Alan Paton's rich novel "Cry, The Beloved Country"  reveals the difficulties faced by a naive "parson" in South Africa, Stephan Kumalo who goes through tough realities of life in order to preserve and reunite his family. He experiences segregation in land, wages and facilities throughout the novel. All the other themes like native crime, fear, rural-urban migration and breakdown of tribe/family are results of the more prominent theme that is segregation or inequality in south Africa.

Although whites are not directly responsible for the condition of native people but the unequal rules made by them affects the natives. The natives got really "low wages, sometimes less than thirty or forty shillings" as compared to the whites. The main character, Kumalo's sister Gertrude was involved in inappropriate doings like prostitution and selling alcohol in Johannesburg due to lack of wages for blacks in appropriate jobs.

Also the amount of land a native could hold in villages like Ndotsheni was limited. The same limited  amount of land had to be farmed again and again which barrens the land. Due to lack of education they were not aware of proper advanced farming methods. The youths had no choice but to migrate to cities in search of jobs where they got low wages and were forced into crime. Due to the inequality in the land available to natives and whites, low wages and lack of good education facilities for natives attracted natives of south Africa to the path of crime which thus lead to fear among people. One thing lead to another like a chain reaction. Segregation was the base and triggered bigger and dangerous problems.

The whites not only neglected the problems of natives but also contributed to them until they were in danger and lived with fear. Whites did not wanted to give up their power and "superiority", so they enforced  segregated laws like "non-European hospital", "non-European part of the train" and other separate areas.

The traditional way of life of South Africans is lost since the whites came. Paton says that "the white man has broken the tribe." As a result of separateness the native society is disintegrated

South Africa is changing, changing in both positive and negative ways. As the story will unfold  all the themes that arose in book one will lead to something bigger that one cannot imagine and will be greatly affected by segregation policies used by whites.

Gawande1

Anuja Gawande

16 November 2012

Ms. Harmon

Pre-AP English 10

                    The loss and the beginning of new hope

Death of someone your own blood leaves a devastating wound upon a family which takes years to heal. Only time can heal them. The fear of losing near ones was set into my mind.

Extreme silence surrounds us as I am sitting besides granny, laying my head on her shoulder, both looking at the empty bed which once belonged to grandpa. No one is speaking as we are realizing the unfortunate truth. This was the first time ever I came across death.

“Granny, I wish he can come back.”I broke the silence.

“Sweetie, though he is not in front of us but he is always with us. “ She said sobbingly.

The old large grandfather clock of wooden color with silver lining and carved details sits on the right-hand-side corner of the room near the bed. Its relentless ticking sound filled the silent bedroom as the nostalgic memories of my grandpa are flashing through my mind. Tick-tack! Tick-tack! Tick-tack!

Yum! Chocolate chip cookies and tea are always my favorite no matter how many times I eat it. Eating them while listening to grandpa's fascinating stories seems to me as the best thing to do at the age of 8. He discerns all the stories from spiritual and emotional to the kings and queens one. All of his stories make me curious to know more.

“Grandpa, is this story about fairies?” I asked excitedly.

“No honey, but it's something interesting. It was in the year 1997 that I went to a village named Silvia to find the cause of the disease that was spreading in the village.” He began.

I listen carefully to his every word. My little brain could imagine all the people and the things happening in front of my eyes.  Being a doctor he worked at different hospitals at different places and had a lot of adventures which he tells us. The huge grandfather clock was bought by him from a place called Jagdalpur and was his favorite. Apart from gardening, feeding birds and telling me stories, cleaning the clock is his beloved activity.

Suddenly the clock loudly strikes ten o'clock and its sound echoed in my mind for a few seconds bringing me back to the ill-fated present. I realize that how much I miss him he cant come back. Despite his knowledge of homeopathy, he could not be saved by god or himself from the ugly disease of cancer. It is said that history repeats itself. Same is with cancer. It reoccurs after ten-fifteen years. Last time grandpa fought with liver cancer it took away half of his stomach for complete cure but this time it cost him his life.

“Granny, it's been an hour since you are cleaning the clock. Take rest for a while.” I said with concerned look on my face when I saw her dusting the clock in the morning. Although I know her reply that she would not relax until she cleans it but some part of me pushed me to say that. 

 This morning has brought new freshness with it. As I am looking at her, her face shining in the daylight, I see what I have more than what I had lost, I see my  happiness ,I see what more I can loose and I see what I should care  about. My granny and I had good times together but   somehow grandpa affected me more. It is true that someone's death can change you and grandpa's death has changed me into a better, loving and caring person. From today I have decided to love granny more than before, make her everyday special and never let her remember the loss.