Cry, the beloved country themes

The first theme of the novel is the incorporation of the family and the nation. The story of Cry, the Beloved Country mostly relates to the attemp of Stephen Kumalo to reunite his family by bringing back his sister Gertrude and his son Absalom to Ixopo. A main theme that Paton evolves is that family life in South Africa is broken, not only Kumalo’s family, but also family life in South Africa in general. The novel contains many examples in which families are apart by migration and immigration to Johannesburg, such as Sibeko’s family. The cumulative consequence of this, as Kumalo appreciates, is that villages such as Ixopo and the nation of South Africa is one of families that should be reunited. Moreover, Paton discloses the theme of incorporation family and nation through thewritings of Arthur Javis which concern a South African national indentity in order to unite the nation.
The second theme is Christian significance of kindness. There is a especially Christian denotation...