Cry, the Beloved Country: Book II, Chapter 27 Summary & Analysis

Mrs. Lithebe is fed up with Gertrude’s tendency to revert back to her old ways, and to associate with unscrupulous people from her former life. When Gertrude insists that she cannot tell when someone is bad, Mrs. Lithebe is exasperated. Can’t she tell from the way they speak? Doesn’t she want to be rid of her old life? Gertrude says she does not wish to be so weak, that she wants to do right by Stephen. She says that she hates Johannesburg and understands it to be toxic, and wants to leave.

A woman comes by the house with a newspaper. There has been another murder, another white man shot by a black intruder. The woman, who has been accompanying Mrs. Lithebe to Absalom’s trial, suggests that this does not bode well for Absalom, and Mrs. Lithebe agrees. Msimangu and Stephen return home, and Mrs. Lithebe hides the newspaper from him. When Stephen is in his room, Msimangu and the others devise a plan to keep Stephen from seeing the paper until after the trail is over.

Later that day, Gertrude mentions to Mrs. Lithebe that she has a plan: she wishes to become a nun. Mrs. Lithebe is pleased with this plan, but she asks what will be done with Gertrude’s son. Gertrude says that she thinks Stephen’s wife can raise him better than she can, but that she is praying about the issue. Mrs. Lithebe says that she will pray, too. When she goes to her room, Gertrude also confides this plan to Absalom’s girlfriend. The girl promises that if Gertrude indeed does this, she will help care for the boy as if he’s her own.