INTRODUCTION

Who knows for what we live, and struggle, and die? Wise men write many books, in words too
hard to understand. But this, the purpose of our lives, the end of our entire struggle, is beyond all
human wisdom. This story is something that is hard to understand but it is a very simple one
indeed. Ha Penny , a name or a word that means nothing until you read the story. After you
read the story, the word has its own meaning to you. Each and every one of us would have a
different meaning and different connection to the story in a way or another. It is either through
the narrator or HaPenny or even both of them. The story has neither bombastic or complicated
words nor a twisted plot but it is told leisurely and meaningfully.
The author of the story, Alan Paton was born on January 11, 1903 in Pietermaritzburg, South
Africa. He started his career as a science teacher and then he served as the principal of Diepkloof
Reformatory for young (African Black) offenders from 1935 to 1949. He is a white man that
opposes the apartheid system because of its bigotry and treatment of black Africans. Alan Paton
was the founder of the Liberal Party of South Africa in 1953 in which fought the apartheid
legislation that was introduced by the National Party in Africa. He was the President of Liberal
Party of South Africa until its force dissolution because its membership is compromised by both
the white and black people. Alan had many friends whom helped him throughout his fights
including Laurens Van Der Post, his writer friend and the others. Throughout his life he wrote
many novels and short stories .These novels and short stories include the most famous one; Cry,
The Beloved Country, Lost in The Stars, Debbie go Home and others and the compilation of his
short stories, Tales from a Troubled Land. Alan Paton died in 1988.Alan Paton told this story
from his own experience as he was Principal of a large boys reformatory in Johannesburg. In
this story he tries to bring up about the thing that he fought for throughout his life and the
consequences when human are just selfish to see the truth.Alan Paton was awarded with many
awards and prizes including the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, and annual Freedom award
besides being honored at the Hall of Freedom of the Liberal International organization.
The main character in this story, HaPenny is a troubled twelve years waif that has spent most of
his youth living in the streets and was caught for stealing and was imprisoned. The narrator
become friends with HaPenny and describes him as the biggest talker among all the boy in
where he worked at in a boys Reformatory. He tells the narrator about his mother and his siblings
and he believe the story told by HaPenny. Intrigued by a few contradictory elements in the
boys stories, the narrator researches Hapennys background and discovers that the boy has
fabricated some of the more important details about his mother and the siblings. Those persons
do exist but they are not his family and he writes regularly to the lady with the hope that one day
she would accept him to be her son. The next time the narrator encounter HaPenny, he revealed
what he knew about his family and at that moment the narrator realized the mistake he has done.
As he revealed the truth he saw how the boy feels so exposed from what he has been telling the
others and he was affected mentally and physically and he falls in sick and it is confirmed that he
is suffering from tuberculosis and would not make it. Suffering from guilt and responsibility, the
narrator managed to get the lady to come and spend time with HaPenny on his few last days and
HaPenny died in the end with feeling that he is owned and he has a mother and a family.





ANALYSIS OF THE SHORT STORY

We used few theories to analyze this story , these theory includes psychoanalysis theory.
The main character in this story is HaPenny. The main traits portrayed by him is that he is a big
talker as said by the narrator. He speaks so greatly about his family, which is his mother, and his
siblings. He tells the story in such a great way that it is almost impossible to know if he is telling
the truth or not. He is intelligent as well. When the first time he mentioned his brothers name,
where he told the narrator that their name is Richard and Dickie and when the narrator told him
that those name means the same in English, the next time he says his brothers name, he changed
the name Dickie to Tickie. Then when the narrator revealed the truth that HaPenny is an orphan
with no family and he stood there feeling that his world crumbled down to his feet. Everything
that he has made up in his mind and the things about him that he made other believe has been
revealed. He is the orphan and he feels alone and exposed. His traits that he is orphan and that he
longs for a family revealed when the narrator confronts him about it. HaPenny changed from a
great and enthusiast talker to a quiet boy and the fact that he has been revealed made him fall in
sick in which killed him. HaPenny sees himself as a lonely kid and in need of family relation
and he did things to make him accepted into a family that he wants to be in. In the eyes of the
narrator and the lady that HaPenny writes, he is an orphan that is dying to have a family for him.
The image thats suits him the best is a lonely boy.The main symbol in the story is the sickness,
tuberculosis that attacked HaPenny when the narrator revealed the truth. The sickness not only
attacked him physically but mentally as well. In this story, the one thing that HaPenny really
wanted is to have a family and to be owned by a family, since he did not have one, he decided to
choose the family that he wants to be in and he choose it and although he was not accepted by
the lady but still he writes and he faithfully believed that he would be accepted one day and he
tells the others that those are his family and talks proudly about them and in his mind , these
stories are real but when the narrator revealed the truth not only he revealed that he knows the
truth but also made HaPenny realize the truth and feel alone and exposed where he becomes ill
physically and mentally at once. HaPenny dream is to have family and to be owned. When he
realizes that his dream is not something that he could achieve in this world he decided to let him
slip away from this world and he died. Not only a kid of his age needs family and need to be
cared and loved but all human being does.