His son Absalom also went to Johannesburg and never returned; Kumalo now sets out to find him. As he searches, he begins to see the gaping racial and economic divisions that are threatening to split his country. Eventually, he discovers that his son has spent time in a reformatory and that he has gotten a girl pregnant. Then Absalom is arrested for the murder of Arthur Jarvis, a prominent white crusader for racial justice He has confessed to the crime, but he claims that he did not intend to murder Jarvis. With the help of friends, Kumalo obtains a lawyer for Absalom and attempts to understand what his son has become.
Arthur Jarvis’s father, James, is a wealthy land owner. In an attempt to come to terms with his son's murder, Jarvis reads his son’s articles and speeches on social inequality and begins a radical reconsideration of his own prejudices. He and Kumalo meet for the first time by accident, and after Kumalo has recovered from his shock, he expresses sadness and regret for Jarvis’s loss. Absalom is tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death.
Kumalo is now deeply aware of how his people have lost the tribal structure that once held them together, and he returns to his village troubled by the situation. It turns out that James Jarvis has been having similar thoughts. He becomes a benefactor of the village.
On the evening before his son’s execution, Kumalo goes into the mountains to await the appointed time in solitude. On the way, he encounters Jarvis, and the two men speak of the village and of lost sons.
316 pages
