Summary: After having read throughCry, the Beloved CountryI think it is safe to say that you can glean a lot of the book’s content or overall message simply from the book’s title. The ‘Beloved Country’ that the book takes place in is South Africa, before the Apartheid segregation laws were instituted. I personally think that the ‘Cry’ as referred to in the titleis the book. The book was a cry for South Africa’s freedom, as well as the want and right to be free from persecution. One of the more powerful quotes for me was early on in the novel where it is written that “He is silent, his head aches, he is afraid” (Paton 17). For me, this personifies one of the more overarching themes present in the novel that was drawn on from the very real situation at the time. It perfectly embodies the overall emotion held by black people in South Africa at the time this novel is set. Issues: After some self-deliberation, I finally settled on what I thought the main overarching theme in this novel was. I decided that it is best described as inequality and injustice. I personally believe that those two items fall into a cycle that has frequently perpetuated dehumanising laws and qualities throughout history, which is exactly what this novel was trying to get across. I find this theme to be even more pertinent that Alan Paton was a white man in South Africa, yet his thoughts and emotions that were put forth almost celebrate the black population of South Africa, despite the impending Apartheid laws. I think that being a white man in South Africa, yet talking about these issues as Paton did, could be considered
