Study Guide

Cry, the Beloved Country Chapter 19

By Alan Paton

Chapter 19

At the airport, there is a young man waiting for Jarvis and his wife, Margaret. It's John Harrison, the brother of Arthur's wife Mary.
He leads the Jarvises to the Harrisons' house to see Mary and their grandchildren.
John and Mary's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harrison, are also hanging out.
After they all visit the mortuary, Margaret goes off with Mary so that the two women can grieve together.
Harrison (the father, not John) tells Jarvis that there have been lots of condolence messages coming in from public officials and charities.
He also mentions that Arthur's advocacy for native rights got him into trouble at his job, since his bosses were worried that he would damage their profits.
But Arthur planned to keep working for better social conditions in South Africa, no matter what.
(Why is Mr. Harrison bringing all of this stuff up about Arthur's social reform now, when Jarvis has just seen the body of his murdered son? Mr. Harrison = definitely not the most tactful guy in the world.)
Jarvis goes up to bed, where he and Margaret hold onto each other and wonder how this could have happened to Arthur.

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