Through
the first book of Cry, the Beloved
Country, Alan Paton’s main theme has been decision making, and how it
can affect you badly. So far Stephen Kumalo’s son, Absalom Kumalo, has already
made three huge mistakes that most likely will ruin the rest of his life, he
chose to go to Johannesburg in search of his sister Gertrude and he has never
returned, then he chose to become friends with the people who were not well off
rather than getting a job, and also he shot a man because he was startled by him
as he was robbing the house of a prominent white man Arthur Jarvis. These bad
decisions have so far made up all of the problems that are going on through
book one of Cry, the Beloved Country.
On page
39, it states, -We had a son, he said harshly. Zulus had many children, but we
had only one son. He went to Johannesburg, and as you said-when people go to
Johannesburg, they do not come back. Absalom chose to move to Johannesburg in
search of his sister Gertrude, and he never showed up back home. It states in
the novel that this became a common occurrence for the young black men; they
would flee their villages to head for the city. Most of the time things like
what happened to Absalom would happen to the young men once they got to Johannesburg,
they would get in with the wrong people and make dumb decisions that will mess
up the rest of their life, because they get stuck in a life of crime, or prison.
Throughout
chapter 10, pages 92-102, it states that Absalom had become too old to live at the
Reformatory, he also had a pregnant girlfriend with an arranged marriage
waiting to happen, and also was very well mannered. Although, he fell in with
the wrong crowd, and fell into a life of crime. He stole things constantly, and
was even asked to leave many people homes because they were scared to let him
stay. He finally tried to rob the wrong house at the wrong time, and he was
startled and committed a crime, murder.
On page
128, it states, -He is found, my brother. But not as he was found in the early
teaching. He is in prison, arrested for the murder of a white man. Stephen
Kumalo said this to his brother John as they both found their sons in jail for
murder. Absalom was much worse off than Johns son because Absalom actually
killed the man, while Matthew Kumalo was just present when it happened. The
dumb decision to shoot Arthur Jarvis has caused Absalom a lot of trouble, and
will probably end up in prison for a very long time.
Through
book one, the theme that Alan Paton used the whole time was decisions. Make
smart decisions, think before you act. Your decisions can affect you for the rest of
your life, like Absalom, his life is pretty much over because he murdered a prominent
white man.
