Kumalo

//Cry, The Beloved Country// is a depiction of the racial injustice between blacks and whites both in the small Zulu town of Ndotsheni and the city of Johannesburg where much of the story takes place. This disparity is represented in an over all theme of the deteriorating land in Ndotsheni in comparison to the flourishing white man’s land. This extended metaphor creates a symbol of the inequality faced by the South African people both in town and the city. Stephen Kumalo is the parson of the Christian church and embarks on a journey to reunite his fallen apart family that has traveled to Johannesburg. In Kumalo’s experiences there in the city, he finds his sister who has fallen to prostitution, her son, his brother who has become a popular politician but abandoned the church, and eventually his son Absalom who has been convicted of murder and has fathered a child out of wedlock. All of these things take a toll on Kumalo as he tries to reproach his family and bring them back home. Kumalo encounters much prejudice and must figure out how to deal with the pain and suffering that presents another theme of being a natural part of life that must be accepted. In the end, Kumalo returns home with his sister, her son, and Absalom’s wife despite the death sentence that keeps Absalom from returning home. The theme of tending to the land again arises as new methods of farming are beginning that benefit all instead of the individual seeking benefit alone.

Within //Cry, The Beloved Country// the protagonist Stephen Kumalo, embodies the main ideas of the archetype of a priest. The criteria for such a character includes being devoted to spiritual life, fulfilling the responsibility of spreading the faith, lapses of personal morality, the ability to humble one self, and self sacrifice for others. Stephen Kumalo is a devoted priest of his church, and when he ventures to the city for the first time he has plenty of apprehensions that fill his heart and mind with anxieties. To subdue his fears in all upcoming obstacles no matter how painful, big or small Kumalo turns to his faith to pull him through. “Deep down the fear of a man who lives in a world not made for him, whose own world is slipping away, dying, being destroyed, beyond any recall,” are the worrisome thoughts of Kumalo as he travels to Johannesburg, so he “reached in his pocket for his sacred book, and began to read.”(44) Here we see how in times of uncertainty and fear Kumalo takes refuge in the word of his faith to comfort his trembling heart. The purpose of his journey alone is to find his family and bring them back home along the path of Christianity that he discovers they have veered from. His confrontations with his loved ones often appear judgmental in manner but in essence hold a genuine longing to regain the religious passion into their lives as well as other city folk. Kumalo has a harsh front but only to convey how one should not blame others but only themselves for their stray from pure life. In listening to Gertrude his sister, Kumalo is enraged by the excuses she gives for her actions of promiscuity and responds honestly, “Can you not say that you wept for your sins, and vowed to make amends, and stood up right and fell again?”(132) Kumalo refuses to allow his sister to be controlled by her surroundings and not take responsibility for her own decisions. He wants her to also admit that she has not fought hard enough against temptation and struggled not to sin. In Kumalo’s discovery of the hardships and sins his family has experienced, his personal morality suffers and he becomes inpatient and cruel to those he truly loves and wishes could change. Even when the harshness is uncalled for his anger and emotions at times overpower him and cause him to act rashly in talking to people. Upon finding out that he must travel to Johannesburg since his son Absalom is in trouble, Kumalo speaks roughly to his wife who only wished to help: “His voice rose into loud and angry words. She cried out at him, You are hurting me also.” Not to discredit the religious zeal and devotion Kumalo has to being a kind Christian soul, but in times of stress and uncertainty that deeply move Kumalo, he mistakenly thrashes out on innocent loved ones which shows his human vulnerability. I conjunction with the lapses of morality and patience, Kumalo consistently recognizes his hurtful behavior and resolves the situation. Kumalo’s intentions or obviously kindhearted and genuine, he just has moments of fear and concern that influence him to act in disgraceful ways. In the argument with his wife regarding the saving that must be used to find his family in the city, Kumalo recognized that he hurt her and apologized “he came to himself and said to her humbly, That I may not do.” (39) Again with his sister in Johannesburg, Kumalo takes pity as “his eyes filled with tears, his deep gentleness returns to him. He goes to her and lifts her from the floor to the chair.” No level of humiliation or anger will permanently solidify his emotions as he melts into the loving brother, priest, and father he truly is. Humility is a key to the personality of Kumalo and the priest archetype as well. Even if the character falls from the grace of being a religious leader, they should always have the strength and courage to humble thyself and remedy their actions while admitting their mistake. Another imperative criteria to fulfill the role of the priest archetype is the willingness to sacrifice your needs for those of others. The climax of the novel represents this fact as well, since after everything that Kumalo has endured, he accepts the responsibility of Absalom’s wife and chills stating “I will care for you and your child as if you were my own.”(239) Despite Kumalo’s disappointment and suffering as his son is sentenced to death, he understands his duty to his family still and how important it is to stay together. Kumalo repeatedly displays his belief that it is necessary to serve his family and friends no matter what the cost or background in doing so. The archetypal role of a priest is present as well in //The Canterbury Tales// as the poor, humble priest and his son embark on the journey with all of the other sinful men. This is in direct comparison to Kumalo as he also lives in poverty and seeks only to do good and reunite his family while embarking on his own journey to Johannesburg. Both of these archetypes are the pure character, they abstain from the sinful nature surrounding them in the naïve men. Both act as the voice of reason and truth in the lives they touch. The underlying crux in the difference between these two men is that Kumalo more obviously undergoes times of transformation and weakness as he loses his temper and reacts in rash, senseless way to his loved ones but with good intentions. If anything though, the lapses of morality for Kumalo only relate him to the sinful family members he is trying to guide back home, and therefore the reader feels a sense of homogeneity between these characters in varying levels as they travel through phases of realization. How to Speak Like…Kumalo 1) **Separate ideas into simple repetitive statements** “You have said it. It is said now…You have opened a door, and because you have opened it, we must go through.” (39) We see that Kumalo speaks in a choppy, sequential simplistic way. He is straight to the point in whatever endeavors he is approaching, and relates them in individual cause and effect sentences. This accurately reflects his thought process in deciding on a course of action in several situations. This also embodies him into the humble, simple priest role that does not seek to be boastful or eccentric in language, only pure and simple. 2) **Blend thoughts into speech…** “There is something like discomfort in Stephen’s eyes. How could mine own brother speak so indifferently? He takes out his handkerchief again. Well, you have heard no doubt he is friendly with my son.”(68)

