One thing in the first chapter that I tabbed was how the author repeated the lines describing the land in his part of Africa with different meanings. He mirrors the second paragraph's structure in the third paragraph but changes the words so they mean opposite things. This shows how South Africa is changing for the worst.
Some other repetition I noticed in Paton's writing is how he mimics the description of the train in the third chapter in that of the fourth. He describes the train in the first sentence of each paragraph as being a toy train. I think this might signify the insignificance of the train compared to the landscape it travels through.
In the third chapter the Umfundisi is told that someone was afraid to talk to him because he wasn't in his church. The Umfundisi responds saying that if he is one of their people he should be comfortable speaking readily to others in their community. I think this shows that the Umfundisi believes in equality and that might play a part later in the story.
The Umfundisi seems very afraid to go to Johannesburg. He remarks many times about how he is afraid of the tragic stories about what happens in the busy city. This could be foreshadowing that bad things are happening in the more populated parts of the country, and there is a culture differential that could bring people apart.
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