Cry, The Beloved Country, written by Alan Paton, tells stories of ethnic conflicts between the black and the white and depicts struggles against racial segregation in South Africa. In this novel, Alan Paton’s sociology suggests that South African society was suffering from the racial segregation between the black and the white and that the tragedy of the society was because both the government and most of the whites were fearful of the blacks, refusing to live with and work together with the black.

Paton's depiction of the land in which the character Stephan Kumalo lived reflected the deformity of society at that time. At the beginning of the novel, Paton drew a picture of from Ixopo into the hills (Paton1), showing a microcosm of society: the white owned soil “just as it came from God (Paton1)”, while the black lived down the valley and owned the barren land, which could not feed the black community, resulting live in poverty. “Down in the valleys women struggle to work the soil that is left, and the corn hardly reaches the height of a man. They are valleys of old men and old women, of mothers and children. The men are away, the young men and the girls are away. The soil cannot keep them anymore.” (Paton2). The comparison of the difference of the living condition is clear from Paton’s description. Before the beginning of the story, readers could already feel the polarized society.

Paton used the character’s experience and feeling to show his finding and his appealing to South African society. The whites were rule the land out of fear. “There are some white men who give their lives to build up what is broken. But they are not enough. They are afraid, that is the truth. It is fear that rules this land (Paton, 16).” Paton diagnosed the ills of society. However, he still found hope and appealed to kindness. What Msimangu said in Chapter 6 represented Paton’s heart, and that was what he wanted African blacks to understand after reading his book: “And I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when the white man has turned to loving, he will find we have turned to hating.”(Paton, 26)

In conclusion, according to Paton, all the segregation and discrimination could be contributed to fear and hate, while people could still have love in their hearts to change the society. The South African society in his time could be very different from America in present. America had also experienced many struggles against racial discrimination, but it is the unremitting efforts of those social activists that have resulted in American society becoming an inclusive, pluralistic, and harmonious society. It is now believed that people can use love and hope to change the society.