CHAPTERS 20 and 21

Context

At his son’s home James Jarvis looks at his son’s work and the papers he has left. 

There are many books, most of which deal with the same problems, ranging from works concerning Abraham Lincoln’s reforms to other papers dealing with racial issues throughout the world.

He is particularly interested in his son’s involvement with the Claremont African Boys’ Club and he looks through the Minutes of the Meetings.

Chapter 20 contains a long extract from Arthur’s personal writings, which has a great impact on James. “It is not permissible to mine any gold, or manufacture any produce, or cultivate any land, if such mining and manufacture and cultivation depend for their success on a policy of keeping labor poor.  It is not permissible to add to one’s possessions if these things can only be done at the cost of other men.”

Chapter 21 deals with the funeral service and the Jarvis’s are overwhelmed at the attendance by all races. At the end of the Service the grieving parents were full of pride for their son, and in some ways they were saddened that they did not fully realize their son’s influence.  After the service was over the Jarvis’s returned to the Harrison’s’ house.  The father continued to blame the natives for all the ills that afflicted South Africa.  James tried to be respectful to his host, but he did not agree with Harrison’s viewpoint.

The next day, Jarvis again read his son’s papers, particularly the last paragraph, which was unfinished and probably represented his son’s last thoughts. “The truth is that our civilization is not Christian; it is a tragic compound of great ideal and fearful practice, of high assurance and desperate anxiety, of loving charity and fearful clutching of possessions.” Jarvis was greatly moved by his son’s thoughts.  Again his mind wandered to the work of Abraham Lincoln, and he read from Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address as President.