This is a very interesting question, because before Kumalo
finds out for certain that his son killed Jarvis, he definitely has a foreboding that it
was his son. Consider Chapter 13, which follows a mad chase around his son's former
haunts to try and find out information about his son. The people they see tell Kumalo
and Msimangu that the police came and asked about Absalom, thus hinting at his
involvement in the crime. Note how Kumalo pays the taxi "with shaking hands" following
these visits, clearly hinting at the unrest he feels inside, and the suspicion that his
son is involved in the crime.
Note too how in Chapter 13,
the trip to Ezenzeleni, the blind colony, Kumalo goes through a time of deep depression
when he is not able to cling on to hope - his son is likely to have committed the murder
and he feels that the tribe is broken:
He bowed his head. It was as though a man borne
upward into the air felt suddenly that the wings of miracle dropped away from him, so
that he looked down upon the earth, sick with fear and
apprehension.
These events
clearly prepare the way for the final confirmation in Chapter 14 that it was Absalom
that killed Jarvis. Thus Kumalo is able to act stoically, because in a sense, he has
already reacted to the truth that he, at least partly, knew was going to be
revealed.
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