomes a character in Cry, the Beloved Country.
The author’s father introduced him to literature, especially to the Bible.	Paton uses a simple story to communicate a moral and spiritual message about caring for those who are suffering.In the Bible, Jesus used parables to teach his followers moral and spiritual lessons. Two characters in the novel have biblical names. The first name of Reverend Stephen Kumalo reminds the reader of Stephen, the first Christian martyr in the Bible. His son is called Absalom, which is the name of King David’s son who betrayed his father and who was killed.
Teacher
Alan Paton taught at Ixopo High School after he had obtained a BSc Degree and a Higher Diploma in Education at the University of Natal.	In Cry, the Beloved Country Paton describes the way in which the school in Ndotsheni operates from the viewpoint of a teacher who knows how the school system operates.
Alan Paton met his first wife, Dorrie Lusted, when he was teaching at Ixopo High School. The couple moved to Pietermaritzburg, where Alan continued teaching at Maritzburg College. They had two sons.	Paton dedicated Cry, the Beloved Country to his first wife.
The author’s first wife, Doris, died of emphysema in 1967.	Farmer James Jarvis’ wife died after she had suffered from an illness for some time.
Author
Alan Paton started writing Cry, the Beloved Country in 1946 in Trondheim, Norway while he was studying different systems, prisons and reformatories as the principal of Diepkloof Reformatory for Young Offenders in Soweto. He completed the novel in the same year on Christmas Eve in San Francisco, America.Alan Paton wrote and published nineteen books. He continued to write until his death on 12 April 1988.	The success of Cry, the Beloved Country allowed Paton to resign from his post as principal of Diepkloof Reformatory. More than 15 million copies of the novel were sold by 1988. He moved to the coast of KwaZulu-Natal, where he dedicated much of his time to writing.
Politician
Alan Paton opposed apartheid actively. He became aware of the social problems of blacks in South Africa when he was a principal at Diepkloof Reformatory for Young Offenders. He became National President of the Liberal Party of South Africa on 31 May 1958. He was committed to political and social change and attended many occasions where people with liberal ideals met.	Paton also dedicated Cry, the Beloved Country to his longstanding friend, Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr, a prominent South African politician who worked for liberal change.
Alan Paton delivered speeches and wrote articles to advocate political and social change.	In Cry, the Beloved Country Stephen Kumalo’s brother, John Kumalo became a politician who was an excellent public speaker. James Jarvis came to know and understand the commitment of his son, Arthur Jarvis, to social and political change when he read the condolences messages to his son’s family. He also read the belated invitations to attend meetings from political and religious leaders, as well as from black, coloured, Indian and white community organisations and clubs. The content of Arthur James’s manuscript and article influenced his father to help Stephen Kumalo rebuild the community of Ndotsheni by restoring the land and the church.

Reread your prediction about the message in Cry, the Beloved Country. Do you still agree with your answer after you have received more information about some links between the author and his novel? Edit your answers to reflect your growing understanding.