Read chapters 15-17 (end of Book I) of Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country and write/post a journal: Choose one of the female characters and explain the motives for her actions.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

Answers

Mrs. Lithebe is the keeper of the “dorms” at Msimangu’s Mission House. There are three extra rooms in the house, and she lets people stay for monetarily next to nothing. I believe her motivation is nothing but compassion. She doesn’t let strangers stay at her house: “there are few people that do not let their rooms, and Mrs. Lithebe is one…strangers she will not have at all.” (pg 149) However, she will make accommodations for anyone that is recommended by someone close to her. I think another one of her minor motivations could be pleasing other people, such as Kumalo. She pulls the “new girl” aside and tells her “you will not laugh so carelessly…this old man has been hurt greatly…and he shall not be hurt anymore, not in my house.” (pg 152) Mrs. Lithebe does this in order to make Stephen Kumalo’s life easier. However, as this falls under the category of compassion, fact that pure compassion motivates Mrs. Lithebe is reiterated.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

ok, so i can't type...there should be a "the" before "fact" in the last sentence...sorry!

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

The girl that Absalom is to marry is a major female character at this point of the book. She is very innocent, "And Gertrude saw that she was a child," (153). She is appreciative of the new life she has begun as Stephen's "daughter-in-law" (not yet, though) and unlike Gertrude when she first entered Mrs. Lithebe's house, "Her clothes are few but clean," (151). I believe that her motivation for her actions such as starting her life over and trusting this old man claiming to be her "husband's" father is of the new opprotunity to have a better life and the fact that she can start her child's life in a more positive way rather than the life she would have led in the Shanty Town.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

The girl Absalom is going to marry also plays a part before she moves into the mission house. When Kumalo has "a wish to hurt her" which is very unpriestly I might add, it helps him realize that she, besides her mistakes and husbands, is still very young. And this compels him to bring her to the mission house immediately yinstead of waiting.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

Oh yeah Jessi Merri you typed monetarily instead of momentarily, but I won't hold that against you.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

Mrs. Lithebe is an interesting character because she will not let rooms as it says on page 149 "But strangers she will not have at all, she has money enough." But she will, however, take in family of Stephen Kumalo. She does this because she appreciates how he took Gertrude and her child out of the streets and gave them new clothes, also he treats her respectfully and courteously and is always kind to her. He says later "Indeed you are a mother to me." So because he treats her as if she was his mother, she will help anyone of his family.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

umm..Anne I think Jessi ment monetarily, as in money. I'm only writing this because everyone is putting two posts. Woot!

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

The female character that I chose to describe was the girl about to marry Kumalo's son Absalom, and was pregnant or as this book and The Good Earth say, with child. The obvious motive for her to marry was to have the child after marriage so that they wouldn't have a bastard for a son. But she wants a fourth husband, possibly to start over, as obviously her previous marriages were not successes. She comes with not many belongings and hopes to have a new life with Absalom.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

I just wanted to clarify: my using of the word "bastard" is perfectly legitamite with the context.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

hmm... there are only three women that were mentioned so i'll choose Mrs. Lithebe.

Mrs. Lithebe allowed three strangers to live in her home. She did not even meet them until they came to stay there. Not many people today can say they would allow a complete stranger who they only know by word of mouth. Mrs. Lithebe could have let the people stay in her house for many reasons. For one thing you don't want to say no to a preacher. SHe could have also done it to get on "better" terms with Kumalo. SHe could have also done it just to be nice. I believe the third one, but hey its America choose which one you like!!

