Cry, the Beloved Country has special significance because it is meant not just to entertain but to show in dramatic terms a situation to which the author objects, in order to make people think about this situation and do something to remedy it. It is a commentary on events happening yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Although the novel's setting is the Union of South Africa, which later became the Republic of South Africa, it concerns issues that belong to South Africa, the United Nations, and the world.
In 1948, Africa was composed almost entirely of colonies or protectorates of European countries. South Africa was surrounded by countries ruled by relatively friendly Europeans. Now the former colonies that have gained independence are ruled by their black majorities.
After Paton wrote this book, he and hundreds of other South Africans who opposed the policies of the government and who tried to change those policies by legal, democratic means were charged with treason and often jailed. Newspapers were closed down, and many foreign writers, magazines, books, and newspapers were banned from entering the country.
Cry, the Beloved Country is strongly influenced by the American novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, published in 1939. Like The Grapes of Wrath, Paton's novel uses the language of the Bible, has a number of parallels with the Biblical story of Job (Steinbeck's book deals with a family named Joad), and is what is called a "social protest novel."
