Comparison and Contrast of Cry, the Beloved Country and A Lesson Before Dying

Racial injustice, death sentences, and the symbol of a church are all portrayed in the two novels, Cry, the Beloved Country, based in South Africa, and A Lesson Before Dying, based in the southern part of the United States. Both novels show racial injustice through the conviction of murder to both Jefferson, A Lesson Before Dying, and Absolam, Cry, the Beloved Country, both characters are young black males who are convicted of murdering white men. Both characters, Jefferson and Absolam, were sentenced to death. Jefferson was sentenced to death by electrocution of a crime he did not have any part in and Absolam was sentenced to death by hanging for a murder he admitted to doing. A symbol of the two novels is a church in Cry, the Beloved Country the church represents a faith that is respectful and down-to-earth, in A Lesson Before Dying the church represents the possibility for change not only on a religious level, but on a sophisticated level as well.
Alan Paton, the author of...