Cry, The Beloved Country Essay
The character James Jarvis changed greatly throughout the novel, "Cry, The Beloved
Country". He was a white Christian man who lived in South Africa during the Apartheid. He was
a racist man who didn't want to accept blacks as equals but he did not go as far as killing them.
His son, Arthur Jarvis, fought for equality and even built an African Boy's Club. Arthur died in a
tragic and ironic way. He was murdered by a young black man who was robbing his house. This
boy tuned out to be the son of Stephen Kumalo who is a priest that lives in Ndotsheni.
Before his son dies James Jarvis owned a farm above Ndotsheni in the great valley of
Umzimkulu called Esquire. He had African Laborers working on his farm. Jarvis never agreed
with his son's beliefs. He always talked about how his son "betrayed" him by going off to
Johannesburg to fight for the native Africans. Jarvis was working on his farm in the middle of a
drought when a police officer relayed the message that announced his son's death by getting shot
by a group of young native African men. Jarvis' dislike for the Africans then went to the extreme.
When James Jarvis reached Johannesburg he expressed deep hatred for the native
Africans. Jarvis went to the scene of the murder where he found passages written by his son. He
began reading these and he started to understand his sons beliefs. One of the sayings that seemed
to effect Jarvis the most was, "When we say we are Christians what we mean is we are White
Christians." Soon after reading this Jarvis started to express concern for the black race. Later
when Stephen Kumalo came to the residence where Jarvis was...