The Change of Stephen’s Personality in Cry, The Beloved Country

South Africa and America had a lot of similarities when it came to segregation of black people and white people, and white people not wanting to lose power over the blacks. In the novel, Cry, The Beloved Country there is an individual who wants a change to this oppression by the name of Stephen Kumalo. Stephen’s life consisted of going to Johannesburg to find his children after living his entire life in rural community, and finding his son has become a murderer and will be sentenced to death. Throughout his long, doleful, spiritual journey, Stephen Kumalo comes across characters who affect him positively such as, Msimangu who teaches him about love, Father Vincent who influences him to pray and to let Christ work through him, and James Jarvis who influences Stephen to be more forgiving and look at society in a different light, all of whom encourage him to ultimately grow as a man.

In the first example, Msimangu teaches Stephen the truth about love and its power. Msimangu is explaining to Stephen the truth about society, about how if black men had power they would only enjoy the money and power and be just as bad as the white people because both are culpable races. In this discussion, Msimangu also shares what he thinks it will take for society to be fixed, “There is only one thing that has power completely, and that is love… I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white men and black men, desiring neither power nor money, but desiring only the good of their country, come together to work for it”. The denotation of love from Merriam Webster, states,“Unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another.” By Msimangu sharing his thoughts on the country with the very docile Stephen, Stephen learns that love means to help people. He also learns how powerful love is and that it is the only thing that can save their country. Stephen’s transformation is prevalent during his conversation with Napoleon Letsitsi about restoring Africa: “But hate no man, and desire power over no man. For I have a friend who taught me power corrupts”. This friend that Stephen refers to is Msimangu. Stephen took his lessons and used them to teach Napoleon Letsitsi about the truth of the world and how to love. This is exactly what Msimangu wants, to change people like Stephen for the better and get them to share their love with others. Overall, Msimangu positively altered Stephen in conveying how to fix segregation and inequality, giving hope for the future of Africa.

In the second example, Father Vincent influences Stephen to trust God more and be more spiritual in life. After Stephen’s son gets punished, Father Vincent shares how to properly pray: “Pray for your own rebuilding. Pray for all white people, those who do justice, and those who would do justice if they were not afraid… give thanks were you can give thanks. For nothing is better”. Father also said some things not to pray about such as for yourself nor to ask to understand God’s ways, as they are secret. By the way Vincent talks about praying, it seems he also believes in love by putting others before yourself. Later on in the conversation, Father Vincent shows Stephen how he co-exists with Christ as a part of him, “We do what is in us, and why it is in us, that is also a secret. It is Christ in us”. Father Vincent is acting as a role model for Stephen by showing him how to pray and let Christ work through him. As of now, Vincent tells Stephen he is too distraught to see God’s path but his time will come when he should be living out Christ’s work.

Finally, James Jarvis influences Stephen Kumalo to become more forgiving and see races in a different light. At the start of the story, Stephen did not respect anything about whites because he believed they did not respect blacks. In a certain case, he is talking to his wife about how they do not receive letters from their children anymore and retorts, “Go up and ask the white man. Perhaps there are letters. Perhaps they have fallen under the counter, or been hidden amongst the food”. Stephen is speaking of how the young generation goes to Jamestown and does not come back, or even write. He blames the white people for the fact that their children do not write home anymore. At a sudden turn of events, Stephen’s son kills a white man while trying to rob him. After Stephen’s son murders James Jarvis’ son, Stephen goes to apologize to James about the incident and James shockingly responds, “I have heard you. I understand what I did not understand. There is no anger in me”. Before this occurrence, Stephen hated whites. He believed all they did was oppress blacks. Now, after his son unexpectedly murdered Jarvis’ son, he was not expecting forgiveness from the family, he just wanted to reach out to them about the murder. When Jarvis’ says he is not even angry, this rocks Stephen’s world. He did not believe a white man, who hates and oppresses blacks, would forgive a black man for killing his son. Because this was so unexpected, Stephen’s character was affected. Not only does he not talk bad about all whites anymore, he even sends his regards to James Jarvis when his wife passes away and asks Jarvis for help getting milk for all the children.

In the end, Stephen is taught to love, how to live with Christ, and how to view society in a different light. The characters, Msimangu, Father Vincent, and James Jarvis all are fantastic influences on Stephen and left him as a much better man at the end of the book compared to the beginning. Overall, Stephen ultimately grew as a man.