Through a Childs Eyes

At the end of Cry the Beloved Country a change is made among the people of Stephens home. For some time the land had been struggling. There had been little rain and the people were close to death. This children were dying and there seemed to be little hope for those who were meant to go after them. This is an interesting development in this time of need. Due to the changes going on among the people it is clear that their children will help the work of this new world move along. If this generation was to be lost, so was the world that could be possible for the people of South Africa.

          In my family childhood is still a huge part of all our lives. This is not to say that we are childish, but it is true that we hold on to the childish way of seeing some things. I hold on to my childhood very tightly because it was such a simple way of life. I was very lucky to have a wonderful childhood and have very fond memories of it. I find that I love being around children because of the way that they look at the world.

          It is shown in the book that children see differences, not as a bad thing, but as something to explore. This is shown by Jarvis’ grandson. This boy sees that the people around him are suffering. He does not care about the color of their skin, or the riches that they lack. He only sees a problem that he can fix with what he has been given in life.  

          That is the hope that children show us. Seeing a need and wanting to help in any way they can, even if they do not understand the entire problem.   I believe that this is why Stephen wanted so badly to teach the children about the land in school once more. By giving them the means to care for themselves, they could show that the way that things were changing could be a good thing for every one that lived in South Africa. The importance of the land in this case is that those who would take the place of the leaders before them, would have a love for the land, not the riches that it may bring to them. They would see the land, not as something to own, but something that cared for them, and something that they were to take care of.  

Change for the Better

We have all in our lives been in a place that are new to us. Sometimes we feel excitement and joy, but a lot of times those feelings can be mixed with fear. The fear of the unknown is a common thing when change enters our lives. This last summer I had the chance to go to New York City with my family. Of course I was very exciting about this but I also had doubts about going. You have to understand that the biggest city that I had ever been to was San Francisco and I am easily stressed. When we arrived in the city it was already dark and we had to make our way across time square to the restraint we were planning on going to for dinner. As we walked through places that I had only seen in the movies and on TV my mind was blown. I was in a place that people dream their whole lives of coming to, hoping to make it to the great N.Y.C. and I was terrified. Being a Utah girl I had been taught my whole life how mean people were in New York. I saw things going on in the streets that made me blush.

          I can only imagine the fear that Stephen had as he entered a city much smaller than the one that I just talked about. This is a man who had never seen a stop light. Everything was new to him, and he was on his own, and had no clue where he was going. Compared to him I was well educated about the place that I went. All Stephen know about the city was that no one that he had ever known had every come home after they left. So why did he keep going? To me the question is easily answered. He was on a mission to find someone that he cared about. If he had been there for any other reason I am sure he would have thought of turning back the moment he got there, and if not then, when he was robbed by someone he thought he could trust. (Paton)

          This is the evidence that I use to prove my finding that love is more powerful then fear. In the book so many trails are given to the characters and our job as the reader I think is to try to see the different ways they handle the trails that come their way. We all as people are given a choice to take hard times in stride or to use them as am excuse to give up on the things we work for. If we let the things that hurt us or scare us, stop us from reaching our dreams, then we will never have the chance to overcome those hard ships.

          One example that I discovered over the break, that shows the choice to let fear and hate affect us, is a movie called Saving Mr. Banks  it is a new Disney movie that tells the story of the women who wrote Mary Poppins and Walt Disney trying to find a way to put her books into his movies. (Handcock) The women who writes Mary Poppins had a very hard childhood and the books are based on that. She is a very bitter women who has let he fear of her childhood take over what is left of her life. Walt Disney also led a hard boyhood. He despite this trail strives to make others happy.

          This is the message that I found in this book. Fear can be a powerful thing. It is something that we all must face, but if we do face it, and face it well we will be able to overcome and do great things in our lives.

 

Sweet Escape

All of us have a place that helps us escape. It can be as small as a bed room or as large as a city. It is a place where you can reflect, discover, and enjoy the life that you have.  For me that place is Disneyland. It is a little odd, but for me there is nothing better in this world then walking down Main Street USA with my family. It is a place that holds many memories and childhood dreams that help me stay grounded in the place that I am in my life.

            For Stephen that place is the mountain near his home. This is a place that he has always gone to overcome hardships. As we study the character development over the course of this book for Stephen, it is clear that after he leaves his home, he feels out of place. There is good reason for that. Stephen leaves his sleepy little village. Not only that but he leaves a life that he is resected and looked up to, and is thrown into a place where he is taken advantage of his very first day.

            When Stephen returns home you can feel for yourself as you read his words, how relived he is to be home, despite the painful journey that he returns from. To be able to return to a place that has not changed is a welcome relief when you have a burden you did not carry when you left. Stephen is able to lay down the heaviness that we see throughout the book, first for his sister and then later for his son. Though it pains him to tell his wife and friends of the news that he has gathered in the city, it is easy to understand why he seems happier.

