The third chapter is another chapter interspersed to set the mood for the narrative following. The mood established in the opening paragraphs carries over into a description of the valley as cold and gloomy with a certain mystery attached to it.
The chapter slowly passes from the description of the exterior, physical world to the interior of Kumalo's mind, in which we discover his fears about his sister and about his son, and his qualms about catching a bus in the large city. Stephen's fears of Johannesburg are a part of his inexperience in coping with the white man's world, which for this simple man is a complicated world, full of traps and dangers, while his own area is simple and natural.
When Stephen's friend asks him to find Sibeko's daughter in the suburb of Springs, we are reminded that what has happened to Stephen's family is not an isolated case, but part of the general breaking up of African life and the disintegration of native family life. This sort of parallelism is a device Paton uses a great deal.
As soon as Kumalo is in the outside world, there is a significant change in his actions. Whereas in his own community he would never think of deceiving anyone, on the train he tries to give the impression that he has traveled often to various parts of the country. But after implying this, he feels the need to turn to his Bible for consolation. In this act, we see that as Kumalo ventures into a new and strange world, he takes strength from his Bible, which represents for him the old world of true values.
In a larger view of the novel, this chapter then is the beginning of a journey that will carry Kumalo through all types of new and different experiences. As old as he is, we will watch him develop new insights into the nature of life and society.
