Master Harold and the Boys
The play “Master Harold”…and the boys, by Athol Fugard, illustrates life in South Africa under the apartheid rule. “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,” (p.59) quoted by the Black servant Sam, demonstrates the differences in mentality, opinion and social relationship the inferior Black racial group held compared with the dominant White race. Racial prejudice was very common and constantly relevant during apartheid rule. The consequences were enormous for the Black society, who were basically kept in prison on native land. The Whites determined their lives, educated and passed down laws for Blacks. Thus the relationship between the two controversial racial groups in most cases was not very good, because life of a Black native South African was oppressed. The three most significant characters of the play are Master Harold, member of the White race and also referred to as Hally, secondly the Black Sam and thirdly also a Black servant named Willy. Both Sam and Willy are servants working for Harold’s family. The relationship between Hally and his servants, Hally”s childhood experience
Throughout his childhood, Hally spent a lot of time at the “servant’s quarter” after school when he was bored or when his parents did not have time to occupy themselves with him. Also, he used to hide there from his mother. At the “servant’s quarter,” both Sam and Willy used to occupy themselves with Hally, entertain and play games with him. During this time the three experienced many things together, such as their interest in boxing, dancing, and checker games. Hally enthusiastically recalls this period and describes the environment in great detail. This underlines the fact that Hally did enjoy the spent time with Sam and Willy. It is given the impression that Hally in reality did not mind having Blacks as friends and did not see them as his family’s servants. However, throughout the plot of the play, Hally’s attitude takes a change and illustrates the White dominant racial mentality towards the Blacks. Like most Blacks Sam is uneducated. However, he is interested in learning and gains his personal education from Hally”s textbooks which he brings home after school. Their friendly relationship can be exemplified by their dialog held throughout various educational topics and world significant figures (p. 16-24). Throughout this dialog both Sam and Hally set forward arguments trying to check the other and both characters succeed in winning over one argument over the other person. This illustrates their friendship, because Hally accepts Sam’s choice of Alexander Fleming as a man of magnitude. First of all, most Blacks would probably never know who Alexander Fleming was and his significance in contribution to medical advancements and secondly at all it was through Hally that Sam gained such knowledge. This example underlines the significant difference in communication relevant in Sam and Hally’s relationship compared to other White-Black relationships during apartheid rule.
Some topics in this essay:
Blacks White,
Sam Hally,
Sam Willy,
White Black,
South Africa,
Hally Sam,
Hally Hally,
Blacks Sam,
Athol Fugard,
Sam Hally’s,
apartheid rule,
hally sam,
“servant’s quarter”,
kite built,
sam hally,
black society,
white mentality,
sam willy,
black servant,
hally reality,
“master harold”…and boys,
boys athol fugard,
kite built black,
athol fugard illustrates,
harold”…and boys athol,
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Approximate Word count = 1291
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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