            In today’s South Africa effects of the past still way upon the people of the land. Now the rights are allowed to all man, no matter his race, it must be that the land that was so unfairly divided before this great change, must be equally among the people. While this may seem an easy task when said in words, it is not easy to help both sides see the reason behind the painful process. (England)

            In the article that I found, it speaks of a native farmer who is having difficulty keeping his newly owned farm. This is happening in many farms all over the country. Whites argue that they are the ones that understand the land, and will be able to reap the most out of it. Even if this fact was true, the new system demands that everyone has a chance to own the land.  In addition to this many people will lose most of the land that they have lived off of for many years in order to equal out the ownership of it. This is deemed unfair to some and required by others.

            With this in mind it is easy to see that the land is important to the people that live off of it in many different ways. For Stephen it meant security and a sense of belonging. For people today it is a symbol of the new world that has been granted to them. In both examples it is the land that plays a key part in the hope of all of the people who need it to live, and find joy and a home throughout it.

In my family my parents are very involved in my life, inside and outside of the home. They know my classes and what my grades are. They know my friends and make it a point to make sure I get to spend time with them. The point that I am trying to make is that family is a central part of my life. Everything that I have learned in my life comes from them.

One of the things that Arthur Jarvis discovers after his son is killed is that he knew so little about his son’s beliefs. Based on my personal experiences with lose in my family I know that no matter how much you have done for the person, when they are gone it easy to see all that you could have done more to help. I think that this is what Jarvis felt when his son died.

            Jarvis feared for his son before he was killed. We see evidence of this when a man comes to tell him about his on. Before the news is told to him Jarvis knew it was his son. The first thought was for his son’s safety. Although we know that Jarvis knew very little about the life that his son led, he must have known that what his son was doing brought many enemies.

In Cry the Beloved Country we see many example of how people overcome their fears. In Jarvis’s case, we see that he seeks to learn more about the future that he fears may come to pass. He learns about why his son felt so strongly about the freeing of the people that had so long been misused, mistreated, and abused. Jarvis does not let his fear of change, blind him from trying to understand the hope that is clearly shown in his son’s final words.

            This is not the only fear that Jarvis must face in his journey to more fully understand his son. In some of James’ writings Arthur finds a passage that tells the reader that he thinks that his parents taught him his whole life had been wrong. He turns to blaming his elders for the problems that South Africa was facing with the natives of the land.

            I was interested in finding out more about how sever the problem was. I came across a chart that I will post below. ("The History of Apartheid in ("The History of Apartheid in

 

  ("The History of Apartheid in South Africa")

            As you can see, before the rights of all people in South Africa were allowed, the quality of life between the two races was extreme. It was not only land that was being taken from them, at the time that this book is placed. Health care, education, and basic needs, were not balanced in the supply that was needed for the overall population.

            Taking these facts into account, it is not difficult to see why James felt that a change must take place in the land that he loved so much. He saw the people for who they were, not the color of the skin, not for what the owned or had in their pocket. James Jarvis saw the natives as equal to himself, and it was his death that opened Arthur’s eyes to that realization.

Fear Can Be a Powerful Thing

In the book Cry the Beloved Country the main character Stephen must face many of his worst fears. For a parent the one thing you hope, is that your child will do what you thought them and be a good person. Sometimes you must let them go and have faith that they will do just that. For Stephen and his wife that was not the case. Stephen finds out in the book that his son, has done something so evil and vile it is often unforgivable.

Arthur Jarvis is also a father that had little idea of his son’s doings at the beginning of the book. When he finds out about what his son has been doing for the people he once believed to be less worthy of himself, he feels the same way as Stephen, confused, fearful, and hurt. The words that James Jarvis wrote about his father were less the flattering.

Both of these fathers must make the choice to forgive their sons, but they must also find it in them to forgive themselves. Stephen must not fault himself in the mistakes of his son. Jarvis must try to understand why his son said the things he had, and remember that his son laved him in the end.

Looking at the history of South Africa it is easy to see that there was a lot of forgiving that had to happen before the peace that now exists in the country. Anne Apple Baum, a writer for the Washington Post website, tells of her experience when she traveled to South Africa before things had changed there. She talks about her confusion when after she asked for directions to a local black school that was only a few miles away, and no one had ever heard of it. She confuses how surprised she was at how different life was from in the states. (Applebaum)

She later accounts on her astonishments when she returned almost 20 years later, and found the two races that were so violently separated before, to be living together in as if the past had never existed.

This country is not the first to have this kind of racial tension in their history, but they are one of the best to handle it. Even looking at the history of this great country, many more lives were lost in the struggle for equality. Despite the success that this country has had it still has far to go.

In the book it talks about the hope that the people will be able to forgive the hate that has been directed to them.  An example of the difficulty of this forgiveness is shown in Stephens’s decision to forgive Absalom and take in his child as his own. Not only does Stephen let go of the past, he changes what is to come for Absalom’s wife and son. This is the forgiveness that this country had to apply in order to heal. They had to not only let go of the past, but also pave the way for those who came after them.