Friday, January 16, 2015

Rasicim in Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton.I need it's critical commentry. Will anyone provide it?

Clearly, any reading of this novel identifies racism as a
central theme, but I think that Paton is actually exploring something deeper than the
symptoms of the situation we are presented with. Paton seeks to explore the underlying
cycle of inequality and injustice which itself leads to racism. This is his central
focus and will help you to perhaps concentrate on the causes behind racism rather than
racism itself.


Consider the setting of the city of
Johannesburg - a place with enormous inequalities which, although not excusing the
behaviour of characters such as Absalom and Gertrude, clearly help us to understand the
desperation of such characters and how they are driven to desperate means. Inequality
results in black S. Africans being allowed to have less land than whites, resulting in
over-farming and lack of food. This in turn drives them to seek employment in
Johannesburg. Yet characters such as Gertrude and Absalom are forced to realise that
this emmigration dislocates them from the safety and protection of their tribe, and they
are forced to turn to crime in a context of limited
opportunities.


Of course, their stories are echoed
throughout the novel which is set in a city with massive slum neighbourhoods which are
characterised by violence against whites. Raging against their situation and trying to
gain wealth quickly, blacks rob whites who in turn become paranoid and forces them to
villainise the blacks, robbing them of any sympathy. This in turn makes the conditions
for the blacks worse, making them angrier and more determined to lash out. Thus the
cycle is perpetuated. Both parties justify their actions as natural and reasonable
responses to the stance taken by the other group - Absalom's lawyer, for example, tries
to claim that Absalom is a mere victim of society. Such an approach makes understanding
between these different groups all but impossible and paints a bleak
future.

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