"Twelve"

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Cry, The Broken Country

In the first chapter of Cry, the Beloved Country Paton goes into great detail to describe the beautiful landscape of South Africa. He even goes as far as to say that it is Holy. He then describes a broken, crumbling land that has been ravaged and destroyed by man.

                He uses these contrasting lands to show the vast difference between the tribal areas and the big cities like Johannesburg. Not only in their appearances but in the way the people of each area live. The natives hold high values in family and see preservation of the land very important, and much like the land on which they live, they have been untouched by man. They haven’t been corrupted by technology and man’s destructive, selfish ways. They don’t see being rich and successful as even remotely important because they still have to work to survive. Nothing is handed to them; they work for themselves and no one else. They know very little of the outside world and have never needed to because everything they need comes from the land. They live as they have been since they settled the land ages ago. Their lives are hard but that is what they are used too. Their hearts, like their homeland, has been untouched by man. The land keeps them, cares for them, and guards them and they return the favor.

                Other lands are not quite that way. They have been touched by man. Destroyed and scorched, they are barren and hold great steal jungles. The people in these cities have low morals and lose contact with their families. Natives move here and their hearts are changed. They leave the land that guards them and their heart are no longer safe. The Europeans came and destroyed the land and showed the natives what they “needed.” They showed them that they needed money. They showed them that they need success and fame. They took their land and their rights as human beings. They took their way of living and changed it. They corrupted the natives for their own greed-filled purposes. They wanted the gold that filled South Africa’s belly and used the natives to get it.

                The untouched, holy lands represent the natives and their way of life. The poor, nutrient-drained land represents the Europeans. In a way, the views were one-sided, coming from Paton. He saw what the Europeans had done and believed they were wrong. He used his homeland portray his beliefs. I personally agree with what he believes. The natives have a right as human beings to live the way they have for hundreds of years and the Europeans came in and destroyed it. He uses it to show the contrast between the peoples. He also uses it to portray his personal beliefs.