A la n P a to n

B y : R a sh a u n , S im o n e ,
B ra d , Z a ch H
 Childhood

 Alan Stewart Paton was born on January 11,

1903 in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, in the
east of South Africa.


 He was the son of James and Eunice Paton,

who were not highly educated. His father
constantly abused him, which later
shaped his views on how punishment
should be served.

Pietermaritzburg,
Natal
 Education

 Intrigued by literature at such a young age,

Paton began reading several books,
especially authors Walter Scott, Charles
Dickens and Rupert Brooke.


 Alan also read the Bible, mostly the Old

Testament, which greatly influenced his
writings.



 Early Adulthood

 He studied at the University at Natal, then

became a teacher at the Ixopo High
School for White students, where he later
witnessed the increase of power to the
whites and the diminishing of rights to
the majority of blacks.
 Paton fell in love with Dorrie Francis Lusted,
who was married at the time. After her
husband died, Dorrie and Paton married in
1928. Lusted died in 1967 of emphysema.
 Career

 Paton became the Principal of the Diepkloof

Reformatory for young offenders after he
was appointed in 1935. He secured that
post for thirteen years.
 Paton took a tour to prisons and
reformatories in Sweden, Norway, and
North America in the mid-1940s, where he
began to write his first, and best, novel:
CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY in 1946 in
Trondheim, Norway.
 About the Book

 In the book, Cry, The Beloved Country, Alan

Paton depicts the guilt and friendship
across racial prejudices in the story of a
South African.
 Paton’s novel was influenced by Laurens
van der Post’s less successful In a
Province(1934)
 Trailer


 Last Days

 Alan Paton died on April 12, 1988 in Durba,

South Africa.


 Will be among one of the best writers and

poets of all time.
Pictures
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 Q&A

 Where was Alan Paton born? ________

 What was Paton’s occupation at the Ixopo

High School? _________
 How long was Paton the principal of the
Diepkloof Reformatory? ______ years
 In what period did he write the novel CRY,
THE BELOVED COUNTRY? 30’s___ 40’s ____
50’s ____ 60’s ___