Analysis Of Cry, The Beloved Country By Alan Paton

Before Alan Paton wrote his novel, Cry, the Beloved Country, he was the warden of Diepkloof Reformatory school, which was a juvenile correction center for delinquent African boys. The conditions of the school were brutal, such as the sanitary needs were ignored, there was no plumbing and the youth in the facility were locked up during the night. Paton worked to fix the harsh conditions and restrictive rules that had been in effect before his tenure and the results were gratifying (Iannone 2010). This experience served as the base for his novel and helped him come across just some of the issues in South Africa. The issue of segregation is just one social cause that Paton was trying to spread the word about. The Diepkloof Reformatory school …show more content…
The location of the school and isolation of the city is a demonstration of the country’s segregation. In the city, the rich white areas were almost absent, the focus resting on the poor shanty towns and crime-ridden neighborhoods inhabited by black residents. Also, there was not any real interaction between the blacks and the whites (Fitzgerald 2011). These conditions made Paton realize the racial discrimination throughout the nation as a whole. In the novel, Paton displays issue of segregation through Kumalo’s train ride on jhis way to Johannesburg. The train carts are separated by white and black passengers. Paton describes the scene that Kumalo is dealing with, “ As all country trains in South Africa are, it was full of black travellers….Kumalo climbed into the carriage for non-Europeans…. ” (Paton 13). This instance of segregation is the cause of mutual fear between the races. It is also a tactic that is used to reduce the crime and violence between the people because if they are separated, then there is a less likely chance of crime. The physical separation of blacks and whites leads to the conclusion that the whites thought of the blacks as inferior to themselves. This example is just one of the many ways that racial injustice is displayed …show more content…
The city of Johannesburg is made up of ghettos and slums. The government did not take care of the parts of the city where blacks could buy property. Msimangu describes the conditions of these areas to Kumalo and tells him, “‘ ...the streets were not cared for, and there were no lights, and so great was the demand for accommodation that every man if he could, built rooms in his yard and sublet them to others. Many of these rooms were the hide-outs for thieves and robbers, and there was much prostitution and brewing of illicit liquor’”(Paton 44). The author makes the reference that the city life lead to immortalized lifestyles of poverty and crime. The atmosphere of overcrowded slums accelerated this decay of home life which also decayed in tribal reserves (Callan 2005). The city of Johannesburg resulted in “breaking the tribes”, a reference that Paton used to convey the corruption of the youth and disintegration of families and tribe members. The social values that were held to high standards in Ndotsheni weakened from the industrialization and urbanization in Johannesburg, resulting in breaking down tribal