Is Sam’s failure to react with violence realistic? What other options does he have?
The essay question I am confronting with is whether Sam’s approach towards the reaction to Hally’s violence was realistic or not. This violence from Hally came towards the end of the play when the situation became tense as Hally’s father was introduced into the scene. A wise Sam tried to advise Hally who was insulting his father and at the same time trying to show appreciation and a liking for him due to his insecurity. Hally was attempting to create a border line having him and his father on one side and Sam and Willy on the other. However he was doing it in a racial way abusing Sam. Finally, the climax shows Sam being spat at by Hally and him going through a period of shock as he could not digest the fact that almost a son like figure could physically abuse him. Then Sam is overwhelmed with anger, and he comes forward to beat him. Instantly he is stopped by Willy but he also voluntarily drops
Another aspect is Sam’s social position. Sam was living in a place where the apartheid was about to become official. There was already a tremendous amount of racial prejudice against blacks. Thus, even though their long relationship must have stopped Sam from hitting Hally, another point which is vital is that Sam must have probably lost his job. Sam and Willy were already poor men, who came from a large distance by bus to work at the tearoom. Had they lost their jobs, they would face extremely difficult consequences. Not only is it their jobs, but had the local civil authorities heard about a black hitting a white, Sam could have possibly been jailed or perhaps even killed. Thus Sam must have thought that responding with violence would not help them in any way. It would just get rid of that large amount of anger that he was temporarily filled with. Therefore I think that Sam’s failure to react with violence is realistic.
From my point of view Sam’s failure to react with vi
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