Alan Paton, author of Cry the Beloved
Country, goes into great detail about the land of South Africa. He uses the
land of South Africa as symbol of the overall message if the book. I feel the overall message of the book is when
the land is destroyed so are the people, but how does Paton use the land to
show the message? Paton shows many symbolic features by using archetypes as he
describes the land.
Alan Paton mentions “…red hills... (34)”
to represent the blood the people shed. He is also referencing the “erosion of
land” to the people, culture, and civilization breaking apart. He also uses the
“highland and the land in the valley” to show the separateness of the land. The
highland is use to show the good part, the original South Africa; and the land
in the valley is where we see effect of the erosion of the land, the debris. As
all this is happening, you have the people of South Africa who are being
destroyed due to the apartheid. Not only is the land suffering the people are
too.
Paton reveals, “… but the rich green
hills break down. They fall to the valley below, and falling, change their
nature. For they grow red and bare; they cannot hold the rain and mist, and the
streams are dry in the kloofs. Too many cattle feed upon the grass, and too
many fires have burned it. Stand shod upon it for it is coarse and sharp and
the stones cut under the feet (34),” to show that as the land is destroyed, it
destroys the people. The rocks of the land erode and become sharp, and does
damage to the people who walk on it. As for previously he used parallelism
stating, “…keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares
for men. Destroy it and man is destroyed (33),” to show that as long as we
protect the land, the land protects us.
In conclusion, I feel Alan Paton wants
the readers to know that South Africa is a beautiful land, and he hopes for the
renewal of the land. To heal the land of South Africa, one must first heal the
people in spiritual way. Once the people are healed the land can go back to its
original formation. Although the people have come a long way, they are only at
the beginning.
Word Count: 505 words
