1. [Kumalo] went out of the door, and she watched him through the little window, walking slowly to the door of the church. Then she sat down at his table, and put her head on it, and was silent, with the patient suffering of black women, with the suffering of oxen, with the suffering of any that are mute. (Pg. 40)

What does the reader learn about the role of black women based on this passage?

In this excerpt, the author describes a position and a role of black women in the society. One of the biggest problems of the black woman from the excerpt is a fact that she wasn't able to speak about her thoughts and feelings, because her opinion and needs were considered irrelevant. This type of women was oppressed from both communities: a white community oppressed her because of her skin color, while a black community oppressed her because she was female member of their society.

In this excerpt Kumalo's wife must hide her own feelings, as she was not allowed to express it in front of her husband. She was worried about her son, Absalom, but she had to be mute as an ox without any opportunity to express herself in the society.

Cry, the Beloved Country is a novel written by Alan Paton, published in 1948. This novel talks about racism and segregation that are becoming an integral part of his country, by telling a story about Stephen Kumalo, who travels to Johannesburg to visit his sister and to find his son, Absalom.