Master Harold and the Boys

Master Harold and the Boys, a play written by famous playwright Althol Fugard, shares the story of a seventeen year old white boy, Hally, who spends time with two African- American servants, Sam and Willie. While the majority of the play is a conversation between the three inside a tea room, Fugard does a brilliant job of exposing the struggles that is dealt with at the time. The context of Master Harold and the Boys is deep and meaningful, especially since the play sets in South Africa. He depicts how industrialized racism really is, showing that when an individual lives under a certain set of assumptions, it is really easy to catch others views of hatred, bigotry, and at the time, apartheid. Fugard shows his true artisism for publishing this play because it takes a true artist to be able to confront problems that a society deals with and to be able to make people more considerate of their actions towards others. There is a great deal of emotional value that comes with this play. When this play was written back in 1982, South Africa was still dealing with apartheid which is similar to the United States' time of segregation. In fact, the emotional value of this play was so enormous that it was actually banned in South Africa at the time. The plot is heavy because it takes Hally's childhood innocence and turns him towards a poisness bigotry, just like what most of the adult society did during that time. The real turning point is when Hally finds out about his father returning home from the hospital. In the beginning of the play, Sam and Willie talked about ballroom dancing. They could relate to readers of the play who also dance because they might understand the pressures of dancing and the amount of skill that goes into it. However, no matter what the pressures of dance may be, it is never acceptable for a man to hit a woman. Fugard might have showed this side of Willie because domestic relationships were very common back in the 1950s. Even though there was a rise in feminism movements, men still had most of the control and strength. While blacks were still considered to be property, women during that era did not have many rights as well. Hally, Sam, and Willie have more of a friendship during the beginning of the play, but when Hally becomes distraught with the news of his dad coming home, he violently unleashes on his servants. It becomes clear that his father's vicarious racism was a learned behavior observed by Hally. From this point on, Hally no longer treats Willie and Sam as friends, but as subservient help. Hally demands that they must call him â€Å"Master Harold† as he spits on his servants. Using the word â€Å"master† showed that Hally had full possesion over them, and he wanted them to know it. He also used the spitting incident as a way to show control because that was typical during that time era. Spitting on someone is considered to be very degrading to that individual and is a form to show their unworthiness. I think my personal impact on the play has definitely changed. After I read the play, I understood what happened, but it was not until our class discussion where I really put the pieces of the play together. One eye opener during out discussion was when we were talking about the word â€Å"boys† in the title. I simply thought that Fugard used that word because of their gender, but I had no idea that using the word â€Å"boy† towards a black person is degrading. I really admired how Fugard attacked this problem that was facing South Africa's society and how he exposed the realities of bigotry. I think it would be great to see this play as a production. I believe the acting of the words verses just a persons imagination could be a real eye opener to how people see and treat others. This play will continue to be relevant in American and South Africas societies because it is a reminder of our history and how our society needs to continue to grow away from racism and towards a more accepting society of all. Master Harold and the Boys â€Å"Master Harold†. . and the Boys is not an overtly political play, but a depiction of â€Å"a personal power? struggle With political implica-tions. † The only definition that the South African system can conceive of in the relationship of White to Black is one that humiliates black people. This definition â€Å"insinuates itself into every social sphere of existence, until the very language of ordinary human discourse begins to reflect the policy that makes black men subservient to the power exercised by white children. † In the society depicted by Fugard White equals â€Å"Master† and Black equals â€Å"boy. It is an equation, continued Durbach, that ignores the traditional relationship of labor to man-agement or of paid employee to paying employer. During the course of the drama, Hally rapidly realigns the components of his long? standing friend-ship with Sam into the socio? political patterns of master and servant. Hally changes from intimate familiarity with his black companions to patroniz-ing condescension to his social inferiors. It is an exercise of power by Hally, himself a â€Å"boy† who feels powerless to control the circumstance of his life and therefore seeks some measure