Cry, The Beloved Country Cry, The Beloved Country was written in 1948, by Alan Paton. It is a novel written about South Africa, like Paton's Hope for South Africa, and The Land and People of South Africa. This was a realistic book because of its exceptional setting, symbolism, and character development. All of these elements make the book come to life as it is read. The setting of the story is parallel to the way life really was in South Africa. It mainly takes place in the great city of Johannesburg where all the natives tribes go to find work, money and housing. There, Stephen Kumalo finds his sister living in terrible conditions, the way that black people really did at that time. They had their own part of the city, with their own schools and their own buses. It even gave the example of showing how the whites lived, and how the blacks lived in very separate, and unequal living conditions. The whites were wealthy in the nice part of town, and controlling the society, and the blacks, almost being slaves to them, and living in the least proficient part of town. The setting helps the reader feel like this is a real story, but that is actually how it was at one time. There are many exceptional examples of symbolism in the novel. The positions of blacks and white in society are the same as their geographical positions. The whites live on the best land while the blacks live on the deficient land. Another source of symbolism is when the soil of the hills is red. The land it very eroded, and it causes the rivers to become blood red like a vast, open and bleeding wound. It symbolizes Africa bleeding because of inequality and the erosion of the African society itself. It also can be symbolic of the wearing down of Stephen's family. Symbolism is used greatly though out the novel. The main characters in the novel grow though the changes that take place in their lives, like everyone does. They view life one way and then become more open...