, the first novel by south African Alan Paton, grew out of the author's experiences as the principal of a Diepkloof Reformatory in Natal Province. Published in 1948, shortly before the apartheid laws went into effect, the novel depicts the deep racial division between whites and blacks and the bitter acrimony that resulted from discriminatory practices in personal and business relationships in South Africa. Paton's emphasis is on the disparity between the natural world found in the rural parts of his native land, an area replete with rolling hills and productive agricultural locales, and the populous urban areas represented by Johannesburg, where racial tensions are exacerbated by radically different economic circumstances and widely diverse living conditions.…
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Citation: Meyer, Michael J.. "Cry the Beloved Country". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 December 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=28513, accessed 24 April 2024.]
