Archibald Cronin's novel "Expelled from Life" is not the most famous work of the writer. It is little known to the general reader and, in general, forgotten, which is completely undeserved, because it can be safely put on a par with "The Citadel" and "Castle Brody.
Archibald Joseph Cronin was a Scottish novelist, dramatist, and non-fiction writer who was one of the most renowned storytellers of the twentieth century. His best-known works are The Citadel and The Keys of the Kingdom, both of which were made into Oscar-nominated films. He also created the Dr. Finlay character, the hero of a series of stories that served as the basis for the long-running BBC television and radio series entitled Dr. Finlay's Casebook.
In this novel, Cronin resorts to a genre unusual for him. "Crossed Out of Life" is a detective novel. The protagonist, Paul Maffrey, discovers quite by accident that his father was not killed in a railroad accident, as his mother told him, but was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in the convict prison of Stone Steppe, where he has been for fifteen years. Paul travels to the town of Wortley, where his parents used to live, to learn the details of his father's case, and is horrified to learn that his father is innocent, there has been a terrible miscarriage of justice. The more Paul delves into the investigation of his father's case, the more details emerge, and Paul realizes that not only has his father been convicted, but that the police and the court have deliberately disregarded many of the facts that spoke in his favor. Paul sets out to prove his father's innocence at all costs.
Paul Maffrey is not a flamboyant charismatic individual with strong deductive powers. And we see how hard it is for him to find the evidence and find the real killer. He doesn't know which end to take on the case. Nevertheless, little by little, he manages to gather enough facts to enable him to review his father's case. But Paul comes up against a wall of law enforcement. Those in power do not want to dig up the past, because if a miscarriage of justice is proven, many will lose their lukewarm seats, and the careers of some who are aiming very high will be in jeopardy.
"Crossed Out of Life" is not one of those detectives whose entire action is geared toward a climactic denouement with a surprise ending when the reader exclaims, "So that's who the killer is!" No, the name of the killer becomes known to us as early as the middle of the book. In his novel, Archibald Cronin tries to show the confrontation of the little man with the system; how that system can grind down the individual; how powerless and defenseless an innocent man can be in the face of the law. And at the same time, it is a novel that offers hope, that teaches us that even in the most desperate situation there can be a ray of light, that one insignificant episode or unexpected encounter can be the key to success.
For Paul, that "key" was an encounter with Dunn, a journalist who "broke through" the wall that Paul broke his head on and almost died.
"If public opinion is given free rein, an event that gets people excited can cause a gigantic wave of protest. It begins in a whisper, a few words uttered in a low voice, but the whisper grows, creeps and spreads, gaining strength with incredible rapidity until it becomes a hurricane. When such a storm arises, the people in power have no business trying to stop it. They must either submit to the force, or it will sweep them out of its path. That's when it becomes clear whose interests the government serves - the interests of the people or its own."
The scene of the appeal trial of Reece Maffrey is written in such detail and vividly that you feel as if you are present with the characters in the courtroom, clenching your fists in despair and impatience, not knowing yet whether the man can prove his innocence, whether the court will take into account the arguments of the lawyer.
The characters in the novel, as always with Cronin, are realistic. The image of Reece Maffrey, out of prison, is beyond praise. Once a quiet, good-natured and in some ways fearful man, now appears before us as a broken old man, everything and everyone hates. There are no heart-rending scenes of the meeting of father and son, of the hug and tears. How does Maffrey appear to Paul? He greedily devours dinner, looks at his son sideways with a frozen, expressionless face. He wonders if Paul has any money. He buys the brightest and flashiest clothes, and while he is waiting for the hearing, he goes out every night to the pubs and buys women who sell out. He wants to take everything from life after fifteen years of hard labor, where he ceased to be human. This image is repulsive and irritating to Paul, but at the same time he realizes that it couldn't be any other way. He tries to find an approach to his father and only hopes that he can become human again.
Cronin is very strong in his portrayal of ordinary people. His prose is not full of bright colors or bold plot twists, but it is full of real life, real people and their problems.
"Crossed Out of Life" is a very worthy novel that is worth reading for anyone who loves both detective plot and realism and English literature.
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