Question

7. Up here on the tops is a small and lovely valley, between two hills that shelter it. There is a house there, and flat ploughed fields; they will tell you that it is one of the finest farms of this countryside. It is called High Place, the farm and dwelling-place of James Jarvis, Esquire, and it stands high above Ndotsheni, and the great valley of the Umzimkulu. (Pg. 161)
What is the author trying to tell us about power or equality in this comparison of High Place to Ndotsheni in this passage?

Answer 1

Answer:

In Cry, the Beloved Country written Alan Paton tells us about a family Kumalo that represents an average black family from South Africa. Their village Ndotsheni is poor and has not so developed agricultural side, so most of the people go to Johannesburg in order to find a job and earn for a living. Several members of the Kumalo family moved to the city and all of them took the morally wrong path living an indecent life.  

In contrast to filthy  Ndotsheni where black people live and struggle with poverty, there is High Place up on the hill - a beautiful farm that belongs to a wealthy white man Jarvis where his family lives peacefully and like in a paradise. So, two completely different worlds coexist one beside another and their paths finally directly cross at the end of the novel where Jarvis sends milk to children living in Ndotsheni, though characters of the story meet a lot earlier.