Name _____________________________ Class _________________ Date __________________
Literature
Today’s World
Cry, the Beloved Country
By Alan Paton
ABOUT THE READING In 1948, the novel Cry, the Beloved Country was
published. That same year racial segregation became law in South Africa. Under
the system of apartheid, white economic, political, and social domination was
legalized. As Cry, the Beloved Country opens, the Reverend Stephen Kumalo of
the poor village of Ndotsheni journeys to the city of Johannesburg. He goes there
to look for his missing son. The country’s racial and economic divisions serve as
the backdrop for Kumalo’s search. Soon, he discovers that his son has
confessed to the murder of a white dissident. His son is found guilty, while his
companions are acquitted. Kumalo comes to believe that the loss of the
traditional African tribal structure has had terrible effects on his people. In this
excerpt, Kumalo meets with his village’s chief to discuss how to keep the
village’s tribal system together and better serve the villagers.
As you read the passage, pay attention to the way that this story reveals
cultural struggles. The following terms may be new to you: restoration,
headmaster, diplomacy, veld, and desolation. You may want to use a
dictionary to look them up.
Kumalo began to pray regularly in his church for the restoration of
Ndotsheni. But he knew that was not enough. Somewhere down here upon
the earth men must come together, think something, do something. And
looking round the hills of his country he could find only two men, the chief
and the headmaster. Now the chief was a great stout man in riding
breeches, and he wore a fur cap such as they wear in cold countries, and he
rode about with counselors, though what they counseled him to, it was hard
to understand. The headmaster was a small man in great round spectacles,
and his office was filled with notices in blue and red and green. For reasons
of diplomacy Kumalo decided first to go to the chief.
The morning was already hot beyond endurance, but the skies were
cloudless and held no sign of rain. There had never been such drought in
this country. The oldest men of the tribe could not remember such a time as
this, when the leaves fell from the trees till they stood as though it were
winter, and the small tough-footed boys ran from shade to shade because of
the heat of the ground. If one walked on the grass, it crackled underfoot as
it did after a fire, and in the whole valley there was not one stream that was
running. Even on the tops the grass was yellow, and neither below nor
above was there any ploughing. The sun poured down out of the pitiless
sky, and the cattle moved thin and listless over the veld to the dried-up
streams, to pluck the cropped grass from the edges of the beds.
Original content Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Full Survey Chapter 33
Modern Era Chapter 19
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Today’s World
Name _____________________________ Class _________________ Date __________________
Literature
Today’s World
Kumalo climbed the hill to the place of the chief and was told to wait.
This was no strange thing, for if he wished a chief could tell a man to wait
simply because he was a chief. If he wished he could tell a man to wait
while he idly picked his teeth, or stared out day-dreaming over the valley.
But Kumalo was glad of the chance to rest. He took off his coat and sat in
the shade of a hut, and pondered over the ways of a chief. For who would
be chief over this desolation? It was a thing the white man had done,
knocked these chiefs down, and put them up again, to hold the pieces
together. But the white men had taken most of the pieces away. And some
chiefs sat with arrogant and blood-shot eyes, rulers of pitiful kingdoms that
had no meaning at all. They were not all like that; there were some who
had tried to help their people, and who had sent their sons to schools. And
the Government had tried to help them too. But they were feeding an old
man with milk, and pretending that he would one day grow into a boy.
Source: Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1948. pp.
229–230.
ANALYZING LITERATURE
1. Comprehension: Restate Why has Kumalo come to visit the chief?
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2. Critical Thinking: Interpret What does the final line of the excerpt mean?
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ACTIVITY
Apartheid reigned in South Africa until the mid-1990s, but the effects of
that time period will be felt for years to come. On a separate piece of paper,
make a three-column K-W-L chart with the heads “What I Know,” “What I
Want to Know,” and “What I Learned.” In the first column, write what you
already know about apartheid. In the second column, write what you want
to find out about apartheid. Use library or Internet resources to find
answers to your questions. Then in the third column, write what you
learned from your research.
Original content Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.
Full Survey Chapter 33
Modern Era Chapter 19
14
Today’s World