All Roads lead to Johannesburg

When Roman scholars described how people get to Rome, they said, “Mille viae ducunt homines per saecula Romam” which means A thousand roads lead men to Rome. In other words, it means all roads lead to Rome. Alan Paton alludes to the quote by saying, “ALL roads lead to Johannesburg” (52). In other words, all opportunities and chances lie in Johannesburg as well as all the problems. This quote is a direct statement to the greatness of Johannesburg. Paton compares the mighty Rome and the monumental Johannesburg. By comparing the two great cities, Paton highlights the amount of oppurtunities there are in Johannesburg. John Kumalo testifies to this as he says, “Here in Johannesburg, I am a man of some importance, of some influence” (35). People who come to Johannesburg make opportunities. Likewise, all the problems come to Johannesburg. Stephen Kumalo goes to Johannesburg to find his son, Absalom, and his sister, Gertrude. In order to do this, he goes to Johannesburg, the center of everything. Even though Kumalo does not discover anything positive but everything negative about Absalom, he learns the numerous amounts of opportunities in Johannesburg. Another reason why Johannesburg is the destination of all roads is due to the fact that work and houses are found there. Those who need anything will travel to Johannesburg. But due to the overwhelming amounts of people, Johannesburg suffers. Johannesburg’s suffering is not a minor but a major deal. The suffering leads to the beginning of racial discrimination, the motif in the book.