In the search for Absalom, the basic response to Kumalo's questions is fear. The landlady sends them to the taxi driver but is afraid to say anything that will incriminate her. Furthermore, Msimangu tells several stories about young natives committing various crimes. These stories function as a kind of omen as to the ultimate fate of young Absalom.
Chapter 9 interrupts the main story in order to show, in short staccato scenes, some of the suffering of the natives in Shanty Town. The physical needs of these people leave them little time to devote themselves to campaigns for justice. They barely have the energy and money to keep themselves alive, and their human sufferings are actually more effective as a social message than all of the loud talking by John Kumalo.
The voices in this chapter serve as a chorus to broaden the area of the book and as a reminder that, although the story of Stephen and Absalom is in the foreground, it is only part of a far larger story. This chapter illuminates the symbolism of the novel's first chapter, for this is the erosion of the raw, red earth, now in terms of human suffering and blood. The underplaying of the mother's grief over her child's death is effective; first, because a more maudlin scene would have less effect, and second, because it shows how little she can do.
Notice the parallel between the bus boycott and Shanty Town. Both are visible displays of suffering that embarrass and arouse the conscience of the whites. Violence would breed more repression, but quiet suffering appeals to the best that is in the whites and makes them act in a positive way.
