When Kumalo brings Gertrude and the child from the slum area, he immediately buys them new outfits. Symbolically, he is preparing them to accept a new way of life as expressed by the discarding of the old clothes and accepting the new ones.
Throughout the novel, Msimangu is the spokesman for the author; it is he who identifies one of the principal evils of society: the white man has power and the black man wants this same power so as to be like the white man. At first the black man says he wants power so that he can correct injustice and the wrongs of the society. But the tragedy lies in the fact that as soon as the black man receives power, he uses it as badly as does the white man; that is, he is content to enjoy all the rewards of power and forgets about correcting the injustices.
Chapter 8 begins the search for Absalom — a search that will lead Stephen Kumalo through a series of new experiences and new revelations. The first of these is the encounter with the bus boycott when he meets Dubula. Msimangu then explains more about the leaders and the new movement. Stephen's brother John has the voice, Tomlinson has the brains, but Dubula has the heart. Thus, in contrast to John, who may be working partly for self-interest, Dubula's work involves great suffering and great dedication and sacrifice. John sits like a chief and talks of vague ideas, but Dubula is quiet, humble, hard-working, and extremely effective, for he works with one small but practical area, an area of immediate concern to his people. Consequently, the government, according to Msimangu, is more afraid of Dubula, because he wants nothing personal out of his dedication and therefore cannot be easily corrupted.
Even if the boycott does not succeed in reducing the bus fares, it has done a great deal of good because it has shown the solidity of the natives and has aroused the conscience of many whites. Both of these factors are important in the novel because they illustrate that the situation is not hopeless and that the issue is not purely a racial one of whites versus blacks. It is a matter of right and wrong, and many whites are on the side of the right. In the action of the whites giving the blacks a ride, we see a foreshadowing of the action that Jarvis will later undertake. These small actions then lead to greater acts of justice on the part of the whites.
