How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Kumalo would pick the child up, and put his hand under the shirt to feel the small warm back, and tickle and poke him, till the serious face relaxed into smiles, and the smiles grew into uncontrollable laughter. Or he would tell him of the great valley where he was born, and the names of the hills and rivers, and the school that he would go to, and the mist that shrouded the tops above Ndotsheni. Of this the child understood nothing; yet something he did understand, for he would listen solemnly to the deep melodious names, and gaze at his uncle out of wide and serious eyes. And this to the uncle was pleasure indeed, for he was homesick in the great city; and something inside him was deeply satisfied by this recital. (1.10.4)
Even just talking about Ndotsheni makes Kumalo feel happier. Here, Kumalo uses his storytelling about Ndotsheni to bond with his young nephew, Gertrude's son. This scene really makes us think about the unifying power of storytelling: Gertrude's son has never seen any of the places Kumalo describes, "yet something he did understand." When Kumalo passes on his family history and stories of home to his nephew, it gives Gertrude's son a sense of home that he may not have had before now.
Quote #5
Yes, it was true what Msimangu had said. Why fear the one thing in a great city where there were thousands upon thousands of people? His son had gone astray in the great city, where so many others had gone astray before him, and where many others would go astray after him, until there was found some great secret that as yet no man had discovered. But that he should kill a man, a white man! There was nothing that he could remember, nothing, nothing at all, that could make it probable. (1.13.9)
The fact that "so many others" have gone astray in Johannesburg before and after Absalom reminds us that Absalom's story is supposed to be an example or type rather than a unique, individual experience. Since this is a novel encouraging social reform, Paton doesn't want to suggest that Absalom is the only kid out there driven to crime by his circumstances and peer pressure. So the novel implies that there are many Absaloms, struggling to find a sense of purpose in Johannesburg, and until South Africans reform the education system, there will be many more over the coming years.
Quote #6
It was permissible to allow the destruction of a tribal system that impeded the growth of the country. It was permissible to believe that its destruction was inevitable. But it was not permissible to watch its destruction, and to replace it by nothing, or by so little, that a whole people deteriorates, physically and morally. (2.20.14)
What does "permissible" mean here? Why would it be "permissible," according to Arthur Jarvis, to destroy traditional tribal structures because they were impeding "the growth of the country"? Who has the right to decide when it is or is not permissible to change someone else's way of life? And doesn't it sound condescending to claim that black South Africans are deteriorating "physically and morally"? According to whose standards? Why does Arthur Jarvis get to judge? Argh.