Relationship Between the Land in Cry, The Beloved Country

Throughout Alan Paxton’s novel, Cry The Beloved Country, he gives several images of Africa, some distorted and twisted, some peaceful and alive. One view of Africa is of the tribal lands, and one view is of the city and whites. These two views give the audience two extremely different connotations.

                In Chapter One, Paxton’s introduction was an antithesis of Africa. The first view is of an Africa where “the grass [was] rich and matted, you [couldn’t] see the soil. It [held] the rain and the mist, and they [seeped] into the ground.” This imagery of Africa gives the reader a feeling that the land is lush and there is a sense of tranquility that comes with the land. Later in Chapter One, Paxton contrasted the lush and peaceful view of Africa. This image of Africa becomes one where “the rich, green hills [were] breaking down. They [were falling] into the valley below,” and changing the land; “[the ground couldn’t] hold the rain and mist.” This view compared to the first view gives the reader the connotation that the land is dying and being morphed. Paxton uses this antithesis to foreshadow a breakdown within the culture and how the land changes as the tribal lands move towards a more industrial city type of land.

                 

                In Chapter One, Paxton gives another antithesis between the lively valleys and the industrial city. The first view of Africa is one where “not too many fires [burned] it,” and “the ground [was] holy,” it “[kept] men, [guarded] men, [cared] for men.” This imagery hits the audience with a powerful feeling of a strong, immaculate land. The way Africa is described hints to the audience that this view is one of the tribe lands and the valleys due to the very religious connect between the tribes and the land; African tribes and cultures typically cared for the land and saw religion as a relationship between land and supernatural forces. The second view of Africa is one where “too many cattle [fed] upon the grass, and too many fires have burned it,” and it “no longer [kept] men, [guarded] men, [cared] for men.” This imagery is one of the cities of Africa; the cattle in “too many cattle [fed] upon it is a metaphor for people and the destruction they cause to the land.  Compared to the first view, this Africa is being annihilated and transposed. Paxton uses this antithesis to give the reader a connotation of an extreme change occurring in society and the land; this antithesis also foreshadows the breakdown of Kumalo and his family.

                In Chapter Ten, Paxton introduces a new city, Shanty Town. This city is the best example of the breakdown of society in the book that gives the reader the connotation of a twisted and corrupted Africa. Paxton describes the city where “a sheet of iron, a few planks, hessian (a burlap type cloth) and grass, an old door from some forgotten house” made a house. As Kumalo walked past the houses, he looks at the sky and wonders “what will they do when it rains?” As the audience sees the state of Shanty Town, there’s a feeling of stark and utter hopelessness that makes the readers question how the people live in those conditions. If you compare Shanty Town to the lively and lush valley from chapter one, you realize that this part of Africa is extremely different; this part of Africa is very blighted, appalling, and contorted.

                Paxton’s views of Africa and the land contradict each other, and normally, foreshadow to an event that will occur later in the book. The connotations the views give to the reader are ones of stark hopelessness, tranquility, and one of change.