Ch. 32
Motifs:
 Letters: Letters always bring news of some kind. The letters that open the chapter are from
o Absalom to the girl
o Absalom to his parents—says that he would not leave again if he could do over
o Msimangu to Stephen
o Mr. Carmichael (the lawyer) to Stephen—the only letter engaging fear, there is no
mercy
*These letters bring full circle the pattern that began with the initial letter form Msimangu
 Men on horses (Jarvis, the chief, the boy)
Contrasting elements:
 The ineptitude of the chief v. the competence (education) of the “white men”
Ch. 33
Motifs:
 The bright young boy (p. 248)
 The two “angels from god”: Letsisi and the small boy
Language: On pp. 249-250 Stephen explains to the boy the origins of many Zulu words (such as trees,
motorbikes, boxes, etc.) which are practical, logical, tied to the simplicity of their lives
Themes:
 On p. 253 Letsisi explains what he has learned in school about how to help the tribes to survive
in their land, changing their farming and cultural practices
Ch. 34
Motifs:
 A letter (once again): from Stephen to James, from James to Stephen—letters of reconciliation
rather than fear—a “letter from God”

Ch. 35
Note the encounter between Letsisi and Stephen over the role of the whites and the white man
in the troubles and in the restoration (pp. 267-9)
Discussion:
 Stephen ends ch. 33 by saying that he has lives his “life in destruction”. What does he mean?
How do the two “angels of God” help him (and the others) to escape from this life of
destruction?
 What do his encounters with the small boy offer to Stephen? To the boy?
 The two chapters are highly religious. In fact, one of the most moving passages is on p. 263,
where Stephen “hears” the voice of god: “Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, these things will I
do unto you, and not forsake you.”—This is the beginning of Isaiah 40, which begins the
restoration of Israel after the judgment of God
 Letsisi makes an interesting point about the role of the whites in the destruction of the tribe (in
taking the best land, in taking people away to work) and in the restoration (Jarvis is only partially
repaying them).
 The end of the novel is among the most moving in all of English literature. Stephen goes to the
mountain to pray—for Absalom, for Ms. Lithebe and Father Vincent, for Msimangu (“who had
hate for no man”), for Jarvis and for Ndotsheni. The novel then ends on . 277 with a death and
with a dawn. Explain.