Cry, The Beloved Country In Comparison To The Bible
             Paton's novel, Cry, The Beloved Country was written in 1946. The novel has many correlation's with the Bible. Paton obviously knew the Bible very well. We see parallelism between the novel and the Bible through the theme of faithfulness in God. We also see similarities between characters of the novel to Biblical characters.
             The first sign we find in the novel that connects it to the Bible is in Kumalo's son's name. His son's name is Absalom. Absalom is the name of King David's son. Absalom, son of David, rebelled against his father by killing his brother Amnon (2 Samuel 13:30). Absalom fled away from his father's land (2 Samuel 13:37). David mourned for his son. 2 Samuel 13:39 says, "And the heart of the king went out, yearning for Absalom." David is like Kumalo. His son has also left. Absalom Kumalo had left Ndotsheni and gone to Johannesburg. Kumalo has not heard from his son. Kumalo worries about his son and wishes to see him again. Absalom was Kumalo's only son (Paton 8).
             King David's and Kumalo's sons had both been involved with murders. In chapter 16, Paton shows us that Kumalo suffered from the crime his son committed (112). David also showed suffering on behalf of his son's actions (2 Samuel 13:31). David forgave Absalom (2 Samuel 14:33). Kumalo also forgave his son for the sin he committed. We see this by the way he gave his son hope. Kumalo takes Absalom's hand and gives it strength as he holds it (Paton 122). This is symbolic of Kumalo being there for his son, and his son knowing he is.
             The day before Absalom's death, Kumalo went up to a mountain. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts and to pray (Paton 273). David also went off by himself when he heard of his son's death. He went up the Mount of Olives (2 Samuel 15:30).
             Absalom, the son of David, had said, "If the Lord will i...