Absalom is uncomfortable at his first reunion with his
father. He stands before Kumalo
"unhappy, there is no gladness in his eyes. He
twists his head from side to side, as though the loose clothing is too tight for
him."
Absalom is respectful
to his father, but his father peppers him with questions, to which he has no answers.
When Kumalo takes his son's hand, it is "lifeless."
Kumalo
asks Absalom why he has done "this terrible thing," killing a white man while robbing
his house. Absalom at first says that he does not know why, but adds that he carried the
revolver because "Johannesburg is a dangerous place...a man never knows when he will be
attacked." When pressed further by his father, Absalom reveals that he told the police
that he
"was
frightened when the white man came...so (he) shot him...(he) did not mean to kill
him."
Absalom has left the
position his father had gotten for him, fallen into bad company, and abandoned the girl
who carries his child. In all the time he has been away from home, he has not written to
his parents, and he has committed the crime of attempted burglary, and killed a man in
the process. When Kumalo asks why he has gone so far astray, Absalom has no answer for
his father (Chapter 14).
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