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Paton, Alan 1903–

Paton is a South African novelist who deals in his fiction with racial problems and the terrors of alienation. He is best known for Cry, the Beloved Country. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 15-16.)

Cry, the Beloved Country is a great and dramatic novel because Alan Paton, in addition to his skill of workmanship, sees with clear eyes both good and evil, differentiates them, pitches them into conflict with each other, and takes sides. He sees that the native boy, Absalom Kumalo, who has murdered, cannot be judged justly without taking into account the environment that has partly shaped him. But he sees, too, that Absalom the individual, not society the abstraction, did the act and has responsibility. Mr. Paton understands mercy. He knows that this precious thing is not shown on sentimental impulse, but after searching examination of the realities of human action. Mercy follows a judgment; it does...

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1. Paton, Alan 1903–
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1. Alan Paton