Doris Lessing's 'A Sunrise on the Veld': What Does 'It' Refer To?

In Doris Lessing's 'A Sunrise on the Veld,' the sentence 'For a moment he would not face it' refers to the protagonist's unwillingness to confront or acknowledge a particular situation or reality. The exact nature of 'it' is not explicitly stated in the given sentence, but it can be inferred that it represents something distressing or difficult that the protagonist is avoiding or trying to avoid dealing with.