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Cry, the Beloved Country

​In Book 1 of Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton uses descriptions of the land of South Africa in order to symbolize things such as themes and motifs of the story line. The imagery he uses helps the story flow and gives the reader a wonderful mental image of how South Africa was at that time. Also, the land symbolizes the quality of life in each part of South Africa. Paton uses diction and detail to not only give a mental picture, but to foreshadow future events and reflect the story. If Paton left out the descriptions of the land, the novel would not be as powerful as it is.

​Alan Paton starts off the book with a whole entire chapter devoted to describing the land of South Africa. He contrasts different parts of the country using antithesis paragraphs. In one paragraph, Paton states that the land is “rich” and “well-tended.” In the next paragraph, he says the land is “bare” and that “too many fires have burned it.” These paragraphs represent the difference between the good and the bad people of South Africa. While some are broken and defeated, others are living in peace and happiness. This also foreshadows future events regarding the battle between good and evil.

​Also in Chapter 1, while describing the “rich” land of South Africa, Alan Paton states: “Destroy it and man is destroyed.” This statement could possibly be foreshadowing the fall of South Africa’s nation through racism and Apartheid. By segregating the blacks from the whites, the land is being destroyed. Therefore, man is also being destroyed. Here the land is reflecting the people yet again. As long as the land is being taken care of and “guarded,” the people will be, too.

​In Chapter 12, Paton talks about “fear in the land.” Yet again, the land is reflecting as aspect of the story line and emotion of the characters. Also, the appreciation of the land is being questioned. Paton asks, “Who can enjoy the lovely land… when there is fear in the heart?” If the Africans do not love the land, it will become destroyed. Going back to the earlier reference, if the land is destroyed, so are the people. This could be foreshadowing the people of South Africa turning away from their home and destroying their own lives and communities.

​It seems to be that right before a significant event happens in the book, a part of the land is described by Paton. The land in general seems to be a foreshadow of the whole entire story line. Whatever the land is doing, the people will experience. If the land is wounded and broken, the people will reflect that. If the land is flourishing, so will its people. Paton’s descriptions of land are a prominent and important part throughout the whole Book 1, and probably will be throughout Book 2 and 3, also.

Waiting On The World To Change

            I am in the car going to school. It is a cool morning. As I make this curve the sun nearly blinds me.  The most beautiful song comes on the radio, “Revolution Song”. As I am listening to this song it is reminding me of the most influential time in my life. Young Life camp. I almost hit a mailbox singing this song to the top of my lungs.

           

We are filing into this gigantic room filled with teenagers. The cool air escaping from the outdoors wraps around us like a blanket. The music is beginning to play. As I am hearing this song and really paying attention to the lyrics I start to tear up. “We all want the world to change.” If I could do anything to change the world to be prefect I would. I think about how thankful I am to be able to be in the mountains with my friends that will do anything for me.

            I walk outside to the snow pounding me in the face. The sky is filled with fluffy, white clouds and snow falling like rain. My mind is telling me to start a snowball fight. The inner child in me is trying to come out. Madison is refusing to start a snowball fight because she does not want to get snow all over her. Being the only brave one I pick up a mound of the freezing snow and chunk it at Madison and Taylor. Madison is livid because she is getting snow all over her. But, it is fun so she will have to get over it. I run around collecting more snow and almost fall on my face trying to be hard. Of course almost falling on my face makes Taylor die of laughter. She isn’t even asking if I am okay! This reminds me of when I was little and my sister and I would run all through the yard throwing snow at each other. We built snowman and made snow angels together.

            Taylor and I go sit on this wooden bench covered in fluffy, white snow. I open my mouth and breathe out to see my breath whirling in the air. A man is walking up to me and Taylor.

            “Would ya'll ladies like a cup of hot chocolate?”

            "Oh my gosh! We would die for some."

            I am so excited since it is freezing in here and we just ran around like a lost dog. Taylor and I cannot refuse this offer! We are sitting on this bench drinking hot chocolate waiting to go inside and shop for a few souvenirs. I cannot even begin to tell you how good this hot chocolate is, especially after almost falling on my face trying to collect snow. That was the most I start to ramble to Taylor about how beautiful and peaceful it is with all the mountains and trees.

