Intercalary Chapters in Cry the Beloved Country

¶ … Cry, the Beloved Country

Hungarian Scientist Albert Szent-Gyorgi once wrote that, "A living cell requires energy not only for all its functions, but also for the maintenance of its structure. In Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country the novel's formal structure helps shape its energy and message. In particular, Paton uses inserted intercalary chapters to provide a fuller picture of social issues. Some of the intercalary chapters contain a number of separate scenes and many of them use so much dramatic dialog that they could easily be presented as brief plays. This essay will focus on the intercalary chapters in Volume 2 which revolve around the Afrikaner's concern for wealth over equality. Within the chapters that will be discussed the social implications of a gold mine are examined via intense sarcasm and the effects of racism are demonstrated to the central white character Kumalo. Through an understanding of how these inserted chapters function a richer and fuller appreciation of the social message of the novel as well as the author's technique can be achieved.

In Chapter 23, the progress of the main story is interrupted to focus on the news of a discovery of gold at Odendaalsrust. The structure is unique as it reports only what the Afrikaners are saying without input from the black underclass in an intense sarcastic effort to depict greed as ruining the land itself. The novel's structure forces the reader to side between the wealthy and the leftists who are concerned with the social status of the African miners. One of the voices declares, "Some people want another Johannesburg in Odendaalsrust, saying that rich people give back to society, making everyone richer." The author creates this contrast through the actions and words of Father Beresford, a courageous churchman who speaks out for social equality, and the Kafferboeties, who argue that the ideas of Oppenheimer for a new kind of mining camp centered on the presence of entire families in recreated villages, should be attempted. The social message is driven home in the final two sentences, after the line of asterisks, where the narrator ensures our understanding by halting the irony to say, simply and straightforwardly, "No second Johannesburg is needed upon the earth. One is enough." In short, Chapter 23 utilizes contrast and sarcasm to create a social contrast regarding the use of the land and overall racial equality between Whites and Blacks.

In Chapter 26, a similar method of intercalation is used to drive home the racial inequality by presenting it through the eyes of a white man, John Kumalo. Kumalo is given a speech to defend the rights of black miners. We are provided the perspective of the policemen who think that he would be best shot. What is striking is that John urges higher wages but does not call for a strike, in order that he does not cross a red line with the authorities and lose his own comfortable life. Yet, the strike happens and three men die. The narrator returns to his ironic tone, describing that "only" three blacks died in news reports. Within the same chapter, at the annual meeting for priests attached to the diocese of Johannesburg a priest argues that it is time to recognize the African Mine Workers' Union, but no one listens. The narrator again uses an ironic tone, wanting us to understand that those who think unions and tribal decay and lack of schools and crime are right, and that the quiet at the mines is like the apparent quiet in nature. The unsteadiness of the situation is captured in the quote, "Nothing is ever quiet, except for fools." This chapter forces the reader to question the complicity of even good Whites in the social apparatus of Apartheid South Africa. Kumalo speaks out as does the priest but they fail to take any action to back up their words. This decision leads to deaths and the assertion of power by the police and government over the disenfranchised black population and echoes the overall message of the core Jarvis-focused storyline.