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CHAPTER 24

Jarvis goes back to his son's house, again entering through the kitchen with its blood-stained floor. In Arthur's desk he finds a stack of neatly typewritten articles, and reads the one titled "Private Essay on the Evolution of a South African." Arthur says his childhood was wonderful and he learned honor and generosity, but the next lines shock Jarvis. He says his parents taught him nothing about the real issues in South Africa. It's hard for any father to be told by his son that he didn't think deeply enough, but imagine how it feels when the son has just died, in a way, for the beliefs he later held. Jarvis at first puts the paper down, but finds the strength of character to return and finish it. This time he is impressed at how passionately Arthur worked for justice for all South Africans, and at how he and Mary would have continued to do so whether or not their own children agreed with them.

Again Jarvis sits a long time, smoking and thinking. Then he leaves the house through the front door. The policeman thinks he's avoiding the bloodstain. Is that your opinion? How has Jarvis been affected by these events?

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