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Fear

 In the novel "Cry, The Beloved Country" I believe there is one main theme through out Book One.  That theme is the emotion of fear.  Fear plays a major role as a theme in this novel.  It pushes the characters in the book to their limits by making them do things they wouldn't normally do.  By far the most apparent of the three points is the fear of the unknown.

 The most predominant theme throughout the novel is by far the theme is the fear of the unknown.  The first sign of fear in the novel is in the second chapter on page 36 when Stephen Kumalo receives the mysterious letter from St. Mark's Church.  "He was reluctant to open it, for once such a thing is opened, it cannot be shut again." (36)  Stephen Kumalo was very afraid to open the letter because he feared that his family might be in trouble.  He feared that once he read what was in the letter that he would never forget the horrors it foretold.  

The second sign of fear occurs in chapter eleven when Kumalo hears about the killing of Me. James Jarvis.  "...Mr. Jarvis heard the disturbance and came down to investigate.  He was shot dead at short range in the passageway leading from the stairs into the kitchen.  There were no signs of any struggle." (104)  When Kumalo heard of the crime he greatly feared that his son was involved in the crime.  He is fearful and afraid because has also heard from his brother that his son has been acting very strange lately, and has been hanging around the wrong people.  If his son did kill Jarvis, Kumalo knows that it is over for his son because he has killed a white man.

 The last significant sign of fear really happens in chapter sixteen when he was talking to his son and his son's girlfriend  "What will you do in this quiet place when the desire is upon you?  I am a parson, and live at my church, and our life is quiet and ordered.  I do not wish to ask you something that you cannot do." (147)  Kumalo fears that his son may or not be ready be ready for marriage and a family of his own.  Keeping that under consideration Kumalo trusts his son enough to allow him to marry.  He also fears about his son's future with his new wife, and the future of his family.  

In conclusion, the most prominent and apparent theme in the novel Cry, The Beloved Country is fear. Fear appears everywhere in this novel, but some more than others.  Fear pushes people not only in the novel but also in real life to their absolute limits.  Kumalo was completely out of his comfort zone when he was on to Johannesburg, but he was doing it for his sister. In my opinion the greatest sign of fear in the novel is when Kumalo receives the letter from the church. The fear of the unknown is in all of us, and it might be the downfall of humanity itself.