The Symbolic Land of South Africa

            Paton seems to mention the land in South Africa quite often throughout Book One.  Is this a coincidence or is he making a reflection of society to nature?  In my opinion, he is actually making land serve a purpose for societal issues.  If we dig into the first chapter, we find he creates an atmosphere that includes the land being a major point of reflection.

            Paton is saying that the land is the source of all things; the land produces food and water, keeps them safe from invaders, and helps them to stay alive.  “For the ground is hold, being even as it came from the Creator.  Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, and cares for men.  Destroy it and man is destroyed.”  The importance of this particular quotation from chapter one shows that the African society is based on a mirror of the land.  If men keep their morals out of harm’s way, society will stay protected.

            The author’s purpose is to illustrate that the soil is only producing its maximum when the people live on it; the residents need to continue to farm and protect the land they own.  “The men are away, the young men and the girls are away.  The soil cannot keep them anymore.”  When the people go away from their homes, the soil cannot stay fertile; it cannot keep the sheltered anymore.  He also wants to prove that when morality is broken, the land is unwilling to produce.

            Paton also wants us to realize that a change in the book with the well-being of the land can also signify a change in society.  “So they all talked of the sickness of the land, of the broken tribe and the broken house, of young men and young girls that went away and forgot their customs, and lived loose and idle lives.”  This symbolizes the change in how ill the land is, the broken home, and the young people breaking away from their natural habitat.  He is trying to insinuate that while the land is sick, society is deteriorating; while the home is broken, the families are falling apart and leaving one another; while the children are living loose, destructive, and idle lives, the people of our culture are turning away from the one life they identify with.  This portion of the book foreshadows societal issues.

            Paton strives to prove his unbelievable point of view by foreshadowing community problems while comparing them to the land of South Africa.  While the land is weakening, the heart and souls of the people of the land are becoming calloused and faded.  He wants us to comprehend that not only is the land showing us how society is failing, but the people that make up society are also failing at some of the simplest tasks.  We are all trapped inhabitants of our own minds.  If we can somehow treat the land with uttermost respect, we will receive the protection and security needed to survive in life.