Cry the Beloved Country Essay Examples and Research Papers

Novel by Alan Paton

Pages: 256 pp (hardback ed., UK) 273 pp (hardback ed., US)

Set in: Johannesburg and Natal, 1940s

Point of View Cry the Beloved Country is written from the perspective of a third person omniscient narrator, who mainly stays focused on the internal world of Stephen Kumalo. The narrator also dips into the minds of a variety of other characters, particularly James Jarvis beginning in Book Two.

Stephen Kumalo is the protagonist and moral compass of Cry, the Beloved Country. He is a quiet, humble man, with a strong faith in God and a clear sense of right and wrong. An Anglican priest, Kumalo cares for his parishioners and presides over the modest church of the village he calls home.