IN THE FOG OF SEASON’S END BY ALEX LA GUMA

CHAPTER SUMMARIES 1-18

Chapter Summaries: Chapters 1 to 18

Chapter One

Summary: Beatie Adams, a Black nanny, takes a white baby to a segregated park and sits on
a "Non-White" bench next to Beukes, a tired man. They talk about life and racial inequality—
he hints at fighting back, she accepts things. He leaves, forgetting his newspaper about a
murder case. In a flashback, Beukes recalls planning a strike with Isaac at a museum. Later,
he asks Arthur Bennett for a place to stay, but Arthur and his wife Nelly refuse, scared of
trouble. Beukes shaves and leaves without taking their money.
Key Characters: Beatie (gentle nanny), Beukes (tired activist), Isaac (nervous ally), Arthur
(fearful friend), Nelly (cautious wife).
Big Idea: Life under segregation—some resist, some endure.

Chapter Two

Summary: Beukes, worn out after hiding in a gully, goes to the city and gets a ride from a
taxidriver who grumbles about racism. They pass an old woman with furniture on the street
and reach Tommy’s hot, cramped room. Beukes washes up, asks to stay, and sends Tommy to
a chemist with a secret message (“medicine for Arthur”). Then he falls asleep on the bed.
Key Characters: Beukes (worn-out activist), Taxidriver (chatty ally), Tommy (cheerful
dancer), Old Woman (silent symbol).
Big Idea: Beukes keeps pushing his secret work despite tiredness and a crumbling world.

Chapter Three

Summary: In a flashback, Beukes goes to a noisy fun-fair, nearly gets robbed, but a worker
saves him. He meets his friend Erny and two girls, Mariam and Frances. Beukes and Frances
end up alone, chatting about their lives over drinks. He walks her home to her flat, plans a
Saturday date, and leaves happy on a bus.
Key Characters: Beukes (younger, hopeful), Frances (kind, cautious girl), Erny (loud
friend), Mariam (fun sidekick).
Big Idea: Beukes finds love with Frances in a tough, segregated world.

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Chapter Four

Summary: Beukes wakes in Tommy’s room, thinking about the shaky resistance movement.
Tommy returns with a letter, leaflets, and fish and chips. The letter says to distribute leaflets
Thursday night and meet “Hazel” Friday. They eat, Beukes borrows a record case for the
leaflets, and Tommy leaves for a dance meeting. Beukes washes, burns the letter, and heads
out with the leaflets.
Key Characters: Beukes (worn-out fighter), Tommy (happy-go-lucky friend).
Big Idea: Beukes keeps the resistance going, even when it’s risky and shaky.

Chapter Five

Summary: Beukes leaves Tommy’s at dusk with the leaflets, walking through a ruined slum.
At a train station, he sees police checking Non-Whites and sneaks away over a bridge,
hearing cops talk about rugby. He takes a crowded bus where people argue about fares and
police, then gets off, missing Frances, and keeps going.
Key Characters: Beukes (careful activist), Police Officers (careless enforcers), Bus
Passengers (fed-up crowd).
Big Idea: Danger’s everywhere, but Beukes slips through to fight another day.

Chapter Six

Summary: This is Elias (Hazel)’s backstory. He grows up in a poor village, herding cows and
learning at a mission school. His dad dies in a mine, leaving a small pension that runs out.
Elias sweeps at Wasserman’s shop, finds a book about white warriors, and gets curious.
During WWII, he tries to join the army but is mocked and fired by angry Wasserman. Later,
he’s forced to work in the city with a pass, trapped by rules.
Key Characters: Elias/Hazel (growing rebel), Elias’ Mother (tough widow), Wasserman
(mean boss).
Big Idea: Elias starts simple but learns the hard way how unfair life is.

Chapter Seven

Summary: Beukes, carrying illegal handbills, remembers his childhood at a segregated

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Key Characters: Beukes (secretive activist), Flotman (reluctant teacher), Mrs. Harris
(unaware landlady).
Big Idea: Beukes builds his team, but even helpers are nervous about the risks.

Chapter Eight

Summary: Beukes waits at Halima’s house for her husband Abdullah, feeling tired and
thinking about meeting his wife Frances long ago. Abdullah arrives, and over dinner, they
plan to distribute handbills the next night, with Abdullah suggesting leaving some at his
factory canteen. They talk about organizing workers despite informers, showing their resolve.
Key Characters: Beukes (weary but dedicated), Halima (busy dressmaker), Abdullah (risk-
taking ally), Frances (in memory).
Big Idea: Beukes mixes love and danger, pushing forward with help from friends.

Chapter Nine

Summary: This flashes back to a big strike in a Township where people plan to burn their
pass-books at the Police Station. A crowd gathers, including the Washerwoman, Bicycle
Messenger, Outlaw, and Child, but the timing’s mixed up. The Sergeant calls in police help,
and when the crowd pushes forward, the police shoot, killing many—like the Washerwoman
and Child. Rain falls as people mourn.
Key Characters: Washerwoman (cheerful protester), Bicycle Messenger (striking worker),
Outlaw (thief), Child (innocent dreamer), Sergeant (panicked officer).
Big Idea: Fighting back can end in tragedy, showing how brutal the system is.

Chapter Ten

Summary: Beukes, worn out from handing out handbills, heads to Isaac’s house but is
stopped by Isaac’s little sister. She says Isaac didn’t come home, warned her by phone that
detectives were after him, and their house was searched. Beukes figures someone snitched,
but he’s still safe for now. The girl leaves, and he stays cautious in the dark.
Key Characters: Beukes (tired and alert), Isaac (missing ally), Isaac’s Sister (brave
messenger).
Big Idea: The mission gets trickier with betrayal, but Beukes keeps going.

