Answer: By depicting the crime and poverty that exist in Johannesburg, Paton communicates the idea that the city is a dangerous and corrupt place.
In <em>Cry, the Beloved Country</em>, Alan Paton describes the changes that South Africa was experiencing during the middle of the twentieth century. Although his book was released before the <em>apartheid</em> policies reached their prime, life in the city was already affected by many of the problems that were going to plague the country for years to come. These conflict affected its black population in particular. Paton illustrates these conflicts by depicting the crime and poverty in Johannesburg, and associating this with the corruption and injustice that is problematic in the whole country.
