Summary:
In Cry, the Beloved Country, James Jarvis goes through a period of comprehending what his son, Arthur Jarvis, was attempting to accomplish in life. As time passes, Jarvis slowly begins to realize the purpose of his son's life and is touched by his son's efforts in changing a prejudiced society.
Oftentimes, when something valuable is lost, one may begin to realize the importance and value of that article. Although what is lost may never be restored, in its absence, there is a tendency for one to travel deeper into a world of trying to uncover the meaning of its presence and understanding its purpose. In Cry, the Beloved Country, James Jarvis goes through a period of comprehending what his son, Arthur Jarvis, was attempting to accomplish in life. As time passes, Jarvis slowly begins to realize the purpose of his son's life and is touched by his son's efforts in changing a prejudiced society. Alan Paton utilizes James Jarvis as a character that comes out of the darkness and into the light, where he begins to realize the truth about society. Stirred from his son's death, James Jarvis emerges from his dark and traditional world into a world of light where he slowly begins to understand and praise the work of his son and to finish what his son wanted to accomplish.
When James Jarvis arrives at Johannesburg to attend his son's funeral, he makes frequent visits to his son's house and reads his son's work, which is his first step in transformation. The first few times, he is lost in thought after reading a profound manuscript criticizing society. However, as time passes, he begins to understand what his son is trying to tell people in the prejudiced world and is deeply moved after each article. After reading about injustice and hypocrisy in society Jarvis has a stream of thoughts in his head.
Whether because this was his son, whether because this was almost the last act of his son, he could not say. Whether because there was some quality in the words, that too he could not say, for he had given little time in his life to the savouring and judging of words. Whether because there was some quality in the ideas, that too he could not say, for he had given little time to the study of these particular matters (188).
Contrary to the first time when Jarvis read his son's work, he starts to establish feelings and thoughts of his own, which prove that Jarvis is slowly beginning to change as a character. His thoughts begin to revolve around the injustice of society and although he does not realize it, he finds himself leaving behind a traditional man full of darkness in Johannesburg and brings home a new man full of light and new ideas. Jarvis's understanding of what his son was accomplishing increases greatly over the period of time he is in Johannesburg. In Johannesburg, Jarvis also fills the gap of his lost connection with his son through reading his son's work and hearing about his son from his family. Jarvis slowly begins to appreciate the work his son put through to improve society and starts to realize the importance of his son in society. Through reading, Jarvis slowly develops an understanding for his son and his son's actions, and soon carries out some of his ideas into action on how to improve society.
As Jarvis leaves Johannesburg, he finds himself entering the world of light as a new and transformed character. At the train station, he hands one thousand pounds to John Harrison so that he may start the "Arthur Jarvis Club" for the natives. Back at Ndotsheni, Jarvis decides to help Kumalo and the people living in the valley by improving living conditions. "Jarvis, who seemed to be in charge of these matters, planted one of the sticks in the ground, and the chief gave a stick to one of his counselors, and said something to him" (276-277). After leaving Johannesburg, Jarvis has truly become a transformed character as he is helping out the natives by providing them with better standards of living, hoping to improve their lives. Not only does he provide the money, he even takes part in manual labor. A white man helping out blacks is quite unusual already, but a white man helping with his two hands for the restoration of a black village is extremely rare. Jarvis takes another step towards transformation when he begins to physically help out the natives. Jarvis even provides an agricultural consultant to help build a dam in the valley although his own savings are quickly diminishing. Jarvis takes drastic measures in improving the lives of the natives. Without deep consternation, he orders for a dam to be built, milk to be provided for the little kids, and gives one thousand pounds for John Harrison to start a club. Jarvis, being the head and the one responsible for establishing these matters in Ndotsheni completes these matters without pride or expecting to receive anything in return. He does this from the motivation of his son's death and from his awareness of the real society. If Jarvis did not go to Johannesburg, he would have never thought of helping out the natives. But through his son's writings and his death, he is motivated to finish what his son had left off. Jarvis opens up his heart and uses what he has the most, money, to help others less fortunate in South Africa because he has the urge to do so. Through this transformation, James Jarvis walks into a world of light and truth where he wants to help because he has already passed the stage of understanding and entered the stage of taking action with the addition of motivation from his son.
At the top of the mountain, Jarvis meets Kumalo and at his time, Jarvis is at his full extent of being a character who has transformed radically. They talk of the new church that Jarvis is providing for the natives and of his grandson. Kumalo thanks Jarvis for all the things that he has done for the natives living in the valley, for example, giving them milk, hiring an agricultural consultant to build a dam, and now building a new church. In response Jarvis replies, "I have seen a man, said Jarvis with a kind of grim gaiety, who was in darkness till you found him. If that is what you do, I give it willingly." (307). Jarvis knows that he has transformed and entered the world filled with light, where he has accomplished much in helping others, just as his son would do. In this world of light, he can clearly see the unjust ways of society and is willing to sacrifice all he has to develop a corrupt society into one where equality is established. Before Jarvis slowly emerged into the world of light, he lived in darkness. In darkness, the truth of society was shielded from him and he lived like any other white man would. He had no feelings towards the corrupted society because his senses did not tell him that it existed. But now, Jarvis understands that he has accomplished his son's and his own dream in helping out the natives in a society filled with prejudice. Jarvis knows that what he has done is only a little compared to what his son did. Instead of allowing Kumalo to thank him, Jarvis thanks Kumalo for being the guide in leading him into the light and Jarvis can only return the favor by providing Kumalo with the little things he has done. At this point, Jarvis is a different character from the beginning of the book. In the beginning, he was an indifferent man attending his son's funeral, but little did he know that the motivation of his son's death would develop him into a man that would help many lives in a society where prejudice exists.
As is apparent, James Jarvis transforms into a whole new person when he goes back to Ndotsheni. Motivated and saddened by his son's death, Jarvis implants the idea of helping others and carries it out himself. After losing his son, Jarvis begins to slowly understand the value of his son even though the distance between them was great. Through his son's death, Jarvis re-finds himself as a person who has some power to change society. From his journey to Johannesburg and back to Ndotsheni, Jarvis experienced a great deal of transformation. He transforms from a somewhat sheltered and traditional man into one who is willing to sacrifice anything for the welfare of others. Just as how light fills a dark room with the use of a switch, Jarvis, like the light, changes a poorly industrialized village into one with better living conditions. Like Jarvis, one will most likely experience a transformation in life. Either it be from darkness to light or vice versa, it is imperative for one to open his eyes and realize the importance of a transformation because it will definitely affect the rest of his life.
This is the complete article, containing 1,467 words
(approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page).
