Athol Fugard’s ‘Master Harold’… and the Boys is about Hally, a white young man, and the damage done by apartheid The play takes place on the southeast cost of South Africa, 1950 during the apartheid, in Hally’s parents’ restaurant. This is where two black servants, Sam and Willie, work for the white family. Sam and Willie have been a part of Hally’s upbringing and are close friends. The play is a microcosm for the situation happening in South Africa a parallel time. As the whole play is a microcosm to a bigger picture, so to incidents through out the play are microcosms for other aspects of the 1950 s in South Africa.
These incidents have both a personal as well as political relevance for Fugard says “My plays are more than politics, but they are never removed from my homeland. My two subjects, myself and my country are one.” I think what he is trying to say is that he was living the struggle himself, he had the apartheid directly upon him, through out my essay I will discus if I agree with this statement. In ‘Master Harold’… and the Boys, one can examine the kite, dance, bench, and disease incidents, these are the symbols of the conflicting forces competing for Hally’s future. These can also be seen in a different light one on a more political level. The kite is an object symbolic of transcendence.
Even as a child, Hally had an ingrain sense of defeat, disappointment, and failure; that is why Sam made him the kite. He wanted the little boy to be proud of something, proud of himself. Sam gave to him the phenomena of flying, the ideology of climbing high above his shame. The kite triggered neurotic thoughts but exhilarated the despairing boy.
The Essay on Analysis of the last scene in the play “The History Boys”
Analysis of the last scene in the play “The History Boys” Introduction Critical analysis of the last scene in the play “The History Boys” This extract captures the end of the play so well. The opening statement gives the impression that the play is coming to an end. Irwin is presented in his wheelchair. This is a reminder that the audience should not forget that Irwin had been involved ...
This is it, I thought. Like everything else in my life, here comes another fiasco. Then you shouted Go, Hally! and I started to run. I don’t know how to describe it, Sam.
Ja! The miracle happened! I was running, waiting for it to crash to the ground, but instead suddenly there was something alive behind me at the end of the string, tugging at it as if it wanted to be free. I looked back… I still can’t believe my eyes. It was flying…
I was so proud of us… I would have been suicidal if anything had happened to it. The kite conjured up ideas and feelings of believing in miracles, of being alive, and free. We see her “im so proud of us ” that the whites took credit for lots of the work black labour did. Sam is alright with this though he leads Hally up the hill onto the bench where he leaves him. Hally wondered why Sam had left him alone that day.
The two of them were up there for a long time; the only bench on the hill read whites only. The bench is the symbol of apartheid, division, hatred, and racism. It is apartheid that Hally hides behind as he uses Sam and Willie as his scapegoat. Hally is filled with so much rage over his father, he is torn between love and hate. When the conflict supernovas, Hally lashes out on his two black friends. He tries to pretend they are not friends by acting strictly like a boss.
Carrying on with this little man routine, Hally asks Sam to call him Master Harold. Sam would only do this if they were no longer friends; Hally would be no different from his father. This is the case for, when he spits in Sam’s face, Hally becomes Master Harold. Apartheid is victorious in the corruption of another white male as Hally takes his place on the bench of segregation.
If you ” re not careful… Master Harold… you ” re going to be sitting up there by yourself for a long time to come, and there won’t be a kite in the sky. On a political viewpoint we see that even if a white wanted to go against the norm of the system it was almost impossible due to the environment.
The Essay on Authority Might Power Hally Sam John
The two plays, "MASTER HAROLD.".. and the boys, and Oleanna show us quite a bit about the impact of power on an individual's behavior. In other words they show how when an individual gains power or discovers that he or she has power over other people it can result in conflict. The conflict can be a result of the person who has discovered that they have power as Hally did in "MASTER HAROLD.".. and ...
Another point is that here we see that the blacks tried to appease the whites anger but enough is enough and then the blacks anger would flair up, would the whites try appease them? Along with the kite and the bench, the dance is another symbol in Master Harold… and the Boys. After one of the phone calls that trigger his explosions, Hally, once again, is calmed by the idealistic voice of Sam. They begin talking about the art of dancing and how it can be seen as a metaphor of life. The dance is a symbol of inner harmony, social peace, and a world without violence or aggression.
This is an ideal world. Sam points out that none of us know the steps; there is no music playing, but it does not stop the whole world from continuing. Even though there are bumps that leave bruises, life keeps on existing. We should just learn to dance life like champions. Hally, who only has words and books without value, falls in love with this analogy. At least until the next bad bump — when he has a phone conversation about his father.
This leads to Hally mocking the pretty analogy by spewing forth the idea of cripples wrecking the dance of life contest. He is of course referring to his father and how he has ruined Hally’s life. We ” ve had the pretty dream, it’s time now to wake up and have a good long look at the way things really are. Nobody knows the steps, there’s no music, the cripples are also out there tripping everybody and trying to get into the act, and it’s all called the All-Comers-How-to- Make- A- Fuck-of-Life Championships.
Hang on, Sam! The best bit is still coming. Do you know what the winner’s trophy is? A beautiful big chamber-pot with roses on the side, and it’s full to the brim with piss. And guess who I think is going to be this year’s winner The chamber-pot is an object of the symbolism of disease that is prevalent in Master Harold… and the Boys. Hally’s father is sick in many ways: he is crippled, he is an alcoholic, and he is a racist.
The Essay on Barn Burning Father Blood Boy
Use of Blood in "Barn Burning"Barn Burning" is about the struggle of a boy to do what is right during the Post Civil War era. The main character, Sartor is Snopes, is a poor son of a migrant tenant farmer. In the opening scene he is being asked by a circuit judge about the burning of a farmer's barn by his father. The boy does not tell on his father and is not forced to do so, but he thinks that ...
As a young boy Hally had to be sent to escort his drunken father home. He imposed horrible tasks on his son; Hally would have to clean up urine and empty the chamber-pot of phlegm and urine. ; Hally was inheriting his father’s social illness| disease of racism first not seemingly’ hello chaps’ but later evident ‘call me Master Harold’… Hally’s drunk father ignited his rage and apartheid made it acceptable to take it out on Sam. Their friendship disappeared with Master Harold’s spit on Sam’s face. Hally at the time was grown in some ways but still very young I others “long trousers yet still a young boy ” When Hally or rather Fugard gets old enough to realise his mistake he declares it publicly through the play, Master “Harold…
and the boys” is an autobiography of Fugard’s life, he write it as an apology to Sam. To some up I feel that Fugard described the way that he and the play paralleled beautifully, the play is about him and has shown all the effects the surroundings had on him both on a simple boys level to a grown man where he can now see where those surroundings were wrong.
