Cry, the Beloved Country

Cry, the Beloved Country

Cry, the Beloved Country is a magnificent novel that illustrates the turmoil and suffering of a battered country. It takes place in South Africa in 1946. This is a time where racial discrimination is at an all time high. The black community of this land is trying to break free from the horribly mean white people, but is having very little success. The story begins when the Reverend Stephen Kumalo receives a letter from a fellow minister summoning him to Johannesburg, a city in South Africa. He is needed there to help his sister, Gertrude, who is ill. Kumalo undertakes the difficult and expensive journey in hopes of helping Gertrude and finding his son, Absalom, who traveled to Johannesburg from their hometown of Ndotsheni and never returned. In Johannesburg, Kumalo is warmly welcomed by Msimangu, the priest who sent him the letter, and given comfortable lodging by Mrs. Lithebe, a Christian woman who feels like helping others is her duty. Kumalo visits Gertrude, who is now a prostitute and seller of liquor, and persuades her to come back to Ndotsheni with her young son.

A more difficult quest follows when Kumalo and Msimangu begin searching for Absalom. They visit Kumalo’s brother, John, who has become a successful businessman and politician, and he directs them to the factory where his son and Absolom once worked together. One clue leads to another, and as Kumalo travels from place to place, he begins to see the gaping racial and economic divisions that are threatening to split his country. Eventually, Kumalo discovers that his son has spent time in reformatory and that he has gotten a girl pregnant.

Meanwhile, the newspapers announce that Arthur Jarvis, a prominent white crusader for racial justice, has been murdered in his home by a gang of burglars. Kumalo and Msimangu learn that police are looking for Absolom, and Kumalo’s worst suspicions are confirmed when Absolom is arrested for Jarvis’s murder. Absalom has confessed to the crime, but he claims that two others, including John Kumalo’s son, Matthew, helped him and that he did not intend to murder Jarvis. When Kumalo tells Absolom’s pregnant girlfriend what has happened, she is saddened by the news, but she joyfully agrees to his proposal