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

Sorry about all of the SHes I always make that mistake, that's why I love autocorrect.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

The girl who is pregnant with Absalom's child is very expressive of her motives for her actions, and in some cases, potential actions. I say potential actions because the girl expresses a wish to go with Stephen Kumalo to Ndotsheni, which is something she has not yet done, and thus potential. Anyways, the girl expresses with gladness a wish "... to go to a far-off place, and be [Stephen's] daughter." This is a motive for her actions.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

Oh yeah, and so everyone else has two posts, so I thought I'd add another too.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

Mrs. Lithebe, the proprietor of the Mission House, has a curious yet uniquely Christian action and reason in response to Steven Kumalo's proposition ("Can my daughter-in-law crash at your place?"). Kumalo seems to dance around the question, not necessarily asking it as much as telling this poor old lady the situation. After she voices her consent, the Rev. Kumalo says, "Mother, I am grateful. Indeed you are a mother to me." The quotation that I find most interesting is Mrs. Lithebe's response, "Why else do we live?"

Could it be that a theme of the novel, in addition to what South Africa will become because of the actions of many people, be, say, the meaning of life? The fact that each page in this text follows the next with more religious symbolisms and colloquialisms suggests this hypothesis to be a reasonable guess. The word "existence" can best describe the themes in this book: the existence of Gertrude and the girl, of Mrs. Lithebe herself, of Absolom, John, and Stephen Kumalo, of South Africa, and of the human race as a whole. Mrs. Lithebe's comment is insightful into what the entire work really means.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

And now, for my second post . . . Anne, I have a query for you. Why is it that when somebody else happens to make a mistake, the world evidentally stops rotating and life as we know it ceases to exist? Please refrain from these correctional posts, especially when they're wrong. Have a sunshine day!

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

I chose the young girl. When Stephen asked her if she would marry his son, she was unsure of how to respond. Her motives were clear: to have a home for her child. She wants the child to grow up in a good environment, and the child will be with its grandparents. The girl’s motives are reasonable under the circumstances. Before she agreed to stay with Stephen, she was scared and that is expected. She has had three “husbands” before Stephen’s son. Maybe she thinks with this one, it can be different.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

Absalom's soon-to-be wife is obviously a girl deprived of a good life. Her parents were divorced, she was abused, and now she is carrying a prisoner's baby. However, she is eager to change her lifestyle, for she is young and will soon be married. The reason she feels she can change and live a good life is because of the caring support of Mrs. Lithebe, Stephen Kumalu, and somewhat from Absalom. After the brash encounter with Kumalo, Kumalo finally showed support of her and she wants to be re-vitalized into a better human being.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

The New and Improved Ben Ashauer is a symbol of the loss of my goatee. My baseball coach made me shave it off. So actually, I'm probably not improved at all. Also, Leah! Where's your second post??

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

The female charecter who I chose from our reading is the girl who is to marry Absalom. I think that she shows a lot of courage when she accepts the invitation to live in a decent house. It also shows growth in her charecter when she listens to and abides by the woman who is housing her. The fact that she is willing to settle down and live quietly shows a lot of maturity on her part.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

One female character in this section of the book(chapters 15-17) is the girl that is to be wed to Absalom. She shows much interest in being apart of the family and living in a place that is peaceful. It seems like she longs to have a happy life. This is probably because her life has not been that great up until then. She is offered a chance to be apart of a good family and be in a good life and she wants to take it because this is what she wants. She was to try and build her life so that she can live to be a well rounded person and this is an opportunity for her to do that.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

I wanna be cool and have two posts!!

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

heyhey its my second post and I would like to take this time to say that me and miss G have decided that Mr. Waller is a big Baller. For those who are not firmiliar with the term "Baller" a baller is a person who has incredible style. Mr. Waller most definately has that one locked down. -holler at that Zach

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

I too chose the woman who is to marry Absalom. In Chapter 16 she starts to cry when Kumalo tells her that Absalom is in prison. I think her motive behind this action is her past experiences. She had three previous "husbands" and they had all been caught. Then she says she doesn't want a fourth husband. I think her motive behind saying this is fear. She is afraid that Kumalo will hurt her if she says the wrong answer.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

Okay, I am going to have three posts but really I only posted twice and where I said I wanna be cool and have two posts yeah that wasnt me. woohoo! Cry, the beloved country is boss.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

umm... well I am going to talk about Stephan's wife because no one else has. I hope we were allowed to pick her.

