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Cry the beloved country, by alan paton, is a book which tells the story of
how james jarvis, a wealthy estate owner who, because of his own busy life, had
to learn of the social degradation in south africa through the death of his only
son. If arthur jarvis had never been killed, james jarvis would never have been
educated by his sons writings, and stephen kumalo. When we first meet james
jarvis, he knows little of his sons life. He doesn't know his son was on a kind
of a mission(p. 140), And this is why when harrison says,...we're scared stiff
at the moment in johannesburg.( p. 140) James is sort of surprised and says,of
crime?(p. 140). Talking to harrison taught stephen about the crime in the city,
and the next morning he learns about his son. One of the first things that james
learns of his son, and his views, he learns in arthurs' room. In reading his
writings, james finds that arthur would have risked anything to help other
people, and ended up doing just that. James finds that his son was well
researched on the problems of their society, and was interested in helping the
development of the social structure in south africa. From the pictures of jesus
and lincoln on his wall, james discovered the admiration arthur had for these
two men. These were men of action, who showed love for their friends, and at the
same time, their enemies. These two men suffered and died for their beliefs, as
did arthur in a way, this is showing arthurs' father what a great man his son
was by comparison, and similarity to others. This revelation shows arthurs
concern for humanity. After the discovery of his sons views through all of his
writings, james begins to realize the problem, and starts to think of the
problems of others before his own. In this aspect, james begins to remind the
reader of oscar shindler. This is so because shindler was one who at one time
hated jews, but as he began to understand them, he thuoght of their troubles and
how his wealth could save them.
Much like shindler, jarvis helps the minority.
Following his sons death and the acquaintance of stephen, james donates 1000
pounds to the african boys club. Jarvis is not just giving gifts in memory of
his son, or just to give, but giving those who need help ways to help
themselves. When james gave the money to the club, he didn't just decide to give
it to them, but knew that if he gave it, the club would use it to improve the
countrys' condition. In all of his donations, james uses this subtle method to
emancipate the blacks. A way to help his son taught him. Using his sons views
again, james decides to do something about kumalos' village, which is falling
apart. This task is a fairly large one , and james does this in steps. He first
provides milk for the village kids, who only have warm water to drink, and then
he builds a church. The reason he decides to build a church is that when he is
in ndotsheni it begins to rain, and he and stephen take shelter in the church,
which leaks and is in need of repair. The rain in ndotsheni is a bit of
foreshadowing of hope for the village, and maybe of what is to come. Through
james' education, we learn the similarities between mr. Jarvis and kumalo. When
we first meet jarvis, the setting is much the same as when we met stephen. They
both live in the farming areas of south africa, and they share the love for the
land, and what is in their lives. They each are married with one son who they
know nothing about, and both are forced to come to terms with the guilt of the
whites by the same occurance. After they both lose their sons, they have a need
to understand them, although all that is left are the memories. They each learn
of the problems in south africa through their sons, and after the realization,
they both try to do something to improve the social, and racial differences
which plague johannesburg. Cry the beloved country i s a book meant to teach the
ways racial views can affect people in different ways. The representation shows
how these south african problems educated james jarvis, and turned him into a
compassionate, and understanding man. If arthur jarvis had never been killed,
james jarvis would not have been educated by his sons' writungs and stephen
kumalo.
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