One of the main themes that emerges from reading Alan Paton's, Cry, the Beloved Country, is the importance of tribal life to South Africa because of the identity it gave its people. Through the communal life of the tribe, the structure of stability and morality of the tribe, South Africa's people had a sense of accountability for their own doings, a responsibility towards other and pride in the unity of their people. Tribal life began to break up, however, with the coming of the mines as the youth set off towards Johannesburg and became lost in the crowds and the city. These youths lost their sense of tribal pride, their responsibility towards others and a feeling of accountability for their actions. As a result, many turned to a life of crime and immorality, destroying families and ignoring hundreds of years of tribal structure, ultimately turning their backs on...