Cry the Beloved Country

Cry The Beloved Country, by Alan Paton, is a story about Reverend Stephen Kumalo. In this book, Stephen Kumalo was not only responsible as a brother, but also as a father. Stephen Kumalo always showed extreme kindness and love to everyone. He also showed great forgiveness along his difficult journey. Reverend Kumalo’s responsible, forgiving, and loving character helped him get through all the hard trials he faced.

Kumalo was responsible with his decision to go find his family in Johannesburg. Though he was old and had little money, he knew it was right to go find his son, brother, and sister. After seeing that his sister became a prostitute, he still brought her and her son back to a better house and bought them new clothes. He never gave up looking for his son even when he looked in so many places and it seemed he would never find him. When Reverend Kumalo found out that a girl was pregnant because of Absalom, his son, he was responsible in going to see her, and accepting her into the family. Though Kumalo was old and tired, he still did what he had to do as a brother and father.

With all the trials his son and sister brought him, Kumalo was very forgiving toward both of them. When Kumalo found out that his son killed a man, he did not yell or get angry with him. He was sad for what Absalom did, but was just happy to have found him. This shows that Kumalo forgave Absalom and understood that he was already suffering enough. Stephen Kumalo was not only responsible with his sister, Gertrude, but also forgiving. Being a holy man, it was hard for Kumalo to see that his sister sinfully became a prostitute, but he showed that he forgave Gertrude