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Cry The Beloved Country Literary Analysis

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1. Cry the Beloved Country is part story, part prophecy and a part psalm because this story talks about life as a native and the hardships that they are put through. Cry the Beloved Country, is a story of how a man reunites with his family, only to find out they were not living good lives. “A man has been killed at her place. They gamble and drink and stab. She has been in prison, more than once” (Payton 53). Stephens sister has been living a hard life and is going against everyone of Stephens views. In addition, this story can also be connected to prophecy because the story was written before apartheid took place. On the other hand, he saw the way things were going, but was hoping that things would get better as time went on. Absalom is s …show more content…

9. I believe that in the novel, Cry, the Beloved Country, God’s presence is both acknowledged and ignored by the characters. Stephen Kumalo continuously seeks and believes in the presence of the Lord. He often prays and asks god for help throughout the novel. “Tixo, watch over me, he says to himself. Tixo, watch over me” (Paton 48). As seen from this quote, Kumalo is a character that acknowledges the presence of god, unlike part of his family that have moved to Johannesburg. Unlike Kumalo, His relatives in Johannesburg have changed their ways and have thrown out the idea that God Is still present beside them. A good example of this would-be John, he has come to the resolution of ignoring god and living and obeying laws. “But the church too is like the chief. You must do so and so and so. You are not free to have experience” (Paton 67). John no longer agrees with the church and has his own morals and views he follows. God’s presence is nowhere to be found because John has ignored him, he has decided to depend on himself rather than God and no longer wants to be held down by the church. I believe that god is present as hope for the people of south Africa. Like many Kumalo has to lose Absalom and is in grief, however, Absalom hopes this pays for all the sins he has

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