Soliloquy

Cry Freedom by John Briley is one of those books which force you to question the very existence of the human race. Dealing with the themes of hope, friendship, expectation and betrayal set upon the background of the Apartheid regime in South Africa, Cry Freedom tells the real-life story of an unlikely friendship between black activist Steve Biko and white journalist Donald Woods.

The book takes the causes of human exploitation and discrimination head-on and the reader will be startled at some of the portrayals made. That one man can believe himself to be superior to another merely on the ridiculous basis of colour, is difficult to understand for someone who has never been affected by it, but not completely unmanageable. Some of the pictures of the characters and a grief-stricken country that Briley paints have the power to move even the coldest of hearts.

The conclusion which will be drawn by the smart reader is that the whites are afraid of the blacks and in order to stamp their authority over a country they have merely settled upon, set in motion all kinds of pathetic enforcement. The blacks, on the other hand, do not want bloodshed, as Biko ominously says, “Remember that we are not in this fight to kill someone, but to kill the idea that one man is superior to another.”

The depictions are moving and sometimes incredible but the narrative deserves a rich round of applause too. The ensuing story after Biko gets caught by the police after being banned and how that affects the entire Woods family is gut-wrenching and heartbreaking.

No book has been able to move me as much as Cry Freedom has been able to in the recent past. Give this book a read if you want to ignite all those humane emotions within yourself which you had longed believed to be dead.