Chapter one: The first chapter of Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton begins with the description of a road that goes from the village of Ixopo to the hill and then leads to Carisbrooke and in the valleys of Africa. The grass is rich and tangled, a sacred land that must be maintained and guarded because it holds and guards men. Analysis: Alan Paton begins Cry, the Beloved Country with a description of the land surrounding Ixopo, the village where shepherd (and protagonist) Stephen Kumalo lives. Paton defines it as a rural and isolated area, which is significant in developing the character of Kumalo and its relationship with the wider urban area of ​​Johannesburg where it will soon be located. The style of this first chapter is grand, equating the survival of the soil with nothing less than the survival of the human race, but this serves an important function, relating the life and health of the country (in both its meanings) to the health of the its inhabitants and, by extension, of the characters in the novel. Chapter Two: A child brings a letter to the umfundisi (pastor) of the church, Stephen Kumalo, who offers her some food. This letter is from Johannesburg, and so it could have come from his sister Gertrude, who is twenty-five years younger than him, from his brother John, a carpenter, or from his only son Absalom, who had left and never returned. Both Stephen and his wife hesitate to open the letter, thinking it might be from their son, but it is instead from the Reverend Theophilus Msimangu, who tells Stephen that Gertrude is very ill and advises him to come to the Mission House in Sophiatown, Johannesburg, to help her. Kumalo sighs and tells his wife to get him the money meant for Absalom's education at St. Chad, because now that Absalom has gone to Johannesburg, he will never return. His wife tells Stephen to take all twelve pounds, five shillings and seven pence, just in case. Analysis: This chapter serves as an introduction to Cry, the Beloved Country's protagonist, Pastor Stephen Kumalo, establishing his major conflicts and character traits. From his first meeting with the young child, Paton demonstrates that Kumalo is a kind but powerful man and respected within his community despite his poverty, as evidenced by the small savings he and his wife had scraped together for their son's education..