Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
A Beautifully Broken Land
Throughout Book I of Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton uses a wide variety of literary devices such as imagery and antithesis to describe the land of South Africa. His descriptions point to an intense overall message of the breakdown of a country under wide segregation and discrimination. Paton’s portrayal of a barren land that is empty and yearning for renewal reflects a crippled nation’s cry to be resurrected from disharmonious destruction. In another point, Paton contrasts urban South Africa to the native land in order to demonstrate the deviation of ideals and morals between the philosophical citified people and the rural conservatives.
In Chapter 1 of Book I, Paton uses contradictory paragraphs that contrast a lively, flourishing land to one that is desolate and empty. He describes “rich and matted” grass that “cares for men” in the first piece, then a place that is “red and bare” with “course and sharp” land. These opposing representations symbolize the difference between native South Africa and the new, contemporary urban civilization. The viewpoint suggests that the indigenous country that began South Africa is congenital and complete, opposing to the “new” South Africa that is diverting away from the original ethics of the native people. Also, Paton utilizes parallel structure to show how absolutely opposite the two regions actually are. He repeats what is nearly an exact Xerox paragraph with antonymous adjectives and descriptions.
While Stephen Kumalo travels to Johannesburg, Paton uses diction and detail to show the destruction and brokenness that is the land of South Africa. He characterizes the soil as “sick” and “almost beyond healing.” The fashion in which he describes this land emulates the troubles that the country is currently pushing through. South Africa is, at this time, at the beginning of a strong racial breakdown that is named Apartheid. Because of this segregation, the nation is struggling with staying united and alive, just as the soil that Paton is illustrating. The analysis of the land could also be foreshadowing the civilization that Kumalo is about to find in Johannesburg.
In Chapter 12, Paton employs questions that analyze how fear separates man from his land. He asks “who can lie peacefully abed" and at the same moment have "fear in the heart?" This simple yet powerful inquisition revolves around one of the larger themes throughout the whole novel; fear. Paton repeatedly describes fear as being one of the lowest emotions a human can encounter, because it sequesters all other enjoyment and hope that comes with life. By depicting the beauty of South Africa through details such as "shadow of the jacarandas," Paton allows the reader to visualize how fear is capable of taking away beauty and happiness when it is allowed into the mind.
All in all, Paton advances descriptions of South Africa's symbolic land in order to reflect upon his overall messages of the transition from native to urban lifestyles, a broken city, and fear. The depictions delineate a vision in the reader's mind that aids in envisioning the morals that Paton is displaying throughout Book I.
In Chapter 1 of Book I, Paton uses contradictory paragraphs that contrast a lively, flourishing land to one that is desolate and empty. He describes “rich and matted” grass that “cares for men” in the first piece, then a place that is “red and bare” with “course and sharp” land. These opposing representations symbolize the difference between native South Africa and the new, contemporary urban civilization. The viewpoint suggests that the indigenous country that began South Africa is congenital and complete, opposing to the “new” South Africa that is diverting away from the original ethics of the native people. Also, Paton utilizes parallel structure to show how absolutely opposite the two regions actually are. He repeats what is nearly an exact Xerox paragraph with antonymous adjectives and descriptions.
While Stephen Kumalo travels to Johannesburg, Paton uses diction and detail to show the destruction and brokenness that is the land of South Africa. He characterizes the soil as “sick” and “almost beyond healing.” The fashion in which he describes this land emulates the troubles that the country is currently pushing through. South Africa is, at this time, at the beginning of a strong racial breakdown that is named Apartheid. Because of this segregation, the nation is struggling with staying united and alive, just as the soil that Paton is illustrating. The analysis of the land could also be foreshadowing the civilization that Kumalo is about to find in Johannesburg.
In Chapter 12, Paton employs questions that analyze how fear separates man from his land. He asks “who can lie peacefully abed" and at the same moment have "fear in the heart?" This simple yet powerful inquisition revolves around one of the larger themes throughout the whole novel; fear. Paton repeatedly describes fear as being one of the lowest emotions a human can encounter, because it sequesters all other enjoyment and hope that comes with life. By depicting the beauty of South Africa through details such as "shadow of the jacarandas," Paton allows the reader to visualize how fear is capable of taking away beauty and happiness when it is allowed into the mind.
All in all, Paton advances descriptions of South Africa's symbolic land in order to reflect upon his overall messages of the transition from native to urban lifestyles, a broken city, and fear. The depictions delineate a vision in the reader's mind that aids in envisioning the morals that Paton is displaying throughout Book I.
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