forget the resigned sorrow of its closing pages’ – Observer ‘Mr Paton’s record of a simple Zulu parson’s search for his
delinquent son in the maelstrom of Johannesburg is as moving in the biblical simplicity of its style and drama as it is imaginatively
disinterested as an account of the problems of race relations. This is as remarkable a novel for its facts as for its truth’ - Guardian
By reviewing the studies on Alan Paton’s Cry, the Beloved Country, the writer saw that the relation between the historical
backgrounds in South Africa with the characters’ experience in this novel of Cry, the Beloved Country was described by the author of this novel.
In this novel, it is told about family life in South Africa in their daily social life. Ross, in her book of The Support Network of Black
Families in Southern Africa, stated: Family life must thus also be seen against the background of
cultural diversity and extreme socioeconomic differences. Most families—primarily nonwhites—are poor and struggle to satisfy
their daily needs. Contributing in complex ways to different types of family structures are traditional practices, historical events—
especially the racially discriminatory and disruptive effect of apartheid laws, which placed restrictions on movement, provided
inferior education and limited employment opportunities, and enforced compulsory shifting of families—and the demands of
modern society Ross, 1995
B. Review of Related Theories 1. Theories of Family
a. Definition of Family
David Cheal, in his book of Sociology of Family Life, wrote his opinions about family. Many definitions of ‘family’ have been proposed in
the social sciences, but there is not complete agreement about any of them.
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There are challenging arguments to be made against each approach and social scientists will continue to debate how to define family Cheal, 2002:
9. There are some definitions of family and family life. Cheal also states that a family is a group consisting of people who have close personal
relationships which are believed to endure over time and across generations. Family relationships involve careful social construction of
links between persons in the past, the present and the future 2002: 155. Family life is a way of living in which individuals seek to achieve
personal goals they believe are important for their happiness and sense of well-being by actively participating in family relationships 2002: 156.
Arlene S. Skolnick and Jerome H. Skolnick, in their book of Family in Transition, state that the family is a human institution, not found in its
totality in any prehuman species. It required language, planning, cooperation, self-control, foresight, and cultural learning and probably
developed along with these 1983: 40. In Paul B. Horton and Chester L. Hunt’s Sociology, it is stated that
family is the basic social institution from which other institutions have grown as increasing cultural complexity made the necessary. Therefore,
family is very important in forming society in which it is the basic institution, which develops the society. Further, they say that family is
very important in children rearing and to fulfill human needs. “Family is a kinship grouping which provides for the rearing of children and for certain
other human needs.” Family must carry a lot of functions such as
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conceiving and raising the children, caring for the ill and aged, etc. Besides, the members of a family have certain responsibilities toward one
another 1980: 216. While Edward Byron Reuter, in his book of Sociology, stated that a
family is not a man and woman and their children, but the members and the set of relations that bind them into a unique unity 1941: 19. It is also
said that the family as a social unity, as a reality apart from the legally enforced family coherence, and its part in the development of human
nature and personality are receiving increased attention in the sociological literature Reuter, 1941: 210. Wahlroos ever said that the greatest
happiness and the deepest satisfaction in life, the most intense enthusiasm and the most profound inner peace, all come from being a member of a
loving family Wahlroos, 1983, p. xi. In William Haviland’s Cultural Anthropology, it is stated that although the word family means different
things to different people, in anthropological terms it is a group composed of a woman, her dependent children, and at least one adult man joined
through marriage or blood relationship 1993: 243. In book of Bungai Rampai Sosiologi Keluarga, by T.O. Irhomi,
there are three types of relationship in a family life. The first type is spouse relationship. It is a relationship between a husband and a wife. The
second type is parents-child relationship, and the last one is sibling relationship. From the problem told in the story, the writer does not focus
the analysis on the spouse relationship, but on the parent-child son
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problem, and sibling relationship between Stephen Kumalo with his sister, Gertrude Kumalo, and his brother, John Kumalo.
b. Kind of Family
