Minor Characters
John Kumalo
–
Stephen Kumalo’s brother. Since coming to
Johannesburg, he has become a powerful but slightly corrupt political leader and activist for the blacks of Johannesburg. He has also shunned his Christian faith and its moral trappings, distressing Stephen greatly.
Theophilus Msimangu
– The minister who invited
Stephen Kumalo to Mission House, and who aids Stephen at every turn.
Father Vincent
Another minister at Mission House. Like Msimangu, Father Vincent helps Stephen greatly, encouraging him to pray and rest after the devastating news about Absalom’s crime.
Gertrude Kumalo
–
Stephen Kumalo’s sister. Gertrude is flighty, and like her nephew
Absalom was easily corrupted by
Johannesburg. She is only able to find peace once she runs away to become a nun.
Absalom’s girlfriend
–
Absalom’s pregnant girlfriend. She eagerly comes and lives with
Stephen and his
wife after they leave
Johannesburg, and is overjoyed to have a new family to call her “daughter.” She marries Absalom prior to his execution.
Arthur’s son
– A young boy with a “brightness” in him,
Arthur Jarvis’s son (also the son of
Mary Jarvis) visits
Stephen Kumalo to learn Zulu. He is kind and passes along information about the community’s needs to his grandfather,
James Jarvis.
Mrs. Lithebe
– A member of
Msimangu’s church, in whose home
Stephen (and later
Gertrude, her
son, and
Absalom’s girlfriend) stay during their time in
Johannesburg. She is a stern, kind, and deeply proper woman.
Mr. Harrison
Mary Jarvis’s father. He rails on and on about how the country’s ills are the fault of the “natives.”
John Harrison
–
Mary Jarvis’s brother,
James Jarvis’s son-in-law. More progressive than his father, John is a good friend to James.
Napoleon Letsitsi
A young man sent by James Jarvis to help Stephen’s community build a dam and improve their agriculture. He admires James, but also talks to Stephen about the unfairness of how South Africa’s land has been divided among whites and blacks.
Margaret Jarvis
James Jarvis’s wife. She is devastated by her son’s death. Already sickly, she dies after returning from Johannesburg.
Stephen’s wife
Stephen Kumalo’s wife. She is a patient and loving woman who suffers greatly, but stoically.
Mr. Carmichael
The lawyer who takes on Absalom Kumalo’s case. He does so free of charge.
Matthew Kumalo
John Kumalo’s son and Absalom’s cousin. He is one the accomplices with Absalom when Arthur Jarvis is shot and killed. He lies about his presence at the murder scene and is acquitted.
Mary Jarvis
The late Arthur Jarvis’s wife, and James Jarvis’s daughter-in-law. She takes in her father-in-law after her mother-in-law, Margaret Jarvis, passes away.
Gertrude’s son
Gertrude’s young son, who listens to Stephen’s stories.