In the remote village of Ndotsheni, in
the Natal province of eastern South Africa, the Reverend Stephen
Kumalo receives a letter from a fellow minister summoning him to
Johannesburg, a city in South Africa. He is needed there, the letter
says, to help his sister, Gertrude, who the letter says has fallen
ill. Kumalo undertakes the difficult and expensive journey to the
city in the hopes of aiding Gertrude and of finding his son, Absalom,
who traveled to Johannesburg from Ndotsheni and never returned.
In Johannesburg, Kumalo is warmly welcomed by Msimangu, the priest
who sent him the letter, and given comfortable lodging by Mrs. Lithebe,
a Christian woman who feels that helping others is her duty. Kumalo
visits Gertrude, who is now a prostitute and liquor-seller, and
persuades her to come back to Ndotsheni with her young son.
A more difficult quest follows when Kumalo and Msimangu begin
searching the labyrinthine metropolis of Johannesburg for Absalom.
They visit Kumalo’s brother, John, who has become a successful businessman
and politician, and he directs them to the factory where his son
and Absalom once worked together. One clue leads to another, and
as Kumalo travels from place to place, he begins to see the gaping
racial and economic divisions that are threatening to split his
country. Eventually, Kumalo discovers that his son has spent time
in a reformatory and that he has gotten a girl pregnant.
Meanwhile, the newspapers announce that Arthur Jarvis,
a prominent white crusader for racial justice, has been murdered
in his home by a gang of burglars. Kumalo and Msimangu learn that the
police are looking for Absalom, and Kumalo’s worst suspicions are
confirmed when Absalom is arrested for Jarvis’s murder. Absalom
has confessed to the crime, but he claims that two others, including
John Kumalo’s son, Matthew, aided him and 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.
John, however, makes arrangements for his own son’s defense, even
though this split will worsen Absalom’s case. When Kumalo tells
Absalom’s pregnant girlfriend what has happened, she is saddened
by the news, but she joyfully agrees to his proposal that she marry
his son and return to Ndotsheni as Kumalo’s daughter-in-law.
Meanwhile, in the hills above Ndotsheni, Arthur Jarvis’s
father, James Jarvis, tends his bountiful land and hopes for rain.
The local police bring him news of his son’s death, and he leaves
immediately for Johannesburg with his wife. In an attempt to come
to terms with what has happened, 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. Both men attend Absalom’s
trial, a fairly straightforward process that ends with the death
penalty for Absalom and an acquittal for his co-conspirators. Kumalo
arranges for Absalom to marry the girl who bears his child, and
they bid farewell. The morning of his departure, Kumalo rouses his
new family to bring them back to Ndotsheni only to find that Gertrude
has disappeared.
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. Arthur Jarvis’s young son
befriends Kumalo, and as the young boy and the old man become acquainted, James
Jarvis becomes increasingly involved with helping the struggling
village. He donates milk at first, then makes plans for a dam and
hires an agricultural expert to demonstrate newer, less devastating
farming techniques. When Jarvis’s wife dies, Kumalo and his congregation
send a wreath to express their sympathy. Just as the diocese’s bishop
is on the verge of transferring Kumalo, Jarvis sends a note of thanks
for the wreath and offers to build the congregation a new church,
and Kumalo is permitted to stay in his parish.
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,
of lost sons, and of Jarvis’s bright young grandson, whose innocence
and honesty have impressed both men. When Kumalo is alone, he weeps
for his son’s death and clasps his hands in prayer as dawn breaks
over the valley.
