Commentary #3

In Chapter 7, Reverend Kumalo has been reunited with his sister and is writing about it to his wife. He notices the beautiful day outside, "the sun was shining, and even in the great city there were birds, small sparrows that chirped and flew about in the yard" (Patton 75). This bright and happy day reflects Reverend Kumalo's mood of happiness now that he has found and rescued his sister. The weather symbolizes his happy mood without Reverend Kumalo having to say that he is happy. This use of weather to symbolize character's feelings is often used by many authors, including John Steinbeck, one of Alan Paton's stylistic inspirations for this novel. Since Alan Paton uses John Steinbeck's style of dashes instead of quotations, I wonder if Alan Paton will use any more of Steinbeck's writing style in this novel besides the quotes and the symbolism of weather.

Commentary #2

In Chapter 6, Reverend Kumalo is reunited with his sister. That night during his prayers he thinks to himself, "One day in Johannesburg, and already the tribe was being rebuilt, the house and the soul restored" (Patton 73). Earlier in the novel, Reverened Kumalo had described South Africa as a broken tribe that has led to a broken house, which in turn has led to a broken soul or person. I think that Reverend Kumalo thinks of his scattered family in the same way as he does South Africa in its present state of  apartheid rule. By slowly reuniting and reconnecting with his family, he is putting  his family (tribe) back together from its divisions of uncertainty and separation, and his soul back together from the worry and fear that his broken tribe has caused him . I think if Reverend Kumalo finds his missing son, all three aspects (tribe, home, soul) will be fixed. His extended family will be together again, so his tribe will be fixed. His immediate family of his wife and children will be together again, thus repairing his home. Finally, he will no longer have to worry about what has happened to his family in Johannesburg, which repairs his soul.

"Cry the Beloved Country" Commentary #1

    In the first four chapters of the novel, Reverend Kumalo sets out for his first trip to Johnannesburg, but he never admits that it is his first time to the capitol city to anyone until he reaches the mission. Why doesn't he admit to people that he has never been to Johannesburg before? Is he embarrassed or is he afraid? I think that it is a combination of pride and fear. He is proud because he is an important memeber of his local society and he doesn't want to admit to people that he has never been to a city before because then their respect for him could lessen because they could see him as just a country priest, which is less respectable than being a priest who travels a lot to both the city and the country.
     I also think that Reverned Kumalo is also terrified of the city because none of his family memebers who have gone to Johannesburg have ever returned. He is scared of loosing the little money he has that he needs to help his sister. Reverend Kumalo also is scared of the unknown, common thing for humans to be afraid of. He worries throughout his journey if the money he has brought will be enough, if he will get lost in the massive capitol city, and if he will return home to his wife and parish.
     Both of these reasons: pride and fear are what I think causes Reverend Kumalo to boast and lie to the other passengers on the train to Johannesburg.