Cry, The Beloved Country

 "Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." 

Malachi 4:4-5


 I just finished this book, Cry, The Beloved Country, by Alan Paton and it was such a beautiful story that I am compelled to attempt to do justice to it here. The 320 page volume only captured my heart about halfway in, but once it did, I was completely invested in this deeply Christian novel. The story follows an Anglican priest and his native country of Africa, as he seeks for his beloved and only son, Absalom, through the corrupt city of Johannesburg. Stephen Kumalo is a caring father, if somewhat aloof, and when he finally discovers his son: it is with anger and grief that he must come to terms with the condition in which he finds him.  He has spent the money that he and his wife have been saving for years to send Absolom to college. He has relied on the generosity and kindness of strangers, and he has to come to more grief than one in the unfamiliar and densely populated city of Johannesburg. At about this point in the narrative, the reader is introduced to another pairing of father and son, a white man by the name of James Jarvis, and his son, Arthur. I hesitate to give too many details and give the plot away, but I will just say that this 2nd duo is in some ways similar and in some ways the opposite of the other. Like Kumalo, Jarvis begins off by being aloof, distant, from his son's beliefs and passions, though he is a proud and approving father. Arthur, unlike Absalom, is the protagonist of this story: indeed, it is not too much to say that he is the Christ figure by strong metaphor and implication.  The country that he loves is torn by a curse. While many of the white men that live here choose to turn a blind eye to this situation, Arthur cannot help but see the injustice. He uses his brilliant mind, his wealth and position, to do what he can to advocate for his fellow man, many of whom have turned to criminal activity of one sort or another as a means of survival. I begin to arrive at the meat of the plot but Paton artfully reconciles his story in a most touching, deeply Christian, and timeless manner. I cried tears over this book, and my heart was filled with love and joy more times than I remember. Not only is the plot extremely well crafted, the language is some of the most beautiful english I have ever experienced. It is at the same time modern, and ancient; elegant and at times ruthless. We see how this beautiful truth from Malachi 4 can be fulfilled at a cost, to both father and son. I don't know that I have ever seen this truth put to ink with such care, outside of the scripture and gospel story. Give this one a read, friends, and you will not be dissapointed. 

Samantha

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