Discussion of Fear in Cry, the Beloved CountryCry the Beloved Country is a moving and profound work that deals with the social ills of South African society that led up to the institution of apartheid - the national policy of segregation and discrimination on the basis of race. While there are numerous themes that run throughout the work, the theme of fear is probably one of the most compelling. The fear that plagues South African society transcends race; it is felt by both the black and white populations alike. In Cry, the Beloved Country, Paton movingly and intelligently analyzes the black and white fears and the roots of those fears which are destroying the very soul of South Africa during this pre-apartheid era.Patan introduces the general theme of fear indirectly yet very effectively at the beginning of the book. Chapter I opens with two very beautifully written paragraphs describing of the natural beauty of the African landscape surrounding Kumalo's village of Ndotsheni. The reader can almost feel the peace, beauty and fullness of the land. However in the third paragraph, Paton unexpectedly contrasts the picture of the rich and beautiful hills to the barren, wasted and dying valley, "But the rich green hills break down. They fall to the valley below….they grow red and bare…the streams are dry…", and, "The great red hills stand desolate and the earth has torn away like flesh" (34). This abrupt and sharp contrast of the landscape and its being 'torn away like flesh', symbolizes the violence and devastation caused by segregation. It also gives the reader a sense of foreboding that there is much to fear for the land and people of South Africa at this dark point in its history.Throughout the novel, Paton uses the protagonist, Stephen Kumalo, to voice the fears felt by the native black South Africans. There are a number that reoccur in the novel. First is the fear for the survival of the land itself. Next is the fear for survival of the native people who live in a world that is no longer made for them. Lastly is the fear of the white laws which give blacks no justice at all. Fear for the survival South Africa's landscape weighs heavily on Kumalo's mind. The once rich and fertile South African landscape is being physically destroyed by an economic system instituted by the whites for their own gain. Just as Johannesburg grew to support the gold mines and industries, other cities like Odendaalsrust will also rise up in areas where gold is being discovered, eventually devastating the natural beauty of the land, "There was nothing there but the flat rolling veld…nothing but sheep and cattle and native herd boys…a field of maize. There was nothing there that looked like a mine except the drilling machines and patient engineers probing the mysteries of the earth…" The landscape suffers when the mining begins.Along with the devastation of the African landscape is the destruction of the society of an entire race...
