onnected, especially in the character of Paul.
The other characters in the novel are crucial to the book, from Paul's parents to his fellow workers to those in positions of power who would thwart him, but those other characters serve also as means whereby Paul's character can be defined, shaped, and forged as he goes through the suffering and stresses of his life and work, caught between two cultures, and emerging as a leader of men but also a man of great spiritual force.
This is not to say that the book leaves earthly affairs behind, for, to the contrary, di Donato focuses intensely on the real world and the everyday problems of hard-working immigrants trying to eke out a living while maintaining their own cultural ties and yet trying to fit into the new American culture.
Paul is a special character because the author shows him as transcending all cultural barriers, both American and Italian, while creating an individualistic vision comprised o
...