The Bolshevik Revolution

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Cry, the Beloved Country

Cry, the Beloved Country, a novel written by Alan Paton, has a very inspirational output on those who read it. It has such a realist feel too it.  There are many different viewpoints, for many situations. This novel illustrates the life in Johannesburg, a place where all roads lead to. As Paton wrote, there were many themes produced behind the stories told. One of the main characters, Stephen Kumalo, a black preacher, would be the perfect example to explain these themes. To sum them all up, three major themes would be racism, equality, and family.

To begin, racism brought out a lot of hatred, violence and fear. In the novel, the white people were compared to a valley:  rich, lovely, and thriving. On the other hand, the black people, or natives, were compared to lower hills: dying, barring, and destroyed. The lower hills demonstrate the way blacks were low in society, and the whites were referred to as “rich” because they were very wealthy, thriving and dominating over the lower hills of the black people. The whites held a higher standard than the blacks; whites were more successful while many blacks were struggling. Many of the whites felt as if they didn't have to treat the blacks the same as they treated others because they viewed them as nothing. Despite the fact that some whites were willing to help the natives, they would be sent to court for doing such thing.

To add on, equality showed a great route to a more peaceful future. As the title of this novel reads, Cry, the Beloved Country, it refers to the people crying out for hope and peace. Throughout the novel, violence and crime hindered the society, and the only way for there to be peace would be when both races joined together. To focus on one particular topic would be the transformation of the relationship between a white man, James Jarvis, and Stephen Kumalo. Even though James's son was killed by Kumalo's son, he was able to put all differences aside, to look beyond the color of skin, and become good friends with Kumalo. Their uniting would be a great start for more equality in their land, because the others will see that everyone is all the same, and no different than the other.

Last but not least, family is one of the most valuable aspects of life. no matter what happens, there isn't anything more important than family. After receiving such disturbing news, Kumalo never gave up on finding his family members. For instance, he received a letter saying that his sister was "sick" and in no time, he was boarding a train too Johannesburg. Johannesburg, a place where people go and never come back, Kumalo payed it no mind and went anyway. Despite the fact that Kumalo's sister was a prostitute, with a son who barely had food too eat, and his brother who lost faith in the church, he didn't judge them nor turn his back on them. He simply accepted them for who they were, and helped them find a new way in life.

Too sum it all up, there were many themes in the novel, Cry, the Beloved Country. Racism caused hatred, and oppression brought out rebellious violence. This hatred and violence caused a lot of distrust and fear. If all the people came together as a whole, and unite, there wouldn't be as much violence and crime. Not all the crime and violence can be blamed on by the hatred of the races, but also because family members let one another go astray. Those who didn't feel loved always seek for that loving, usually  resulting in the wrong situations. Families should cherish one another, and let each and everyone know they are loved and that someone cares for them. Paton displayed numerous real life events that anyone can relate too, and there will be those who read this novel and can say, "yeah, I've been through that".

What'd You Say About Me?

I believe that no matter what people say, just be you. Stand up for yourself. There are a lot of people in the world today, trying to impress and please the needs of others. What others have to say about you shouldn’t matter.

As a child, I thought life was perfect. I was wrong. I didn’t know that just a small change to your appearance would cause friends to make fun of you. I believed that friends would always be there no matter what. This was true until I received a letter saying I needed glasses.

It was back in 3^rd grade, around the spring time, a note from the principal's office informed me that I didn’t have 20/20 vision and needed glasses. When I visted the eye doctor, seeing all the different types of glasses on the wall made me think it wasn’t going to be so bad. I thought wearing glasses would be pretty cool because I was able to pick out my favorite color for the frames and even the shape. The night before school I could barely sleep, I was so eager to go to school the next day and show off my new eye wear.

Walking into class the next morning, my whole life seemed to be tumbling down into pieces right before my eyes. One step in class and everyone laughed until their sides started cramping. I moved quickly to my seat in shame and put my head down as I sat in the chair. I wanted to cry but it was bad enough that they were laughing at what I thought was “cool”.

“Hey, you have four-eyes, you have four-eyes, “students chanted throughout the room. I was becoming so angry, making me boil with anger as they kept going on with the chant. The teacher calmed the class and told me that everything was going to be okay. Okay? This wasn’t okay. I didn’t want to hear what anybody had to say. The whole school day was miserable, laughs here, and laughs there.

After school, my mother knew something was wrong because I didn’t walk in as cheerful as I usually do. Once I finally gave in and told her what happened, she began to smile.

“Baby girl, you’re beautiful. Glasses or not,” she said. She went to her room and got her glasses and put them on. “I wear glasses too, my friends laughed, but once they got used to it, they stopped”, she explained, rubbing my shoulder.

