Oppression And Discrimination

Words: 1284
Pages: 6

“We do not ask for what cannot be given. We ask only for our share of what is produced by our labour.” That is the call of John Kumalo in the book Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton, calling for the equality for natives in the workplace. During the time period when Cry, the Beloved Country was written South Africa went through major racial issues and a major way it can be observed is through the mines and the disparity in pay and position. Alan Paton recognized the rise of apartheid and the problems in employment and addressed them with different literary devices to help persuade South Africa against racial segregation. There needed to be radical changes in racial attitude in South Africa, because of the discrepancies in pay for Africans …show more content…
For example Stephen Kumalo gathers his money for the trip to Johannesburg only being able to gather,”some old and dirty notes, and a flood of silver and copper.” (Cry, Pg. 39) As a pastor Stephen doesn’t earn that much money. The roof of his church leaks and is pretty ratty and all of his things are dirty or worn. On the other hand the Bishop “lives in a big house, and his white priests get four, five, six times what [Stephen] get, my brother.” (Cry, Pg. 68) Compared to the Bishop, Stephen has next to nothing and his church is probably like a tiny shack compared to where the Bishop works. If that is the situation in the church than how much worse will it be in normal life. For the African miners who dig up all the gold that South Africa has gotten “rich” on, they work for minimal pay. John points out that,”[The europeans] bring more of us to live in the compounds, to dig under the ground for three shillings a day. They do not think, here is a chance to pay more for [the Africans] labour. They think only, here is a chance to build a bigger house and buy a bigger car.” (Cry, Pg. 68) Sadly this just shows the europeans selfishness and willingness to oppress for their own gain. All are examples of the European oppression but pay isn’t the only way the Africans are being oppressed in their