Cry Journal 3

Phrases/lines:
"All roads lead to Johannesburg."
"Have you a room for me to let?"
"Shantytown is up overnight."
"What shall we do in the rain?"
"Nobody comes back from Johannesburg."
"More lovely than anything you could sing about."
The first phrase, "All roads lead to Johannesburg," is a metaphor. It is repeated often to illustrate how everyone in southern Africa, no matter their race, ends up going to Johannesburg. The first time Paton says this he is being a little more literal, describing the train that Kumalo is taking to Johannesburg. The second time, he talks about how everyone ends up going to Johannesburg when they can no longer find work in the country. The way he says that all roads lead to Johannesburg also explains the phrase "nobody comes back from Johannesburg" because all the roads LEAD there, not back from it.
Images:
Hills, mountains
The immensity of Johannesburg
The beauty of the African countryside
The last image, of the beautiful country, is used to contrast the ugliness of the new city. All of the old villages and tribes that the natives had built are described as being beautiful and loved and cared for. It contrasts the big city, with its endless roads and its crowds of people and its traffic and Shantytowns. It makes the city seem like a place you did not want to be, and yet, everyone goes there.
Concepts:
The suffering of women
Fear of catching the wrong bus
The crime in the city
Fear of Kumalo's son
Mothers protecting children
The suffering of women, especially mothers like Kumalo's wife and the woman Mrs. Seme, is probably repeated to build theme. Paton suggests that it is in their nature to suffer silently. They give birth to children, raise them, and then must suffer through the pain of losing them to death or to the big city.