EXPLOITATION AND OPPRESSION IN THE "CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY" BY ALAN PATON: A MARXIST ANALYSIS

Abstract

This research seeks to undertake a Marxist critique of the novel “Cry, the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton. The paper is qualitative descriptive in nature and it uses the theory of colonialism and imperialism according to Vladimir Lenin and Frantz Fanon. The paper employs thematic, character logical and structural analysis to read the novel. The purpose is to reveal the patterns of the novel’s oppression and identify how they are linked to Marxist analysis and anti-colonial discourse. This paper aims at investigating how the socio-economic and political environment in South Africa during apartheid is represented in Paton’s narrative and how it complies or not with Lenin and Fanon’s analysis and perspectives on colonialism and imperialism. In conclusion, this study provides a detailed and original interpretation of ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’ wherein its applicability of Marxist and anti-colonial theories are effectively argued and demonstrated.