In Cry, the Beloved Country, Absalom Kumalo and Matthew Kumalo are first cousins; their fathers are brothers. Both are young black African men living in 1960s South Africa. Absalom grew up in a small town where his father, Stephen, is a minister. Matthew, whose father is John, was raised in the city of Johannesburg. Alan Paton draws a strong contrast between them: Absalom is shown as being basically a good person who is naïve and easily led astray, while Matthew lacks a conscience and has become streetwise while still young because of his urban upbringing. Although both youths, along with a third friend, participate in the burglary that went wrong, Absalom alone is responsible for Arthur Jarvis’s death and pays for the crime with his own life.
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