Stephen Character Analysis
Analysis:
Paton uses Stephen to show how painful experiences lead to fear. Stephen is forced to go out of his comfort zone when he travels to Johannesburg to help his family, but he is afraid of the big city and its uncertainties. His role in the novel is to act as a bridge between reality and the world that is present. Racism and adversity hold him back, but through tentative steps, Stephen will be able to make a difference.
Quotes:
“I do not hurt myself, it is they who are hurting me. My own son, my own sister, my own brother. They go away and they do not write any more. Perhaps it does not seem to them that we suffer. Perhaps they do not care for it” (9).
“Black and white, it says, black and white, though it is red and green. It is too much to understand. He is silent, his headaches, he is afraid. There is this railway station to come, this great place with all its tunnels under the ground” (17).
“And now the fear is back again, the fear of the unknown… Already the knees are weak of the man who a moment since had shown his little lie… The humble man reached for his pocket for his sacred book, and began to read. It was this world alone that was certain” (14).
