Fear In Cry The Beloved Country

Of all the emotions that humans can feel, the strongest and most gripping is fear. The dictionary definition of fear is “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.” Fear gets inside of a person and slowly takes over their body. There is such a wide variety of fears that you almost always are scared of something. The book Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton is about an African priest that goes to the city of Johannesburg to look for his sister and his son. He also struggles getting used to the ways that life is in the big city that is Johannesburg. This plot is somewhat simple however the message the book shows about fear is very strong. The main character,

Whether his fear is of a person or something having to do with his son, Kumalo is always being controlled by some type of fear. Through Kumalo’s fear of looking bad and the choices he makes to save his reputation, the author shows how fear trumps all other emotions.

Stephen Kumalo is scared to ruin his reputation. He is resected because he is a priest and he likes being respected and getting well-treated. In chapter 16, Kumalo talks to Absalom's girlfriend about her backstory and previous lovers. He asked what happened to all her other boyfriends and she says their names along with what happened to them. Most of them were killed or sent to prison and she says it like she doesn’t really care. Kumalo is angry of her lack of emotion and thinks, “But no sooner had she recovered than he wished to hurt her again” (Paton 114). In this quote Kumalo is thinking about hurting the girl. Even though violence is never really needed, Kumalo does have some reason

In chapter 11, Kumalo hears that a man named Arthur Jarvis was killed. He immediately thinks that Absalom killed the guy. When Msimangu tells Kumalo that the chance of the killer being Absalom is close to none, Kumalo responds, “It is not a question of wisdom and foolishness. It is just fear” (Paton 74). Kumalo is saying that he can’t even think rationally. He states that it “is not a question of wisdom and foolishness” because it is all fear. Even though basic probability calculations say that the chance of the murderer being Absalom is around .01%, Kumalo still believes that it is Absalom. He can’t even take the time to acknowledge the statistic because he is too caught up in being scared. His wisdom and rationality is quickly lost when fear come around. Later he also says that he can no longer pray. He says “There is no prayer left in me. I am dumb here inside” (Paton 74). When regular people say that there is no prayer left in me, it’s not strange. However, Kumalo is a priest so for him to say that no prayer is left inside of him is somewhat alarming. He is so overwhelmed by fear that he can’t even pray. The fear gets in the way of his daily actions. All his other emotions and feelings are blocked out by fear. He is scared that if Absalom is the murderer, his reputation will be lost. By Kumalo’s reactions to fear, the author shows that fear takes over your other