alan+paton

Alan Paton was born on January 11, 1903 in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province what we now know as KwaZulu-Natal. Paton was a teacher, husband, author, and an activist. He had very humble beginnings, to say the least, being raised by immigrant parents with little education. Paton’s father, a Scotsmen, was a strict, religious, controlling man who believed in corporal punishment, and had a passion for literature. It would be his father that would set the stage for Alan Paton’s contributions to the world later on in life.

Paton graduated from Maritzburg College, an all-boys high school - the oldest in South Africa. He went on to earn his bachelor’s degree from the University of Natal, then continued on to earn a teaching diploma. He then went on to teach at Ixopo high school for White South Africans. It was here that he met his wife. Paton would later teach at Maritzburg the very school he graduated from.

Eventually, he left teaching and became a principal at a reformatory school for Black South African youth near Johannesburg. It was here at this school where Paton gained both his political experience and a voice. Growing up with a father that believed in corporal punishment, Paton introduced and implemented a new alternative and very controversial approach to reform procedures and policies during his thirteen years as principal of the reform school. The new procedures allowed for a transition of trust and reform to take place. Under Paton’s new policies, the youth would start out in a closed dormitory style room then move to an open one, continuing to show a level of honesty and trust the youth would then be allowed to work outside the dormitory and gradually be allowed to return home with the promise to come back each day. Many thought he was insane, but his method worked and less than 5% of the boys ever disappointed Paton by not returning. During this time Paton travelled visiting other prisons around the world including, Sweden, Norway and North America.

While in Norway, Paton began writing his first and most famous book, //Cry, The Beloved Country//. This book that shed light on Apartheid in South Africa to others around the world. Soon after the release of this book, Paton started the SALP, South African Liberal Party. He took a peaceful approach speaking out against Apartheid and participating in rallies and protest. He even used his connections with people like his colleague Laurens van der Post who made financial contributions to the organization. The members of the SALP were both black and white, and the government shut them down citing that the two groups could not mix. Because of his involvement with the SALP Paton’s passport was confiscated and held for ten years. While Paton maintained his peaceful approach some of the others members began to become violent which was never his intentions.

Paton went on to write eighteen additional novels, and his autobiography. This world is a world filled with many different people of all different shapes, sizes, colors, talents and abilities. The struggle of the Anti-Apartheid movement was a movement that brought together many different people from varies backgrounds, religious affiliations different social classes etc. Some who were good at speaking, some who were good at marching or protesting, and some who didn’t mind suffering, others who were able to financially help. Alan Paton’s greatest contribution to the Anti-Apartheid movement was that of writing. It was through his literary works that people came to understand the suffering of a nation. Through his work, Alan Paton directly affected change in South Africa and helped to reshape the nation.