of autonomy in his interaction with Sam and Willie.Robert Brustein, in a review in the New Repub-lic, described' ‘Master Harold† . . . and the Boys as the â€Å"quintessential racial anecdote,† and ascribed to Fugard's writing â€Å"a sweetness and sanctity that more than compen sates for what might be prosaic, rhetorical, or contrived about it. † There is a sugges-tion that Fugard' s obsession with the theme of racial injustice may be an expression of his own guilt and act of expiation. As Brian Crow noted in the Inter-national Dictionary of Theatre, Critical Overview 24 biographical in-formation, however, is not needed in order for the play to make its full impact in the theatre.This is achieved primarily through an audience's empathy with the loving relationship between Hally and Sam and its violation through Hally's inability to cope with his emotional turmoil over his father, and its expression in racism. If to what extent the play manages. . . to transmute autobiographical experi-ence into a larger exploration or analysis of racism in South Africa is arguable; what seems quite cer-tain is its capacity to involve and disturb audiences everywhere. Yet not all critical reaction to Fugard's work has been positive. Failing to see the play's wider mes sage on racism, Stephen Gray saw â€Å"Master Harold† as nothing more than a play about apart-heid. In a 1990 New Theatre Quarterly article, Gray noted that South Africa's dissolution of apartheid has made the play obsolete, stating that it â€Å"feels like a museum piece today. † Other negative criticism found the play's black characters to be falsely represented As Jeanne Colleran reported in Modern Drama, â€Å"To some black critics, the character of Sam is a grotesquerie.His forbearance and forgive-ness, far from being virtues, are embodiments of the worst kind of Uncle Tom? ism. † Such reproach prompted Fugard to clarify his intentions during the Anson Phelps Stokes Institute's Africa Roundtable. As Colleran reported, Fugard stated that his inten-tion was to tell a story: â€Å"I never set out to serve a cause. . . . The question of being a spokesman for Black politics is something I've never claimed for myself. † Such criticism for â€Å"Master Har old† was spo-radic, however The majority of Critics and audi-ences embraced the playas important and thought? rovoking. Commenting on Fugard's ability to fuse theatricality with strong political issues, Dennis Walder wrote in Athol Fugard, â€Å"Fugard's work. . . contains a potential for subversion, a potential which, I would suggest, is the hallmark of great art, and which qualifies his best work to be called great. † In this essay Wiles examines Fugard' splay as a political drama, taking into account the dissolution of the apartheid system in South Africa and how that affects contemporary perceptions of the work. He concludes that the play is still relevant as a chroni-cle of human relations.What happens to the overall effect of a play when the societal forces that shaped it have changed to the point where the playwright himself says: , , [A] political miracle has taken place in my time. † Such might appear to be the case for Athol Fugard and his play â€Å"Ma ster Harold†.. and the Boys The South African system of apartheid? legislated separation of the races? has been dismantled; free and open elections have been held; a black man, Nelson Mandela, has been elected president of the country. The power of whites, regardless of their age or station, to subjugate and humiliate blacks with he full blessing of the government and society at large has evaporated. The question that begs to be asked, then, is: What is this play about if not about political struggle? By focusing attention on the adolescent antago-nist Hally, Fugard creates a more personal drama-, a drama rooted in the uncertainties of a youth who attends a second? rate school and whose parents own and operate a third? rate cafe. Displaying â€Å"a few stale cakes,† â€Å"a not very impressive display of sweets,† and â€Å"a few sad ferns in pots,† the St.George's Park Tea Room hardly seems the seat of power. And, the arrival of Hally, in clothes that are â€Å"a little neglected and untidy† and drenched from the heavy rains that keep customers away, does little to prepare the audience for the play's explosive confrontation. When Hally enters the cafe, it appears that he is glad for the lack of patrons so that he and Sam and Willie can have a â€Å"nice, quiet afternoon. † There is the implication that both he and the two men have enjoyed these types of days in the past.Hally's world, however, begins to crumble when Sam in-forms him that his mother has gone to the hospital to bring his father home. Hally's annoyance at the comic books piled on the table? â€Å"intellectual rubbish†? changes into fury when Willie throws a slop rag at Sam, misses, and hits Hally. Hally swears and tells both Willie and Sam to â€Å"stop fooling around. † Hally calls Sam back to have him explain what Hally's mother said before she left for the hospital He convinces himself that his father is not coming home, that Sam heard wro ng, and that the world he has created for himself will continue undisturbed.His willingness to shift the discussions