How can one make so many mistakes in life and still be forgiven as if they did not do anything wrong? In the novel Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton, religion was an important point throughout the whole novel. The main character, Stephen Kumalo, who simply goes by Kumalo, was a black South African priest who revolved his life around his family and God. There had been many times in Kumalo’s life where his feelings and actions had been the results of devoting his life to God. Paton continually mentioned the importance of faith in this book and what it meant to each of the characters present. One of the main ideas in this novel was the journey Kumalo took in order to overcome the challenges he had faced. The obstacles he was presented with included finding his daughter and his son. When he had found his son, Absalom, he was in a time of hardships and looked to God for answers. Therefore, Kumalo and Absalom were two characters who were strongly impacted by faith and their relationships with God, which allowed them both to forgive and ask for forgiveness. Being in a relationship with God and devoting one’s life to faith was what allowed Kumalo to forgive his children and strive to get his family back together. To begin, as Kumalo’s daughter, Gertrude, entered his life once again, he turned to God to be able to love her again because of the mistakes she had made throughout her time in Johannesburg. When Kumalo and his daughter discussed her negative decisions, Paton added