She explained how people are always going to talk about you, say harsh things to upset you, but all you can do is smile, look over it and keep moving forward. I began to feel hope as I listened to my mother’s inspirational words. The next day of school, I walked in, smiling from ear to ear. I knew that everything was okay now, my mother never tells me anything wrong. A few students ended up having to get glasses and they didn’t like them. I smiled to them and said, “You're wearing glasses too? But what’d you say about me…."

 

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 can chocolate icing

Preparation:


Heat oven to 350-400 degrees. A can pan of 9 inches would be most accurate for this temperature. You will need 2 cake pans depending on the number of layers for the cake. Pour a cap full size of vegetable oil into the pans, followed by a sprinkle of flour. Begin rubbing the oil and flour mixture around the pan. This will keep the cake from sticking while cooking and cooling.

Aj, my youngest brother, loved doing this. He always enjoyed getting his hands messy, but never really seemed to think he didn't have to clean up the mess.

"It feels so slimy and sticky", Aj laughed.

"Yeah, I'm sure. You better clean it up when your done", I demanded.

Once you have greased your pans, get a bowl to mix the ingredients.You will need the cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil and milk. Pour the 2 cups of cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup of vegetable oil and 3/4 cup of milk into the bowl.

"Let me crack the eggs this time", Aj begged.

He always wanted to do everything, just to say he baked the cake on his own.

"No, you did it last time, it's my turn", I argued back.

"How about the both of you crack one egg a piece, stop all the fussing", Grandma demanded, serious but amused.

Grandma always found the positive side of every situation. Once you have put all the ingredients in the bowl, blend them together on medium power for about 2 minutes. Make sure all of the ingrediants are blended in well. It always got a little rowdy in the kitchen when the blender came on. Everyone would be trying to talk over the blender and each other, screaming to the top of their lungs like they were on a roller coaster. Demetrius, my little cousin, would cry because of all the noise. My grandma spoiled all her grandchildren, so she couldn't resist picking him up to baby him.

"Did the noise scare granny's baby? It's okay, you gonna be alright Meechi", Grandma said in a babyish voice as if Demetrius understood her.

 He always seemed to have this wonderous smile on his face, as if Grandma's voice was magical. When you are done blending the cake batter, distribute the batter evenly into the two cake pans. Try to get as much batter out of the bowl as possible. This is always my favorite part. I always try to be the one to pour out the cake batter so I can "lick the bowl". After the cake batter is in the pans, place the cake pans into the oven on the middle rack. Let the cake cook for at least 25-30 minutes.

To keep busy while the cake baked, we'd clean up our mess. Grandma washed the dishes, I rinsed them, and Aj put them away. Then, Aj whipped the counters as I swept the floor.

"Who wants to play Boggles?' Aj asked eagerly.

"Sure, let's play", I agreed.

"You ready to get beat again', Grandma teased my bother.

We got out sheets of paper and a writing utensil from the shelf and sat at the table. Aj made this rule that since he was second to the youngest grandchild that he would shake the game first. He'd shake and shake and shake as if there was no tomorrow.

"Come on already, hurry up" I complained.

 I hated the shaking sound of the Boggles game, so annoying.

"Oh, stop being such a crybaby" Aj laughed, continuing to shake the game, until he seen the annoyed look on my face.

 He sat the game down and removed the lid while Grandma started the 1 minute timer. We played at least 15 rounds of boggles, then I went to check on the cake. To check to see if the cake is done, use a fork or a toothpick and stick down the middle of the cake. When you pull it out and there is no excess cake left, it's done. Use oven mittens to remove the cake pans from the oven and place on the counter to cool. Let the cakes cool for about 10 minutes.

Aj and I would sit around and sing or tell jokes to make time fly by. Grandma would be taking her medicine, the medicine she has to take 30 minutes before she eats. Demetrius would be somewhere running aroung getting into something he has no business doing.

Once the cakes have cooled off, it's time to put the icing on. Open the chocolate icing and use a butter knife to stir and soften the icing. Then, remove one of the cakes and place it on a plate. Take big clunks of icing and place on the cake. Spread the icing evenly across and around the cake. Remove the other layer of cake and place on top and repeat the following directions.

"It's ready, it's ready, the chocolate is finally ready," Aj cheered.

 He always wanted to be the one to get the first slice. Once you have finished icing the whole cake you are finally done. Get a saucer, grab a knife, cut a slice of a cake and enjoy. Once we finished icing the cake, we'd all get a slice and sit around the table like one big happy family eating chocolate cake.