How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Msimangu saw that Gertrude would soon break out into wailing and moaning, and he turned his back on the others and said to her gravely and privately, heavy things have happened, but this is a marriage, and it were better to go at once than to wail or moan in this place. When she did not answer he said sternly and coldly, do you understand me? And he said resentfully, I understand you. (2.29.4)
At Absalom's wedding to his girlfriend while he is in prison, Msimangu notices that Gertrude is about to cry loudly. He stops her and tells her to be quiet. Why? Why is it inappropriate for Gertrude to show how she feels here? What does Msimangu's demand here show us about gender relations and social customs among the Zulu people (at least, as Paton represents them in Cry, the Beloved Country)?
Quote #8
Tomorrow they would all go home, all except his son. And he would stay in the place where they would put him, in the great prison in Pretoria, in the barred and solitary cell; and mercy failing, would stay there till he was hanged. Aye, but the hand that had murdered had once pressed the mother's breast into the thirsting mouth, had stolen into the father's hand when they went out into the dark. Aye, but the murderer afraid of death had once been a child afraid of the night. (2.29.166)
Here, the narrator draws our attention to Absalom's humanity. Yes, he may be about to be executed for murder, but he was also once a child with parents who loved him. This family connection makes Absalom seem even more sympathetic to us. How does the narrator's reminder of Absalom's childhood and his family members affect you as a reader? Why do you think Paton throws in this detail about Absalom when he describes Absalom's guilty verdict? What larger point might Paton be trying to make by increasing the reader's sympathy for Absalom?
Quote #9
— Umnumzana, there is a brightness inside him.
— Yes, yes, that is true. The other was even so.
And then he said, like a man with hunger, do you remember?
And because this man was hungry, Kumalo, though he did not well remember, said, I remember. (3.36.22-5)
Both of the men who die as a result of the events of this novel, Arthur and Absalom, leave children behind them. We don't know what Absalom's baby is going to be like (though we do know that Absalom wants him to be named Peter if it's a boy), but we do see a connection between Arthur and his son. There is a "brightness" inside both of them. The fact that both of these people have children, and that Arthur's son is so much like Arthur, provides hope for the future, even though the present is so tragic and difficult.