“Kumalo, though disturbed by this question, answered obediently. She came to look for her husband who was recruited for the mines…” (53) A unique characteristic of this novel is that it does not once include quotation marks to decipher between thoughts and dialogue. Because of this indistinguishable sense, it is often difficult to determine if what is being read is being spoken or thought unless it includes a “he said” or “she said” following it. The author must have purposefully done this to express the deeper feeling all of the characters, especially Kumalo, had for the revelations of their true characters and sins. Though Kumalo’s language is simplistic in structure, his hidden emotions and thoughts are combined with his words in an attempt to emphasize how much of an effect this journey to reunite his fallen family back home and into the church has on this old man. 3) **Leak emotion into conversation…** “The fear in her eyes is unmistakable. Now she will reveal herself, but his anger masters him, and he does not wait for it. You have shamed us, he says in a low voice, not wishing to make it known to the world. A liquor seller, a prostitute, with a child and you do not know where it is? Your brother is a priest. How could you do this to us?”(61) Kumalo is faced with uncovering all of the sin that his family who had escaped to Johannesburg has committed. He, being a priest, finds it unbearable to hear in several encounters and experiences the overflow of emotion in dealing with his family. This leaked emotion is often the cause of his lapses of morality. He so strongly tries to impose his beliefs and values on his forsaken family so that they may return to his home town and begin again. However, this arises the idea of free will that Kumalo is familiar with, but struggles to combat. His emotional stress is ignites by the careless sins and crimes he finds his son and sister have fallen guilty to. No longer does he feel holy and sacred in name as his family has stained the purity of his practice. In essence, the influx of emotion also reveals to the reader how human and vulnerable he is as well to the temptations of the world, and that is what makes the novel so beautiful since all of the characters are struggling with their own obstacles. Some of them pull through, and others do not.

4) **Play the pessimistic role…** “He went to Johannesburg, and as you said- when people go to Johannesburg, they do not come back. They do not even write anymore. They do not go to St.Chad’s to learn that knowledge without which no black man can live. They go to Johannesburg and they are lost. And no one hears form them at all.” (39)

“Yes, I remember. And she too is gone. Where, there is not one that knows. They do not know, they said. Some bitterness came suddenly into him and he added, they said also, they do not care” (260). Kumalo expresses many feelings of sorrow and depression that display a pessimistic role. He feels overcome by the trials he has experienced, and as he discovers how difficult it is to rise against the sin of his family and that of the white man’s discrimination he is incapacitated in spirit. This is another example of how human and vulnerable he is. The disappointment he feels dominates at time over his motivation and drive to turn his family’s lives around and make them understand how much they have strayed.

5) **Be humble, understanding, and accepting…** “Kumalo said humbly, maybe you will pray for me. You are kind.” (55)

“Kumalo looked at him under the light of the lamp, I believe, he said, but I have learned that it is a secret. Pain and suffering, they are a secret. Kindness and love, they are a secret. But I have learned that kindness and love can pay for pain and suffering.” (261) This aspect of Kumalo is the most important one as he endures through these sorrows, the most important being the loss of his son, and comes out on the opposite end accepting of doing all that he could, and willing to receive the help and condolences of others. The essential theme of this novel is defined in Kumalo’s realizations in that all of the suffering and trials he pushes through are all for the purpose of better cherishing and appreciating the love he maintains from his wife and family.

This characteristic would be beneficial in coping with stress and hardships. One can view Kumalo as a role model in dealing with such trials since he learns how to humbly persevere and triumph over the obstacles he faces. One can learn that through all the hardships and pain, one can truly recognize the good in life and appreciate it.

The video I have attached is the ending of the movie made about this novel. It depicts the language of Kumalo and his trials in the pinnacle of their action. His archetypal character of being a priest is heavily present here as he humbly prays on the mountaintop for his son who is about to be hung. He speaks of his faith in the Lord that he will guide him and watch over him. This ending scene of the movie accurately places Kumalo into the priest archetypal role. []