Chapter Eleven

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Summary: Isaac, a Black messenger at a petroleum company, deals with rude White
coworkers who call him "boy." He picks up letters, chats with Sam and Missus Williams in
the kitchen, and gripes about racism. The chief clerk sees him as grumpy for questioning
unfairness. When two security police show up, Isaac panics, thinking they’re onto his
resistance work, and runs out, hopping a bus to get away.
Key Characters: Isaac (rebel messenger), Miss Barrows (annoying telephonist), Sam (chill
coworker), Missus Williams (kind kitchen lady), Chief Clerk (snobby boss), Sergeant Van Zyl
& Officer Grobbelaar (scary police).
Big Idea: Isaac’s sick of racism and bolts when he thinks his secret’s out.

Chapter Twelve

Summary: Elias Tekwane (Hazel), an older Black man, lives in a tiny township room and
thinks about his tough life and lost love. He recalls getting his pass years ago, when White
officials mocked him and faked his age, making him hate them more. Now, he makes a secret
phone call to “Purity Pharmacy” (Mr. Polsky) to check that resistance stuff got to Beukes. He
remembers meeting Beukes during a protest and trusts him, even with the risk of snitches.
Key Characters: Elias/Hazel (old fighter), Beukes (trusted partner), Mr. Polsky (code-name
helper), Red-braces (mean clerk from the past).
Big Idea: Elias’s long anger keeps him in the fight, linking him to Beukes.

Chapter Thirteen

Summary: Beukes gets back to Tommy’s room, beat from a mission, worrying about Isaac
being gone. He thinks of his wife Frances and their kid, plus a nightmare from a protest
where a pregnant lady got shot. He remembers promising Frances he’d take bigger risks, and
her saying yes despite being scared. He also recalls Arthur quitting the cause because of his
wife Nelly, and meeting Elias on a rainy day when they went underground.
Key Characters: Beukes (worn-out dad), Frances (brave wife), Tommy (safehouse guy),
Arthur (quitter), Nelly (pushy wife), Elias (serious ally).
Big Idea: Beukes’s family and past keep him going, even with Isaac missing.

Chapter Fourteen

Summary: Beukes meets Elias in a slum hideout to plan getting three guys—Peter, Paul, and
Michael—across the border for training. They’re hyped about recent leaflet bombings and
broadcasts, but Beukes mentions Isaac’s absence. A stone hits the roof—trouble’s here. Police

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raid the place, and Beukes runs out back, getting shot in the arm. He escapes through shacks,
hides near a White party, patches his wound, and plans to find a doctor for Monday’s job,
worried Elias got nabbed.
Key Characters: Beukes (hurt runner), Elias (tough planner), Peter/Paul/Michael (code-
named fighters).
Big Idea: The fight’s heating up, but police are closing in, and Beukes is in bad shape.

Chapter Fifteen

Summary: Elias gets nabbed by two Security detectives—one young and slick, the other
sporty—and hauled to a segregated police station. They take his stuff (pipe, watch, passbook)
and lock him in a cell overnight. Alone, he wonders how the cops found his hideout and
hopes Beukes got away. He thinks back to a strike that got him sent to a labor camp, where he
met Mdlaka, a prisoner who taught him to fight on. Elias stays strong, even locked up.
Key Characters: Elias (tough captive), Glossy-haired Detective (mean cop), Sportsman
Detective (rude cop), Desk Sergeant (grumpy officer), Mdlaka (wise mentor from the past),
Old Tsatsu (camp worker who died).
Big Idea: Elias gets caught but holds onto hope and his fighting spirit.

Chapter Sixteen

Summary: Beukes, shot in the arm, sneaks to a friendly doctor’s office, hiding his bloody
wound among other patients. The doctor, who knows Beukes from resistance days, fixes him
up quietly, breaking the law to help. Beukes grabs a new jacket and heads to Henny April’s
place, a mechanic who does shady transport jobs. Henny’s cool with him, and Beukes crashes
there, plotting to get others to safety.
Key Characters: Beukes (wounded planner), Doctor (secret helper), Nurse (quiet assistant),
Henny April (handy ally), Maria (Henny’s sweet wife).
Big Idea: Beukes gets patched up and finds a new hideout to keep the plan alive.

Chapter Seventeen

Summary: Elias gets beaten bad by the two detectives in a basement—punches, shocks, the
works—trying to make him spill secrets. He won’t talk, thinking of his childhood and
ancestors to stay strong. The cops threaten to kill him and fake a suicide, but he holds out. A
Major pops in, telling them to push harder, leaving Elias bruised but still not breaking.
Key Characters: Elias (unbreakable fighter), Glossy-haired Detective (brutal cop),

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Sportsman Detective (nasty cop), Major (big boss).
Big Idea: Elias takes a beating but won’t give up, showing how tough he is.

Chapter Eighteen

Summary: Beukes sets up an escape for three guys—Peter, Michael, and Isaac (now Paul)—
using Henny’s van. They meet at Henny’s busy house on Monday morning. Isaac shocks
Beukes by showing up, ready to fight after dodging the cops. Henny gets the van ready,
Maria feeds them, and they roll out at dawn. Beukes stays back, thinking about their mission
to beat the system and the big war coming.
Key Characters: Beukes (hopeful leader), Henny April (van guy), Maria (kind host), Peter
(quiet escapee), Michael (worried fighter), Isaac/Paul (back in action).
Big Idea: The team pulls off a getaway, leaving Beukes hopeful but ready for more trouble.

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