Cry, The Beloved Country

All throughout this book we get to know Stephen Kumalo not only as a character in a story, but also as a real person. Stephen is clearly both a round and dynamic character which we see in his life-like choices and personality. All through book one we see him change due to his experiences and new setting. He goes through things as he looks for his son and family that completely change him as a person and Paton illustrates that in an obvious and easy to see manner. Kumalo evolves as a person for both good and bad and uses his new knowledge as he finds himself to help bring back order into his rapidly evolving life. Kumalo , a man of god, strongly believes that religion is the way to have a good and full life. It is evidence enough that Kumalo is a priest and teaches this way of life to others, you can see even more about who Kumalo is throughout the book. In the early book Kumalo can be described as naïve or too trusting. “ I gave my money to a young man, he told me he would buy my ticket at the ticket office.” Kumalo has been raised in a community where everyone is trusting and kind, after arriving in Johannesburg he is to realize the harsh reality. This incident shows the readers the drastic difference in crime from where he lived to where he is now. Kumalo is a great man with even greater values but this transition to a new life begins to shed light on some of his attributes. Although Kumalo has many great attributes we begin to see that he also has some not so good ones. One of bad traits is he sees good in everyone even perhaps when they don’t deserve it. For example how he treats his son after he finds out about the murder. He seems indifferent towards the matter and seems to think that his son shouldn’t be punished. On the other hand one of his better traits is the way he treats everyone in an equal way. Such as the way he treated his son, brother, and sister. One of his traits that seem to fall in both categories is how trusting he is. For example he had his money stolen by believing the young man. On the other side it is also good because he gives everyone an equal chance. Kumalo is an incredibly realistic character whom when you’re reading about you fell as if you actually know him. We can see how he is changing with his new surroundings and experiences in more than one place. “ He looked up at the cloudless sky, from which the sun of Africa is pouring down upon the earth.” Although it is one of the hottest days in Africa he still feels cold. Rather than being his usual optimistic self he seems to be coming to terms with the fact that everything isn’t good. This part is very important because we begin to see how he is changing and that he is reacting to all of the experiences around him. Stephen Kumalo is a man who is who is capable of being an amazingly wonderful person yet at the same time he can be hurt by his trusting and caring nature. Throughout this story we watch him not change not only as a character in a book, but as a person. Stephen is one of the most lifelike characters that I know in a book. As we see him go through this book we watch him change, adapt, and discover himself. He begins to change how he views the world and people and that's what makes him one of my favorite characters.