In South Africa there have been many injustices over the past few years, but the real tragedy is that people realize these problems exist but have not not tried to eliminate them. In Alan Paton's Cry, the Beloved Country, the tribe has been shattered by the actions of many, but when it comes to improving the future, only a few individuals step up. they live daily without faith, custom or purpose. When Kumalo says “Cry the beloved country, these things are not yet ended” (105), he expresses his cry for the broken tribe, the law and traditions that have disappeared. The tribe has been torn apart for so long that we must cry, cry for the men who died and for the behavior of the women and children. At the beginning of the novel, Stephen had received a letter urging him to come to Johannesburg because his sister, Gertude, was ill. Gertude had previously left Ndotsheni to find a husband, but ended up getting carried away by the Johannesburg lifestyle. Upon arriving in Johannesburg, Stephen realized that Gertude was not physically ill but morally corrupt. She sells alcohol, lives with prostitutes and has a child without a husband. Kumalo tries to help Gertude by letting her come back to Ndotsheni to live with him and his wife, even going so far as to buy new clothes for her and her son, representing a new beginning. While living with Mrs. Lithebe, Gertude confides in her expressing her doubts and says that she is a weak woman. Even with all the help, Gertude reverts to her old ways, leaving in the middle of the night but her son and “the red dress and the white turban were still there” (205). As the tribe continues to remain broken, crime and racism strain...... middle of paper ...... return with James to Ndotsheni and take Zulu lessons in Kumalo. In Africa, there is a language barrier in which white people cannot read Zulu and the boys' interest in Zulu shows hope for the future tribe. After a few lessons, the boy told Kumalo that he would leave and he told him: “Something brilliant will come out of Ndotsheni” (283). The boy's desire to educate himself shows hope for a better future. Cry, the Beloved Country shows the broken tribe rising to come together. During the transition, weak spirits would be left behind and would not make it to the finish line, like Gertude and Absalom, but others would. Men were afraid of each other, of salvation, but when brains, voices and hearts unite in South Africa, then the tribe can mend itself. The book ends with a sunrise representing a new beginning towards a new attitude..