Cry, the Beloved Country Identifications
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38 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Stephen Kumalo | old Anglican priest who comes to Johannesburg from his hometown in Ndotsheni in hopes of finding his "sick" sister Gertrude and his son, Absalom. |
| John Kumalo | excellent orator with the voice of a lion. He is the brother of Stephen and a political leader of the natives living in Johannesburg. He is known for going "far, but not too far" in his speeches, because he is scared of losing his power in the country by making the wrong white people angry. |
| Gertrude Kumalo | the sister of Stephen and John who leaves Ndotsheni for Johannesburg in search of her husband who went to the city for work in the mines. She goes to the city and becomes a prostitute and alcohol seller, after which she births a child. She seems to have a reversal once Stephen finds her, and thinks about becoming a nun but at the last minute changes her mind and escapes rather than return to Ndotsheni. |
| Absalom Kumalo | son of Stephen Kumalo who came to Johannesburg to find Gertrude. He soon became part of a gang of miscreant natives who rob and steal throughout Johannesburg, eventually culminating with his murder of Arthur Jarvis while robbing his house. Stephen finds that during his time in Johannesburg, he attended a reformatory where he was released early because he got a girl pregnant and was to marry her. |
| Matthew Kumalo | son of John Kumalo, and companion of Absalom Kumalo. Though Absalom claims that Matthew was with him during the robbery of Arthur Jarvis' house, Matthew's lawyer is able to get Matthew released as not-guilty for the robbery or murder. |
| The Pregnant Girl | the soon-to-be wife of Absalom Kumalo who is barely 16 and has already had three boyfriends. She marries Absalom after he is put in jail and chooses to return to Ndotsheni with Stephen. |
| Gertrude's boy | Gertrude's son who is a very lively and bright child. Gertrude doesn't seem to have a strong grasp on him (she doesn't know where he is when Stephen visits her alcohol shop). Stephen reads stories to him, and he becomes like a son to Stephen. He returns to Ndotsheni with Stephen as well. |
| Reverend Msimangu | the reverend who sent Stephen Kumalo a letter telling him to come to Johannesburg to save his "sick" sister. He serves as the host and guide of Stephen while he is in Johannesburg. He is a young minister at the Mission House in Sophiatown. He could have been a great politician but chose to become a priest instead. His sermon to the blind at Ezenzeleni moves Kumalo greatly. He is very helpful towards Kumalo and actually ends up giving him all of the money he had saved up to recoup his losses from the trip. |
| Fr. Vincent | white priest who runs the religious house where Kumalo stays while he is in Johannesburg. He is very kind to Kumalo and finds him the lawyer who takes the case. He presides over Absalom's wedding. |
| Mrs. Lithebe | Stephen Kumalo and his family stay in her house while they are in Johannesburg. She gets on Gertrude and the pregnant girl for laughing idly and reminds them of Stephen's suffering. |
| Mrs. Mkize | woman who lives in Alexandra who allowed Absalom and his friends to stay with her while they were robbing people and bringing the loot back to the house. She is originally afraid to tell Msimangu about this, but after Msimangu prompts her further, she tells him all. |
| Mrs. Ndlela | woman who lives in Sophiatown and rented a room to Absalom but later kicked him out because of his activities and friends. |
| James Jarvis | the wealthy white landowner who owns a farm called "High Place" above Ndotsheni. His son is killed by Absalom Kumalo, but he still fosters a relationship with Stephen Kumalo, eventually providing him with milk for his village, a new church, and an agricultural advisor for the village. |
| Margaret Jarvis | the wife of James who seems to know her son much better than he does. |
| Arthur Jarvis | son of Margaret and James Jarvis who is killed by Absalom in his home. He is renowned in Johannesburg for being a white social reformer who advocated for the rights of the natives. He had helped found the African Boys Club, which James later visits. |
| Mary Jarvis | wife of Arthur Jarvis, and member of the Harris family. |
| The Grandson | son of Arthur and Mary Jarvis who contains the same brightness in him as his dad when he was a kid. He visits Stephen Kumalo after he returns from Johannesburg and learns Zulu from him. After Stephen tells him about the babies dying out of milk, the grandson arranges a daily milk run to Ndotsheni. |
| John Harrison, Jr. | brother of Mary Jarvis who greets the grieving Jarvis family at the airport. He is a companion of James Jarvis while he is in Johannesburg. He doesn't understand Arthur Jarvis' reforming ways. |
| Johannes Pafuri | the third burglar (along with Absalom and Matthew Kumalo) who used a rod to knock out Arthur Jarvis' servant. He was identified by the same servant for his distinct eye twitch, but like Matthew Kumalo, was not found guilty of the robbery or murder because of lack of evidence. |
| Richard Mpiring | the servant of Arthur Jarvis whom Pafuri knocked out. |
| Tomlinson | the brains of Black African movement. He is not a strong speaker, however. |
| Dubula | the heart of the Black African movement. He stops Kumalo and Msimangu from using the bus and persuades them to walk, therefore aiding the boycott of the buses. |
| Mr. Carmichael | the lawyer called in by Fr. Vincent to assist Absalom. He takes the case "pro-deo" (for God). |
| African Boy's Club | the native club that Arthur Jarvis was the President and lead benefactor of. James Jarvis visits the boys club and talks to the native who manages it. |
| Sibeko | a man in Ndotsheni who asks Kumalo through another man to search for his daughter who went into the city with the Smith family to be a maid. |
| Barbara Smith | the woman who hires and then fires Sibeko's daughter because she drank too much. |
| The Chief | in Ndotsheni, he is a pathetic figurehead leader of the village, but is still respected. |
| The Magistrate | he plants the flags with Jarvis to lay out where the new Church will be built. |
| The Bishop | the man in charge of the Ndotsheni ministry. He comes to Ndotsheni for a confirmation and tries to tell Stephen Kumalo that he must go to a new ministry where he will just be a priest, not an administrator. He tells him this because he believes that the villagers, having learned of the actions of the rest of his family in Johannesburg, will not respect him as their pastor. He also thinks that nothing good can come of Kumalo living in such close proximity to the father of the man his son killed. However, Kumalo soon rights these thoughts by telling him about the villager's warm welcome back, and all that Jarvis has done for the village. The Bishop gives in and allows Kumalo to stay in Ndotsheni. |
| Young Man at the Reformatory | the principal of the reformatory that took in Absalom. He got Absalom a job and allowed him to leave early because of his stellar performance and his expecting girlfriend whom he wanted to marry. Once he learns of what Absalom has done, he is initially angry and disappointed that this will screw up the good program that they have going at the Reformatory, but soon feels pity for Kumalo's sufferings, and offers to help him throughout the trial and after. |
| Napoleon Letsitsi | a native who Jarvis found in Pretoria working as a teacher, though he did not particularly like it. Jarvis pays him to come to Ndotsheni and educate the natives on farming techniques (how to farm hills, etc.) |
| Ndotsheni | village where Stephen Kumalo is from. |
| Johannesburg | city where people get lost in various ways. |
| Sophiatown | the suburb of Johannesburg where the Mission House is located. |
| Shanty Town | the suburb where Absalom Kumalo once lived. It is one of the most impoverished areas of all of Johannesburg, because it is composed of squatters who are waiting for houses. |
| Pimville | where Absalom's girlfriend lives. |
| Parkwold | a nice white area of Johannesburg where Arthur Jarvis and his family lives. |
| Ezenzelini | a suburb of Johannesburg where the blind community is and where Kumalo can step back from his suffering and become at peace with God. Msimangu gives a homily here that really moves Kumalo. |
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