Stephen Kumalo Essays - Cry, The Beloved Country, Absalom

Stephen Kumalo Stephen Kumalo Stephen Kumalo, who was an Anglican preacher with great moral value. He was very firm in his beliefs, yet very nave when it came to the real world. Many people who knew Kumalo would call him ?Umfundisi?, which is a title and used with respect. Kumalo is seeking out lost members of his family who have left the townships for the lights of the big city. He is looking for his sister Gertrude, who has become a prostitute and mostly, his son Absalom, who has disappeared into the darkness. Kumalo could not imagine why his son did what he did nor did he want to except the fact that it was solely his son's fault for killing a man. The same goes for his sister, the prostitute, he thought that she did what she did because she enjoyed it, but in all actuality she was a prostitute so her son could have a better life. Kumalo was a very emotional man, who dealt with his problem to the best of his knowledge. At the beginning you can tell he is a very caring individual for he allowed a child to eat at his home when she had nothing to eat at hers. He also responded immediately to the letter which he had received from a fellow preacher in Johannesburg. He sacrificed all the money which he and his wife had been saving for months, in order to go and search for his sister and his son. Kumalo had faced many obstacles through out his journey to bring his family back to live in their village. When he went through these obstacles, he never slowed down or stopped to search for his family members. Therefore, Kumalo was a main element in the plot. The reason he was so important is because through out all the trials that he faced, he never once buckled and he never once question why it was him and not someone else. English Essays