How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
There is a man sleeping in the grass, said Kumalo. And over him is gathering the greatest storm of all his days. Such lightning and thunder will come there as have never been seen before, bringing death and destruction. People hurry home past him, to places safe from danger. And whether they do not see him there in the grass, or whether they fear to halt even a moment, but they do not wake him, they let him be. (1.15.40)
Kumalo is talking about his own family drama, here. He's the man sleeping in the grass, while a storm gathers overhead. What he means is that others knew of Absalom's troubles long before Kumalo himself figured it out. But why does Kumalo present his personal tragedy in these big, mythic terms? How does the Kumalo family drama relate to the larger South African national tragedy in the background of Cry, the Beloved Country?
Quote #5
— Did they catch the native?
— Not yet, Mr. Jarvis.
The tears filled the eyes, the teeth bit the lips. What does that matter? he said. They walked down the hill, they were near the field. Through the misted eyes he saw the plough turn over the clods, then ride high over the iron ground. Leave it, Thomas, he said. He was our only child, captain. (2.18.66)
After Jarvis receives the news of Arthur's death, he feels the same grief that Kumalo does at Absalom's loss. But the big difference is that the police captain comes to tell Jarvis all about the case while Jarvis is working his farm, while Kumalo has to travel to Johannesburg and track down Absalom on his own. Kumalo has to pay a lot of money to pursue his search, while it is no trouble at all for the Jarvises to go into the city for Arthur's funeral and the trial of Absalom.
So even though Kumalo and Jarvis share grief on a personal level, Jarvis has much better resources to deal with what has happened to his son. Kumalo's poverty and lack of access to government and police institutions makes his heartbreak over his son that much more difficult to manage.
Quote #6
— Do you not hear the way they speak, the way they laugh? Do you not hear them laugh idly and carelessly? — I did not know it was wrong. — I did not say it was wrong. It is idle and careless, the way they speak and laugh. Are you not trying to be a good woman? (2.27.8-10)
What is the difference between "wrong" and "idle and careless" here? When Mrs. Lithebe asks Gertrude if she is not trying to be "a good woman," it certainly sounds as though she is saying that "idle and careless" is the same thing as morally "wrong." What is Mrs. Lithebe's relation to Gertrude? Why does she feel that she has the right to offer these moral pointers to Kumalo's sister? Why is Mrs. Lithebe so personally concerned that Gertrude stay on the straight and narrow?