Stephan’s wife has a short but important role. We see her as a strong woman who help Stephan through his life as a wife should. When he is afraid to do something she is there to do it for him. Two examples would be; opening the letter and taking money from their various savings. She does these because she loves Stephan and can tell he is in pain. She wants to help him through these hard times in what ever way she can. Since she is not going to the city she has to do all she can to help before he travels to Johannesburg

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

Hmmm... I think I shall attempt for some semblance of originality and attempt to explain Gertrude's actions in this portion of the story.

Gertrude has a very small role in chapters 15-17, really only being mentioned as a "boarder" in Mrs. Lithebe's house. According to the old woman, Gertrude is very grateful and helpful, though she is somewhat "careless" in her interactions with men. Nevertheless, she seems to be making a conscious effort to reform her behavior because she knows she is being given a second chance of sorts. She wants to prove herself to her brother and Mrs. Lithebe in order to show that she is indeed grateful for their generosity and she is doing her best to become a better person, even though her "carelessness" with men is not something that her brother and "landlady" approve of. Perhaps, however, this attitude is simply a byproduct of her former profession and has become an ingrained habit.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

*sigh*

And thus I dive from the cliff with all the other lemmings...

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

The female character that I chose is the soon to be wife of Absalom. She seems to be a very innocent girl that grew up in a family where her mother was a drunk, her father left them, and she only had brothers. I think her background kind of reflects on her actions. When she tells Stephen that she is willing to live quietly in a far off place to start her own family, I think she wants to make sure her family dosn't turn out as her childhood did. She has also already had three previous husbands, so I think she wants to prove to Stephen that she can be a good wife for Absalom.

-- Anonymous, February 23, 2005

Alright guys, i am probably last, with nothing new to post on. so i guess we should here about Mrs. Lithebe one more time. Sound good?

Well, Mrs. Lithebe had a husband who was a builder. "he built her this fine big house, it has a room to eat and live in, and three rooms to sleep in." Before this passage, it is stated that Mrs. Lithebe does not let out her rooms to sttrangers. This seems like a very sound idea. I mean in a city where there are robberies, homicides, prostitution, etc., not everybody looking for a home is the nicest "Joe" on the block. Also, her reason for not letting her rooms out to strangers could be that she felt that since her husband had built the house himself, that she might not have wanted people who would possibly destroy part of her house, to, well, destroy part of her house.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2005

I decided to discuss the motives and related information of the sixteen year old girl who is a "very close friend" of Absalom.

Her motives for marrying the three guys, who were all captured eventually, are unknown. Yet, when she is visited by Stephen Kumalo, he seems to help clear her mind of what it is she actually wants: to go to the small town and live with Kumalo's family and her husband if he isnt killed or imprisoned. Her decision to do so was helped along greatly by Kumalo, without whom she would have never even thought of it twice, maybe even once. After this, she moved in with Kumalo, gurtrude and the boy, and the landlady, her motive to do so was the desire to move to the rural area with Kumalo.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2005

Okey-dokey. For my post, I choose Mrs."girl who was with child with child by (Kumalo's) son." She talked to Kumalo and then, after Kumalo did a little talking, she moved in with Mrs. Lithebe. She did this for a couple of reasons. ONe REEEEAALY big reason was so she could get out of the shanty town. Another not so big reason was so she could start changing her life like she and Kumalo were talking about.

Thats about it. OH OH OH! Look everybody! I can fit all my words on to ONE post! isnt it amazing?!

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2005

No, I am the last person.

Mrs. Lithebe has a small role up until she takes in the girls, but mainly she is the character who shows great respect for her umfundisi, Kumalo, and she helps him out whenever she can. This sense of reverence for the clergy is her motivater for these actions.

Later, she takes on a more motherly role when she 'scolds' the girls, Gertrude and Absalom's fiance. She says (to the the girl) "You are but a child, and laughter is good for a child. But there is one kind of laughter, and there is another." In this scene her role changes to being the mother of the girl. Her motivation for doing this is again her respect for the umfundisi.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2005