Cry the Beloved Country #4

During the first book of this novel, Stephen Kumalo goes on a journey that transforms his outlook on life from positive to negative. When Stephen leaves home for Johannesburg, he is a priest who sees the best in people and is hopeful that he will find his sister, nephew, and son. After arriving in the capitol city, he is shocked by how much crime and poverty ravages the city. He finds his sister, but is appalled by the professions and lifestyle that she has adopted since moving into the city. He takes his sister into where he is staying and begins the long search for his son, the part of the journey that changes his outlook. At the beginning of the search, Stephen is hopeful that he will find his son and then bring him home. As the search goes on, however, and Stephen finds evidence of a life of crime following his son's elusive trail, he begins to loose hope in ever finding his son, which slowly turns his outlook to a more negative and cynical light. When Stephen finds his son in jail, he has transformed into a man who has lost all hope and cannot see the good in people anymore because his memory of his obedient and good son has also shattered to reveal a criminal adolescent whom his father barely knows anymore.