Cry the Beloved Country Essay

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When one searches for parallelism between subjects, Johannesburg, Africa and Omaha, Arkansas aren’t what people would think of. There are a few things that make them parallel, such as the characters, family and racism. The first parallel between Omaha and Johannesburg are the characters. Autumn McNees, a resident from Omaha, Arkansas is much alike one of the two protagonist from, Cry, the Beloved Country. Autumn has spent her entire life in Omaha. While Stephen, who has spent all of his life in Ndotsheni. Stephen is a quiet, humble, and gentle man with a strong moral sense and an abiding faith in God. Autumn too is quiet, and humble. Autumn’s sister, Chloe is much like Gertrude Kumalo, Stephen Kumalo’s younger sister. Chloe, much like Gertrude, is easily influenced. Amber, Autumn’s mother, can be compared to Mrs. Lithebe, The woman Kumalo stays with in Johannesburg. Mrs. Lithebe is a woman who lives in Sophiatown and takes in boarders, especially priests. She is a good and generous Christian who believes that helping others is simply her duty. Amber is nurse who takes in stray animals who is also a good and generous Christian who believes helping people is important. The second parallel between Omaha and Johannesburg is broken families. The main plot of Cry, the Beloved Country shows the efforts of Stephen to reunite his family by bringing back his sister Gertrude to Ixopo. Much like how Autumn shows the efforts for her sister to come home from college. A major theme that Paton shows is that family life in South Africa is broken. He demonstrates this mainly through the Kumalo family, but enlarges later it to show family life in South Africa. The story tells numerous times in which families are broken apart by migration to Johannesburg, in comparison to parents getting divorced in Omaha. The third and major parallel between Johannesburg and Omaha is

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