Cry, the Beloved Country

Reverend Stephen Kumalo receives a letter from Johannesburg at his house in Ndotsheni. His brother John owns a business in the city, while his sister, Gertrude, went to Johannesburg with her young son to find her husband who never returned from mine work. Absalom, Kumalo’s son, went to find Gertrude, but also never returned. Kumalo fears the letter will be bad news about his son. The letter is from another reverend in Johannesburg named Theophilus Msimangu. Msimangu writes that Gertrude is ill, and that Kumalo should come to Johannesburg as quickly as possible.

Kumalo waits at the train station, worrying about his trip because he has never been in a big city before. He fears something terrible happened to his son Absalom. He talks to a friend who accompanied him to the train with his bags. The friend asks Kumalo for a favor on behalf of a man named Sibeko. Sibeko’s daughter moved to Johannesburg with a family whom she was working for and never returned. Sibeko wants Kumalo to find out what happened to her in the city. Kumalo agrees to help and gets on the train.

As Kumalo travels to Johannesburg, he looks out the window at the shifting landscapes and towns. He asks the people around him about the mines, and they explain how white people use explosives to blow up the rock and then send Black workers to bring gold from the mines. When Kumalo arrives in Johannesburg, the size of the buildings and masses of people overwhelm him. While he tries to figure out how to get to Msimangu’s house, a man scams him out of a pound by promising to buy a bus ticket for him. Another man, an Anglican parson (a member of the clergy), offers to help Kumalo. The man knows Msimangu and helps Kumalo get to his house, where Msimangu welcomes him.

Msimangu tells Kumalo that he can stay with a woman from the church named Mrs. Lithebe. Kumalo and Msimangu eat with other priests, and Kumalo tells them about Ndotsheni. He talks about how the grass does not grow anymore, and “how the tribe was broken, and the house broken, and the man broken; how when they went away, many never came back” (52). The other priests agree with him that young people do not understand the importance of a tribe. They tell Kumalo that every day, there are newspaper headlines about Black South African citizens murdering white South African citizens, that white people fear anyone who is not white. After dinner, Msimangu tells Kumalo that his sister Gertrude has become a sex worker. She sells her own alcohol and has served time in prison. Msimangu tells Kumalo that he will take him to see his sister the next day. Kumalo says he needs to find his son Absalom, and Msimangu promises to help. Kumalo then asks Msimangu about his brother John, and Msimangu says he has become a famous speaker and owns a store. Msimangu takes Kumalo to Mrs. Lithebe’s house to rest.

The next day, Msimangu takes Kumalo to Gertrude’s house. She tells Kumalo that she never found her husband. Kumalo says she has brought shame to their family. He says he will take her back to Ndotsheni, and Gertrude falls on the ground, sobbing. She says she feels shameful, and wants to go back home. Kumalo kneels on the ground with her, and they ask for forgiveness for Gertrude’s sins. Afterwards, he asks about Absalom, and she says Absalom spends time with John’s son. Mrs. Lithebe lets Gertrude and her son stay in another room in the house, and Kumalo feels encouraged by his sister’s improved situation.

The next day, Msimangu takes Kumalo to John’s store. From John’s perspective, the breaking of the tribe is good because the tribe does not allow men to be free. He says the chief does not understand the exploitation of Black people in South Africa because he does not see it for himself. He tells Kumalo that Absalom and his own son Matthew work at a factory together. John then gives Kumalo the address of the factory, and Msimangu tells Kumalo that John is the spokesperson for a group of activists. Msimangu agrees with John that white people have all the power in Johannesburg. Likewise, he fears John’s desire for power because it always corrupts people; he believes love is the only way to prevent corruption. Kumalo and Msimangu discover Absalom and Matthew no longer work at the factory, but find the address of the room they were renting. Absalom’s former landlady gives the men his new address in Alexandra. As they leave, Msimangu asks the landlady why she seems worried. He relays to Kumalo that she pities him because Absalom’s friends were not good people.

The next morning, Kumalo and Msimangu visit Mrs. Mkize’s house, where Absalom rents a room. There are bus protests because of the bus system’s discrimination against Black passengers. The men decide to walk the 11 miles to their destination rather than taking the bus. On the way, a white man stops his car and offers to drive the men the rest of the way because he knows they are protesting. They thank him, and he drives them to their destination.

The men arrive at the house of Mrs. Mkize, who tells them that Absalom does not live there any longer. They leave, but Msimangu returns to the house because he believes Mrs. Mkize knows more information. He swears on a Bible that he will not report her to the authorities. She reveals Absalom and his friends brought stolen items to the house, most likely from white families. Mrs. Mkize also reveals Absalom was close with a taxi driver who might know more. Kumalo and Msimangu find the taxi driver and hire him to drive them to Johannesburg. The taxi driver heard Absalom was living with squatters in Shanty Town. On the way to Johannesburg, the men see large groups of Black South African citizens walking out of protest. Many white drivers stop and offer people rides. Msimangu tells Kumalo that police officers try to prevent white people from doing this by giving them tickets or taking them to court.