Cry, the Beloved Country study guide questions?

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1. As the novel opens, the land around the village of Ndotsheni is depicted as
spent.
vacant.
urbanized.
flourishing.

2. Based on the experiences of people in his family, Kumalo views the city of Johannesburg as a place where
people join new tribes.

politics is more important than religion.

there are many great opportunities.

people are lost.


3. Which description best suits Msimangu?
He is a comical man, and those around him often find themselves laughing.
He is a kind and giving man, but he can easily be angered.
He is a spiteful person, and he holds people’s sins against them.
He is a confused and hopeless man, and events in the city sweep him away.

4. John Kumalo differs from his brother, the priest, in that John is
a private man who prefers to live in solitude.
a brave man to whom the good of his people matters more than his own safety.
a political man of the city who has little admiration for the church.
a small-town man who does not share his brother’s concern for the troubles of their people.

5. As Kumalo searches for Absalom in Johannesburg, he begins to understand that
Absalom has left the city without letting anyone know where he is going.
Msimangu did not help Kumalo as much as he could with his knowledge of the city.
Gertrude and John Kumalo have alllowed Absalom to get into trouble in the city.
Absalom has chosen bad friends and become involved in criminal activities.

6. Although Kumalo and Msimangu meet the girl to whom Absalom is engaged, the girl does not know where Absalom has gone or when he will return. At the same time, the newspapers report the murder of Arthur Jarvis. These things, along with what Kumalo has already learned about his son’s life and behavior in Johannesburg, combine to
foreshadow the possibility that Absalom is involved in the murder of Arthur Jarvis.

remind readers that Absalom was forced to come to Johannesburg because of problems in Ndotsheni.

reduce the tension in the novel and assure Kumalo that his son will soon be found.

lend weight to Kumalo’s feeling that it is very possible for the tribe to be rebuilt.


7. The conditions in Shanty Town, the treatment of the people who work in the mines, and the efforts of men like Dubula all contribute to (Points : 3)
Kumalo’s early opinion of Johannesburg after being held up by a man at the bus station.
the white community’s furious reaction to Arthur Jarvis’s murder.
Gertrude Kumalo’s motivation to join a convent of nuns.
the injustice and inequality that mark daily life of black people in South Africa at this time.

8. By reading the writings of his son, the Gettysburg Address, and Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, James Jarvis begins to understand
the importance of gold and the mining industry to the continued prosperity of South Africa.

how someone like Kumalo could come to enjoy living in the city of Johannesburg.

why his son believed in and worked for a South Africa built upon justice and equality.

the point of view of those people who call for more police and stricter laws in Johannesburg.


9. After learning that it was Kumalo’s son who killed his own son, James Jarvis reacts in a way that shows his
short temper.

unique sense of humor.

cold and impersonal manner.

capacity for forgiveness.


10. What is the result of gold being discovered in Odendaalsrust?
People are distracted from the murder trial, and controversy flairs over the unequal distribution of wealth in South Africa and the treatment of the miners.

Sweeping reforms are instituted that provide better conditions for all South African citizens regardless of their race, and Arthur Jarvis’s dreams are realized.

John Kumalo recognizes that his thirst for power has corrupted him, and he turns over leadership in the civil rights movement to Dubula.

Kumalo decides that he has been in Johannesburg too long and that he must return to Ndotsheni to help the people there to restore the village.


11. What are the verdicts in the Arthur Jarvis murder trial? (Points : 3)
Absalom Kumalo and Matthew Kumalo are convicted of murder and sentenced to death, while Johannes Pafuri is found to be not guilty.

Absalom Kumalo is convicted of murder and sentenced to death, as are Matthew Kumalo and Johannes Pafuri.

Absalom Kumalo is convicted of murder and sentenced to death, while Matthew Kumalo and Johannes Pafuri are found to be not guilty.

Absalom Kumalo and Johannes Pafuri are convicted of murder and sentenced to death, while Matthew Kumalo is found to be not guilty.