In Cry, The Beloved Country Paton uses
great detail to describe the land in South Africa, this is symbolic in relation
the Patons over all message in his book.
The metaphors and similes he uses describe how the land and the native
people are alike. He shows how the land
is greatly influenced by the people of South Africa.
In
chapter one of the book, Paton describes the land and the influences people
make on it. The land starts out
wonderful and full of “life” to drab and lifeless. He describes the land as “lovely, beyond any
singing” and that the “grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil.” The
land is “well-tended and not too many cattle feed upon it.” In this place in
the book the land is very well tended to, the land is held with the upmost
respect by the natives. The land
represents the beauty and goodness of Africa. The land is able to nourish and
sustain a large number of people and give them happiness.
The
lifelessness begins as you venture into the valley the theme changes, the
happiness and liveliness changes to despair and lifelessness. “Where you stand
the grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil” but as you “fall into
the valley bellow” the grass is not rich and matted “for they grow bare red and
bare, it cannot hold the rain and the mist” because there is “too many cattle
who feed upon the grass.” The poor land and living conditions are damaged by poor
farming and over grazing. With the lack
of education and the limited farming land, the villagers damage the land and
the beauty of it.
