The meaning of Arthur Jarvis in Cry, the Beloved Country
Shan Goonewardena
February 3rd, 2009
English, Grade 11
The meaning of Arthur Jarvis
Alan Paton, the treasured author of Cry, the Beloved Country used imagery and textual evidence to create a world of anxiety and chaos on regards to, both white and black individuals. As many know, the white segregation rule on the colored was called the apartheid and the writing by Alan Paton best describes the relationship between the black and white people as a creation of moral distraught and feeling of turmoil and anxiety. The language of the book reflects the ideas of the Bible, which then influences the characters of the book. From the very start of the novel, the writing style includes symbols such as light and darkness to symbolize the link to the bible. Jesus Christ is symbolized by the figure of Arthur Jarvis, who was a white reformer who fights for rights of blacks.
Like Christ, he is very unselfish and wants to pursue his aims at all costs. One of his friends, Harrison, describes, “Here (Arthur Jarvis) was, day to day, on a kind of mission,”(173). Arthur Jarvis and his wife Mary, “…agree that it's more important to speak the truth than to make money,” (172). Getting to the end of the book, Arthur Jarvis is killed in his house by Absalom, a black man who gets entangled in the crime. At first, Absalom only intended to rob Arthur Jarvis, but it eventually turned to horrific disaster. Absalom, expecting Arthur Jarvis not to come home soon, realizes that his expectations were wrong. When Arthur Jarvis hears a noise, he starts to search his home. Startled and afraid, Absalom fires blindly and during the trial, Absalom states, “Then a white man came into the passage… I was frightened. I fired the revolver,” (194). Absalom's blind shot highlights the symbol of the fear, blindness, and misunderstanding between whites and blacks, which are the ethics of racial hate. In the room of Arthur Jarvis, there were pictures of Christ crucified and Abraham Lincoln, who are both two men who fought for human love and compassion but were killed because of their viewpoints. Arthur Jarvis believed that black people should have their rights but ended up like Christ or Abraham Lincoln. In reference to Christ, the Roman priests didn't comprehend him, but they knew there was something about him, so they were afraid of him. Even though Christ taught compassion, they claimed he would provoke a riot and crucified him. Like Christ, Arthur Jarvis teaches compassion and love between races, whites and blacks, separated by the law of apartheid.