A Drink in the PassageAlan Paton Quotes 1. Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply... For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much. 2. I envision someday a great, peaceful South Africa in which the world will take pride, a nation in which each of many different groups will be making its own creative contribution.3. The Afrikaner has nowhere to go, and that’s why he would rather destroy himself than capitulate. 4. There is only one way in which one can endure man's inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one's own life, to exemplify man's humanity to man. 5. To give up the task of reforming society is to give up one's responsibility as a free man. 6. Who knows for what we live, and struggle, and die?... Wise men write many books, in words too hard to understand. But this, the purpose of our lives, the end of all our struggle, is beyond all human wisdom. IV.Famous Lines from Cry,the Beloved CountryCry, The Beloved Country is the famous African novel by Alan Paton. The story follows the journey a minister, who travels to the big city in search of his prodigal son. Cry, the Beloved Country is said to have been inspired (or influenced) by In a Province (1934). Alan Paton started the novel in 1946, and the book was finally published in 1948. Here are some famous lines from Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. “One day in Johannesburg, and already the tribe was being rebuilt, the house and soul being restored.”—From Chapter 6“In a land of fear this incorruptibility is like a lamp set upon a stand, giving light to all that are in the house.”—Alan Paton,Chapter 22“I have learned that kindness and love can pay for pain and suffering.”—Alan Paton, Chapter 30 “But when the dawn will come, of our emancipation, from the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear, why, that is a secret.”—Alan Paton,Chapter 35“Nothing is ever quiet, except for fools.”—Alan Paton, Chapter 26“It is not permissible to add to one’s possesions if these things can only be done at the cost of other men. Such development has only one true name, and that is exploitation.”—Alan Paton, Chapter 20“The truth is, our civilization is not Christian; it is a tragic compound of great ideal and fearful practice, of loving charity and fearful clutching of possessions.”—Alan Paton, Chapter 21Part II Background InformationI.Author Alan Paton (1903-1988) “I do not like to mention it. But there is a voice I cannot silence.”—PatonPaton, craggy old liberal, hater of and hated by apartheid, loved and unloved by the ANC, famous for Cry, the Beloved Country.Alan Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. He started his career by teaching at a school in Ixopo. The dramatic career change to director of a reformatory for black youths at Diepkloof, near Johannesburg, had a profound effect on his thinking. The publication of Cry, the Beloved Country (1948) made him one of South Africa’s best known writers, and by the time he died, it had sold over 15 million copies. Following his non-racial ideals, he helped to found the South African Liberal Party and became its president. II. His WorksCry, the Beloved CountryPerhaps the most famous novel to come out of South Africa, Paton’s 1948 work brought to the notice of the world the dilemmas of ordinary South Africans living under an oppressive system, one which threatened to destroy their very humanity. Informed by Paton’s Christian and liberal beliefs, the novel tells of a rural Zulu parson’s heart-breaking search for his son, who has been drawn into the criminal underworld of the city. Cry, the Beloved Country has sold millions of copies around the world. “Cry, the Beloved Country, —universal, liberal, reforming. Reads like an aloe in the cool morning, reads like the taste of soap in your mouth. His poetry, to my mind, is a truer voice. No breathtaking, romantic landscape: nature, particularly plants and sunlight, forms a spiritual cipher. There is a sense of individual tragedy as history catches up with itself. There is passion and tenderness. There is political comment, but also a flickering uncertainty absent from the mountainous liberalism of the novels.”—An anonymous comment “Cry, the Beloved Country, however, is also a monument to the future. One of South Africa’s leading humanists, Alan Paton, vividly captured his eloquent faith in the essential goodness of people in his epic work.”—Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa1953. Too Late the Phalarope
1961. Debbie, Go Home1968. Instrument of Thy Peace1973. Apartheid and the Archbishop: the life and times of Geoffrey Clayton, Archbishop of Cape Town1975. Knocking at the door
1980. Towards the Mountain1981. Ah, but your land is beautiful1986. Diepkloof: reflections of Diepkloof Reformatory1988. Journey Continued 1995. Songs of Africa: collected poemsIII.ApartheidSouth Africa was colonized by the English and Dutch in the 17th century. English domination of the Dutch descendents (known as Boers or Afrikaners) resulted in the Dutch establishing the new colonies of Orange Free State and Transvaal. The discovery of diamonds in these lands around 1900 resulted in an English invasion which sparked the Boer War. Following independence from England, an uneasy power-sharing between the two groups held sway until the 1940’s, when the Afrikaner National Party was able to gain a strong majority.
Strategists in the National Party invented apartheid as a means to cement their control over the economic and social system. Initially, aim of the apartheid was to maintain white domination while extending racial separation. Starting in the 1960s, a plan of “Grand Apartheid” was executed, emphasizing territorial separation and police repression.
With the enactment of apartheid laws in 1948, racial discrimination was institutionalized. Race laws touched every aspect of social life, including a prohibition of marriage between non-whites and whites, and the sanctioning of “white-only” jobs. In 1950, the Population Registration Act required that all South Africans be racially classified into one of three categories: white, black (African), or colored (of mixed decent). The coloured category included major subgroups of Indians and Asians. Classification into these categories was based on appearance, social acceptance, and descent. Non-compliance with the race laws were dealt with harshly. All blacks were required to carry “pass books” containing fingerprints, photo and information on access to non-black areas. In 1953, the Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act were passed, which empowered the government to declare stringent states of emergency and increased penalties for protesting against or supporting the repeal of a law. The penalties included fines, imprisonment and whippings. In 1960, a large group of blacks in Sharpeville refused to carry their passes; the government declared a state of emergency. The emergency lasted for 156 days, leaving 69 people dead and 187 people wounded. Wielding the Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, the white regime had no intention of changing the unjust laws of apartheid.
The penalties imposed on political protest, even non-violent protest, were severe. During the states of emergency which continued intermittently until 1989, anyone could be detained without a hearing by a low-level police official for up to six months. Thousands of individuals died in custody, frequently after gruesome acts of torture. Those who were tried were sentenced to death, banished, or imprisoned for life, like Nelson Mandela. The apartheid policy was highly effective of achieving its goal of preferential treatment for whites, as is demonstrated by the statistics in Figure 1.Part Three Text AppreciatonI.Text AnalysisPlot of the story :a well-educated black finds himself cordially invited to split a bottle with a white man in the passage of the latter’s apartment buildingSetting of the story: social setting: Apartheid South Africa in 1960story setting: in the passage
Protagonists of the story: “I”—the black sculptorWriting techniques of the story: go to Writing DevicesTheme of the story: The story tells us how racial prejudice can prevent us reaching, touching and connecting with each other. This invisible wall exists between the white and the black and hampers their free communication and full understanding. It is not just a wall imposed by apartheid laws, but a wall deeply rooted in their hearts. |