to the varieties of textbook learning and then to the more Important learning gleaned from the servants quar-ters at the old Jubilee Boarding House under the tutelage of Sam and Willie, indicate Hally's inabili-ty to accept that his life is about to change once again. Hally returns to the comfort of the historical past, discussing Joan of Arc, World War I, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, and William Shake-speare with Sam. He also returns to his own familiar past and the flying of a homemade kite that Sam made for him.It is the kite that provides Hally with the defin-ing moment of his young life a black man and a young white boy enjoying each other's company and a shared accomplishment. Hally says, â€Å"I don't know how to describe it, Sam Ja! The miracle happened! † Hally appears to want to return to the safety of their shared past when he mentions to Sam tha t â€Å"[I]t's time for another one, you know. † The uncertainties of adolescence challenge Hally's place, not only in the world at large but in his family as well. Of his time spent with Sam he summarizes: â€Å"It's just that life felt the right size in there. . . ot too big and not too small. Wasn't so hard to work up a bit of courage. It's got so bloody complicated since then. â€Å"Hally's violent reaction to the news that his father is indeed returning home (the stage directions describe Hally as â€Å"seething with irritation and frustration†) clearly illustrate the complications Hally must now face. â€Å"Just when things are going along all right, without fail someone or something will come along and spoil everything. Somebody should write that down as a fundamental law of the Universe The principle of perpetual disappoint-ment† Hally's attack on Willie's backside WIth a ruler and the â€Å"I? llow? you? a? little? freedom? and-? what? do? you? do? w ith? It† speech show that Hally resists acknowledging the changes and accompany-ing complications that will inevitably take place when his father returns home. In the ensuing ballroom dancing discussion (Fugard himself was a dancing champion in his teens), Sam describes the dance finals â€Å"like being in a dream about a world in which accidents don't happen. † Sam's view of the world as dance floor contrasts sharply With Hally's nostalgic view of life as the right size in the old Jubilee Boarding house. Hally wants things to remain static, to never change.Sam, on the other hand, wants the world â€Å"to dance like champions instead of always being a bunch of beginners at it. † There are no collisions in Sam's view because the participants have discovered ways of moving around the dance floor without bumping into one another; symbolically, this is Sam's hope that the world can live together peacefully without prejudice or inequality. Hally appears momentarily co nvinced at the end of this discussion: â€Å"We mustn't despair. Maybe there is hope for mankind after all. † But then the phone rings and Hally's world shatters with the news that his mother will be ringing his father home. At this point, Hally's demeanor becomes â€Å"vicious† and â€Å"desperate,† and at the end of the conversation Hally is â€Å"desolate. † He slams books and smashes the bottle of brandy his mother had told him to get for his father. With reckless words and ugly laughter, Hally mocks his crippled father, insinuating him into the dance metaphor as the ones who are â€Å"out there tripping up everybody and trying to get into the act. † His childhood world is now smashed beyond recognition as Hally swears at Sam and chastises him for meddling in something he knows nothing about.Hally's adolescent posturing leads him to de-mand that Sam call him â€Å"Master Harold, like Willie [does]. † Because he cannot control the events sur-rounding his father's homecoming, Hally lashes out at the convenient targets of Willie and Sam, people he feels he can control. The youth's petulance manifests itself with a vengeance. Hally lets fly with a racist comment and compounds the ugliness of the offense by insisting that it is a â€Å"bloody good joke. † Hally's final act of naked cruelty is to spit in Sam's face. For Hally, the bond with Sam is forever broken.The demarcation between master and ser-vant is clearly defined. Although sorely tempted to repay violence with violence, Sam remains the gentle father, the true friend, the moral teacher. Having removed the symbol of servitude (the white servant's jacket) that distinguishes him as a â€Å"boy,† Sam presents the personal rather than political response to Hally's indignities? an extended hand and the offer to try again and â€Å"fly another kite. † But Hally has shamed himself beyond compassion and cannot respond to Sam's final lesson.Errol Dur bach wrote in Modern Drama that the final dramatic images? he rain of despair, the wind where no kites fly, the hopelessness of rela-tionships ripped apart by racist attitudes, the com-forting music that elicits compassion for children who are a victims of their own upbringing, and â€Å"the image of a world where ‘Whites Only' leave two black men dancing together in an act of solidari-ty†? represent Fugard's movement between hope and despair, qualified only by the realization that â€Å"‘Master