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Character Development In Cry The Beloved Country

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James Jarvis’s Journey Character development is seen throughout Alan Paton’s novel, “Cry, the Beloved Country”, and these changes are seen especially in one of the main characters, James Jarvis. James Jarvis is a white and wealthy farmer and the father of the deceased Arthur Jarvis, an African rights advocator. Being white and wealthy places him in a privileged and high social status above the blacks living in the indigent valleys beneath him. During his journey of grieving his son, he reads his son’s manuscripts which allows him to get to know and understand his son’s life. As a result, he is no longer oblivious and begins to make selfless innovations for the suffering African community around him. James Jarvis and his actions displays a tremendous significance towards his life-changing character development beyond any other character in the novel. In the …show more content…

He begins many new projects such as building a new church for Kumalo, building a damn, distributing milk bags to infants and bringing an agricultural demonstrator to teach the natives how to farm. In the beginning chapter of Book 2, James Jarvis believes that the natives are ignorant and bringing education to them will cause they to be disloyal and untrustworthy. Now, the fact that he brings an agricultural demonstrator signifies the renewal of his views towards the natives. He is also aware of his development because when he sees Kumalo going up the mountain, he says, “I have seen a man...who was in darkness till you found him.” (307) James Jarvis says the statement with a “a kind of grim gaiety,” because he is referring to himself. The darkness represents his ignorance and now that he understands the reason for the suffering of the natives, he is enlightened upon through knowledge. Despite his miraculous work, he still remains humble saying, “I am no saintly man.”

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After the death of his son, James comes to understand that while he is an educated businessman, he is ignorant in several ways. James Jarvis is an example of the change that can happen when one man realizes he is ignorant of his son’s motivation, of his neighbor’s needs, and of what he can do to make a difference. As Jarvis grieves over the death of his son, he begins to read things his son has written. He realizes that he has not understood his son’s view on what needs to be done in the country to replace what has been destroyed in the native culture.

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It is not questionable that discrimination is guilty for the majority of hatred spread across the world. It is unbelievable how much one's opinion could change an entire country. Although it is easy to blame something that may seem to be superficial to some, it is apparent in Cry, the Beloved Country that inequality is oppressed through the roles and opinions of others. In this passage, Africa's culture, people, and landscape are negatively impacted by the unforgiving inequality expressed throughout the country. The beginning chapter is distinguished by the contrasting imagery, suggestive diction, and constructive parallel structure used by Alan Paton to demonstrate inequality's negative impact.

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Thus the reader is once again let down, and left wondering whether there is anyone in Africa who can fit the mold of the leader required. Midway throughout Stephen Kumalo’s journey, the reader is told about a young man named Arthur Jarvis, a staunch opponent of South Africa’s racial injustices who was shot and killed. Much to the reader’s dismay, the more they learn about Arthur Jarvis, the more they mourn his death as Arthur Jarvis embodies all the qualities needed for a

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Mr. Jarvis will you…” (176). The letters asking for Mr. Jarvis to speak at various places go on for three more sentences. It is evident that Arthur was passionate about ending the divide in his country just through the messages that people sent him. Arthur’s writings also make it clear that he longed to mend the broken parts of the country. Similar to Msimangu, Arthur had a vast understanding of the cause of the divide in South Africa.

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In the Novel “Cry the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton, two fathers are trying to put the pieces of there families back together while also keeping themselves together. Paton uses the racial tension in South Africa to illustrate many themes. The story is written before the apartheid in South Africa. There are many major themes in cry the beloved country but racism is definitely the biggest one it is used in political power, caused whites to fear blacks, and it destroys Kumalo’s family.

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The moment he glare at the fire, his eyes would hurt and made him turn away because he been in darkness for a long time. He slowly turn to the fire and confuse by the reality and truth, because all he was able to see before are the real object of the shadow that cast on the wall. After he grasp how these shadows was cast on the wall, he know that he has mistaken of what he see and hear for reality and truth, he accept those thing he see now are more real, the reality. After he grasp of the reality, he being dragged out of the cave, he been inside the cave of his entire life he might not want to go outside, because he does not want to give up the security of his familiar reality; so he has to be dragged. It will be a painful and difficult step for him to take his journey to the new world, because he been in darkness for long time now after leave the cave everywhere is sunshine.

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