            “We all want the world to change,” I am almost to school and can’t stop thinking about wanting to go back to Young Life camp. Even if it is just for two hours. If the whole world is like it is a camp everybody would be happy all the time.  I wish the world would change to that environment. “Don’t you know it’s gonna be alright.” I have to listen to these words and pray that they are right.

Yearning on the Past

So much goes on in my life that I never get to just sit down and think about when I was a little kid. When I was a baby I played with the magnetic words on the refrigerator, which is where it all started. Either my mom or dad read to me before time. As a child I was more interested in the pictures rather than the actual story. My favorite books were Disney books. I do not actually remember when I started to read by myself. I absolutely loved reading until second grade.

When I got to second grade I had to have a certain amount of points. Every book I read I had to take a test on it. AR made me hate reading at school. I never found any books that were very interesting to read. A lot of people would read the big books worth a lot of points and meet their AR goal in by reading one book. I on the other hand had to read about fourteen small books to read mine. My favorite series of books as a child was Junie B. Jones. I read every single one of them and I was so proud that I did. They are not a very high level, but it was to me in first grade. I was not that kind of kid that sat around all day and read books. My sister read all the time when she was in school. My being younger than her I was always compared to her. She read Harry Potter books, and that was not me. My parents always asked why I didn’t read more advanced books. I tried reading more advanced books but I never found interest in them. My theory is that being forced to read from second grade till seventh I don’t find any interest in it anymore.

When I am in class and I hear the words “You have to read” I cringe a little bit inside. Reading may increase your vocabulary and make you more intelligent, but I cannot bring myself to sit down and read a book. Let’s just say reading is not at the top of my priorities. Now, nobody in my family reads. I guess it is just a little kid thing. I wish I enjoyed reading but I would much rather hang out with my friends.  The only time I read is when I have to, like for school.  I have a hard time just sitting down with a book and concentrate on the book. My friends tell me about these good books they read and they make it sound so interesting but I cannot bring myself to read. If I did read it would probably be mystery or a romance book. I love to read about everybody being so happy and in love and waiting on the day to hopefully have a similar love story. Hopefully one day I will be able to read just for fun!

 

I am

I am honest and eager
I wonder if there will be a cure for cancer
I hear time passing
I see a light at the end of every tunnel
I want to please everyone
I am honest and eager

I pretend to be happy sometimes
I feel the doubts of my past
I touch the clouds when I close my eyes
I worry I'm not good enough
I cry when watching sad dog commercials
I am honest and eager.

I understand that everyone has imperfections
I say everything happens for a reason
I dream about my future
I try not to worry
I hope that one day everyone will accept each other
I am honest and eager.

Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover

            People should treat others the way they want to be treated. You should not judge others by their size or the way they look. It is very easy to judge somebody. We have to be careful about that.
            Gabriel Marquez in the short story, "Handsomest Drowned Man in the World", teaches us to treat somebody how you would want to be treated. When the kids on the beach see the man, they automatically assume he is a ship or something. Once he washed up they started burying him in the sand and playing with him like they had no idea he was a human. They had no respect or remorse and unlike and human they had ever seen before. They didn’t really judge him but they also didn’t seem to care either. It was like they were oblivious to the fact that he was once living and breathing like they were.
            By the end, after all of the women were comparing their husbands to Estaban they realized how lonely he must have been. They gave him a family and relatives within the village that were finally able to look past his size and attractiveness, and think about his feelings and his old life. Once he was buried they changed their view on a lot of things because of Estabans impact on them. They decided that higher ceilings and larger doorway so Estabans memory and maybe people like him could live amongst them and not be so out of place. A friend once told me that somebody didn’t like me. It upset me quite a bit. They didn’t like me because of the way that I dressed. How can you tell whether you like somebody or not because of the way they dress?
            Everything happens for a reason. Maybe Estaban came so the villagers would realize that you can’t always have what you want and not to be so judgmental whether it’s good or bad. From now on, be sure to not judge somebody because it can hurt their feelings.