Quest for the Son and Suffering in Cry, The Beloved Country Anonymous 10th Grade

Throughout the novel Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton, Paton uses suffering and the quest for the son together to add to the tragic framework of the novel. Paton uses suffering, an element derived from Greek tragedy in which the main protagonist(s) of the novel are subjected to hardship and pain, to enhance the experience that Kumalo and Jarvis endure in the quest for their sons. Kumalo and Jarvis’ quest for their sons contribute to the tragic framework of the novel because of the suffering that it causes. Both Kumalo and Jarvis’ quest for their sons begin with the murder of Arthur Jarvis, James Jarvis’ son, and the resulting suffering that it causes both of them. Furthermore, they both realize that their sons were total strangers to them, causing them suffering seeing them so different from who their fathers had known. Also in the quest for their sons, they both realize the suffering of the native people, causing both protagonists great suffering with their newfound knowledge.

The realization that Arthur Jarvis had been murdered is marked as the beginning of both Kumalo and Jarvis’ quest for their sons as well as their suffering. Kumalo had gone Johannesburg in search of his missing relatives: Gertrude, John and his son,...