[Abuse, Oppression, and Inequality ]

“Master Harold"…and the Boys, written by Athol Fugard, is set in the apartheid era of South Africa. The play discusses the theme of racism, and the characters Hally, Sam and Willy each confront this issue in their way throughout the play. Fugard uses symbolism as a way to explore racial tensions. He uses four key symbols to establish the themes of racism and division, as well as hope, freedom, and harmony. These symbols include the meaning of the segregated bench, the flying kite, the ballroom dancing, and the crippled father.

Hally's cherished childhood memory is of flying a kite with Sam in the park. The act of flying the kite symbolizes the power to overcome racial barriers between black and white people. Sam creates the kite for Hally to help him overcome his feelings of shame caused by his father's alcoholism. The kite is made from simple materials such as "tomato-box wood and brown paper, flour and water for glue. Two of [his] mother's old stocking for a tail and pieces of string." (Fugard 29) Initially, Hally is sceptical and has no faith in the kite. He is apprehensive that they will make fools of themselves. However, taking the step to be a white person who disagrees with racism requires courage and determination. For Hally to treat Sam as an equal, he must learn to rise above his shame. The kite represents the unity between black and white people, working together and being equal. They fly the kite together, and while doing so, they are on the same level. It is also significant that the kite flies beautifully.

2. Ignorance vs. Learning,

[Education, and Wisdom]

“Master Harold"… and the Boys presents different models of education and experience to its audience and readers. The official education Hally receives at school and his entitled attitude towards it is in contrast to the self-motivation and humility Sam shows during his private lessons with Hally after school. The lines between teacher and student are blurred, making it difficult to determine who is the student and who is the teacher. Is Sam, the middle-aged black man who is ignorant of his country's geography, the pupil of the privileged and often morally and emotionally blind white schoolboy, Hally? Or is it the other way around, with Hally learning from Sam, the wise philosopher? Willie, on the other hand, seems satisfied with his current situation and is not interested in formal education. However, it appears that the teachings of Sam's wisdom are more effective than Hally's inherited facts, even in Willie's case.

In his role as a philosopher, Sam advises Hally to keep his eyes and ears open and to see the world as a classroom. When Hally becomes dejected and claims he "doesn't know anything anymore," Sam wisely guides him, and the audience, back to attention by saying, "...it would be pretty hopeless if that were true. It would mean nothing has been learnt in here this afternoon, and there was a hell of a lot of teaching going on… one way or the other." By the end of the play, Willie acknowledges that beating Hilda was wrong and resolves not to do it again, which weakens the chain of abuse and oppression. However, the state of Hally's heart and mind remains uncertain. Will he become a good, kind, just, and loving man who stands against the crimes of his country and culture, or will he become a bitter racist who continues the cycle of oppression?

A Major Theme to Master Harold and the Boys is that of Education. How do the respective Authors use symbols toshow this.

Education is a major part of Fugard’s “Master Harold”and the Boys. Fugard explores different executions of education to show the inequalities that dominate the play. Hally’s boredom with the structured schooling he receives differs from the pride and slight superiority he takes in imparting to Sam. Willie educates a critical Hally on the healing illusion and beauty of ballroom dancing, momentarily energizing Hally towards his boring homework. The final act of education comes when Willie opens Hally’s eyes to what he’s ignoring about their situation.

 The character of Hally is established as intellectually curious, but, to be clich “not challenged enough” by his classes. When Willie asks him: “Schooling okay today?” He replies with a noncommittal: “Yes, okayNo, not really. Ag, what’s the difference” His boredom of the day is what he sees as a trivial paper topic. He reads aloud to Sam: “‘Write five hundred words describing an annual event of cultural or historical significance” Sam answers, practically: “That should be easy enough for you” A frustrated Hally says, “And also plain bloody boring. You know what he wants, don’t you? One of their useless old ceremonies”

His lack of enthusiasm for his monotonous school routine contrasts with the enthusiasm he takes in teaching and debating with Sam. The audience learns that Sam has been absorbing Hally’s lessons since the fourth grade. He reads them aloud and Hally provides approachable synonyms when Sam doesn’t understand the word. Fugard uses their arrangement to touch on the inequality that separates them and Hally’s simultaneous knowledge and ignorance of it. Sam reads aloud about Napoleon’s contribution:

“‘Napoleon regarded all people as equal before the law and wanted them to have equal opportunities for advancement. All ves-ti-ges- of the feu-dal system with its oppression of the poor were abol-ished.’ Vestiges, feudal system, and abolished. I’m all right on oppression”

In their quest to find a “man of magnitude,” Hally first accuses Sam of bigotry when he refuses to accept Charles Darwin‘s writing as a “benefit to mankind” then scolds him for picking Abraham Lincoln. “Don’t get sentimental, Sam, You’ve never been a slave, you know. And anyway we freed your ancestors here in South Africa long before the Americans” This reveals that Hally interprets apartheid as near to equality.

Willie eventually corrects Hally’s assumption that ballroom dancing is a “simple-minded” entertainment, but first must break through Hally’s intellectual snobbery. When Hally mocks, “so much for trying to give you a decent education, I’ve obviously achieved nothing” when Sam asks him to take ballroom seriously. His tutelage on the importance of ballroom progresses until Hally concedes that Willie has a “vision”. In Willie’s vision of world peace he asserts that, “To be one of those finalists on that dance floor is likelike being in a dream about a world in which accidents don’t happen.”

 The final lesson taught in this play is the exchange between Master Harold and the boys. Hally viciously vents about his father’s horrible qualities and Sam tries to stop him from saying ugly things about his father that he can’t take back. Hally, still filled with rage turns on Sam, telling him that he’s overstepped his bounds: “you’re only a servant in here, and don’t forget it” and that his father is “a white man and that’s good enough” to be his boss. The argument escalates, with Hally not holding back on any deeply held racist beliefs, partly to hurt Sam. Sam reacts by teaching Sam that some words and actions, like demanding he be called Master Harold or spitting in Sam’s face, can change relationships forever.

Sam relates the story of the day the flew the kite, To teach Hally that he has a choice in what he believes, how treats people and what he’ll stand by and let happen Sam goes back to the day they flew the kite and he had to leave Hally alone on the bench:

“I couldn’t sit down there and stay with you. It was a “Whites Only” bench. You were too young, too excited to notice then. But not anymore. If you’re not careful Haroldyou’re going to be sitting up there by yourself for a long time to come don’t have to sit up there by yourself. You know what that bench means now, and you can leave it anytime you choose. All you’ve got to do is stand up and walk away from it.”

3. Friendship

“Master Harold” …and the Boys is the title of a play written by Athol Fugard, a South African playwright. Its plot is based in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in the year 1950 (Fugard 4)—famously known as the period of Apartheid in the history of South Africa. In this time of history of institutionalized racism, blacks and whites lived in severe bipolar conditions. However, against all social norms, the play is based on the close friendship between three people: Sam, Willie, and Hally.

Create a PEEAL paragraph on the themes in 'Master Harold and the Boys', using the attached checklist to improve your analysis. Ready. Set. Go!

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Lets Analyse it!