Harold' grows up to be Athol Fugard and that the play itself is an act of atonement to the memory of Sam and ‘H. D. F. [Harold David Fugard]? the Black and White fathers to whom [the play] is dedicated. â€Å"So, then, back the original question? what is the play about if not political struggle? It is a play about fathers and sons, and how those roles can be both supportive and destructive. It is a play that illustrates how relationships can be strained by factors beyond the participants. It is a play that offers suggestions and gestures for forgiveness and compassion. It is a play ultimately about race. Not black, or white, or red, or yellow, or brown, but human. Master Harold and the Boys In the play Master Harold and the boys, the telephone is a very significant symbol. It acts as a scene changer, as well as a mood changer the most for one particular character, Hally. In this summary, I will briefly describe a few instances throughout the play where the telephone is described, and the effects it has on the characters. In the beginning, Hally, a young white man arrives at his mother and father’s restaurant where he is greeted by two black â€Å"servants. † One of the â€Å"servants†, Sam informs Hally that his mom had phoned for him about a half an hour ago.Hally’s mood immediately changed from happy/content to nervousness/worry. Hally seemed to know that when his mother called, it was for good reason. Hally began pestering Sam with questions about the phone call. He wanted to know where his mother called from, what she called for and how long ago it was that she called. Sam explained that his mother had told him that she was bringing his f ather home from the hospital. Hally then became even more worried and tried to accuse Sam of lying. There was no way Hally’s mother was bringing his father home from the hospital, because he was still too sick.He then tried to call his mother at home, but there was no answer. This made Hally contemplate if the news could be true. As the two servants went back to work, Hally stood alone in confusion and worry. All he could seem to do is think about what this news means, and how it will affect him. Ring†¦ring†¦ring. Sam answers the phone while Hally stops his train of thought. He is listening and holding on to every word Sam says. This telephone call acts as a scene changer and also a mood changer for Hally and the servants; they all stop what they are doing to find out what is happening.Hally relates the phone ringing to something bad happening. Sam tells Hally that it is his mother on the phone for him. In worry Hally asks if the call is local or private, almost as if he is preparing his speech to his mother. Once Hally musters up the courage to speak on the phone, Hally finds out that the news is true; Hally’s father is asking to come home. Shocked, he cannot believe what he is hearing. He becomes angry with his mother, demanding that she make him stay at the hospital. But you know that Hally doesn’t really seem to care how his dad is feeling, he just doesn’t ant him back home. Hally’s mom agreed to try to keep his father at the hospital, but she wasn’t making any promises, Hally’s father was acting too persistent with his decision. Hally’s mother told him that she would call him back. After he hung up the phone, he was in complete shock. All he could do was stare at the telephone as Sam and Willie began bombarding him with questions. Hally had told them that Sam was right and his father wanted to come home. Hally’s mood changed to anger after that phone call.He kept going back and forth across the restaurant saying what kind of a mess this was going to make for him. He even got so angry about this news, that he began ordering same and Willie around, telling them to quit fooling around and to get back to work. As the servants obeyed his command, all Hally could do is pace back and forth through the restaurant and wait for that next phone call. Then, finally†¦ring†¦ring†¦ring. Hally took a lot longer to answer the phone this time. Sam even had to remind him not to keep his mother waiting.Hally’s mom was calling from home this time. She told her son that his father was home. Infuriated, Hally scolded his mother, asking her why she didn’t stop him and why she didn’t make him stay. He went on to tell his mom that he had an exam coming up, and how could he focus on that when his father is home causing trouble. Hally’s mom tells him that his father wanted to speak with him. Hally’s tone immediately changed when he spoke w ith his father. He sounded happy to speak with him, asking him how he was feeling. He also told his father that he was happy that he was home.After he hung up the phone he went right back to being angry. He acted like he was so much more superior to the black servants, walking around telling them what to do. In conclusion, the telephone was a very important symbol in the play Master Harold and the boys. Every time the phone rang, it changed all of the characters mood. Although the telephone acted like more of symbol to Hally, it did affect all the characters. Each time the telephone rang, Halley’s mood grew more nervous and more angry. He related the telephone ringing to anger, worry and frustration