In Paton’s short story ‘‘Ha’penny,’’ the author creates a narrator who shares many of his inner thoughts with the reader. In the beginning, the narrator sounds very confident, especially in his relationships with the young boys in his care at the reformatory. Through his comments about how he performs his role as an authority figure,…
Tag: Alan Paton
Ha’penny – Short Story – Setting
Apartheid Apartheid officially began in South Africa in 1948, when the National Party gained office in an election that gave the right to vote only to white people. With the passing of the apartheid laws in the same year, racial segregation and discrimination became part of the institution of government. It was through these laws…
Ha’penny – Short Story – Literary Devices
Epiphany In a piece of fiction, an epiphany is the realization that occurs at the moment that the main character discovers an important insight about himself or herself, about another character, or about a relationship. This realization might be of almost any type, such as religious, psychological, or political. Epiphanies in fiction are also often…
Ha’penny – Short Story – Themes
Loneliness The theme of loneliness is a prominent one for the focus character in Paton’s short story ‘‘Ha’penny.’’ The twelve-year-old boy has apparently lived by himself on the streets throughout most of his youth. Though he is being housed with a group of youths in the reformatory, he feels separated from them because he has…
Ha’penny – Short Story – Characters
Ha’penny Ha’penny, though his name makes the title of Paton’s short story, is not the protagonist of this story. He is, however, the main focal point. The narrator of this story concentrates his attention on Ha’penny because it is through this young boy that the narrator learns a very serious lesson. Ha’penny is a twelve-year-old…
Ha’penny – Short Story – Summary
Paton’s short story ‘‘Ha’penny’’ is set in a youth reformatory in South Africa. The narrator informs the readers that there are six hundred youths incarcerated there. Out of that number, about one hundred are between the ages of ten and fourteen. There have been discussions among various administration officials about whether these younger boys would…