Master Harold... and The Boys by Athol Fugard
What is wrong with Hally's father?
Hally struggles with his bitter feelings about his father's alcoholism and his handicapped ableness. o He is an alcoholic handicap.
What is the rite of passage for Hally?
Hally's spitting on Sam o Spitting on Sam is his rite of passage into adult humiliation of apartheid
What lesson is Sam trying to teach Hally?
How to "be a man." Trying to teach him about inequality (whether to sit on the "whites only" bench). (I don't think there's just one lesson. He's teaching him many lessons, like a parent would a child.) o Sam is trying to teach him how to be a man
How do the relationships in the play shift?
The relationship shifts continuously throughout the play. Teacher/student, father/son, master/worker, oppressor/oppressed.(who is oppressor? Hally and white males) o Sam and Hally's relationship constantly shifts in the play from teacher/student, father/son, master/worker, opressed/opressor o Sam and Willie's relationship is tethered around apartheid and their escape from it by dancing.
How does Hally "educate" Sam?
o Because Sam doesn't have access to education under apartheid, Hally teaches him what he learns in school. o Since Sam cannot be formally educated, Hally teaches him what he knows and about history. Sam is educated through debating and conversing with Hally.
Why does Hally decide to write about the competition?
o He writes to bother his teacher o He decides to write about the competition because he wants to prove to his racist English teacher that their dancing competition is part of their cultural identity.
What is ballroom dancing a metaphor for?
o It is a metaphor for how life should be - in harmony, beautiful, and graceful
What is apartheid? How does it affect the play?
o Literally means "separateness o Legalized system of separation enacted my white South African majority to enforce discrimination and segregation o Black South African majority denied basic civil and legal rights o ended in 1994 o It is not directly addressed in the play but it effects the relationships, politics, and memory of the characters •It was a legalized system of separation. Laws enacted by the white South African minority to enforce discrimination and segregation. •The black South African majority was denied basic civil and legal rights.
How does this play relate to Athol Fugard's own life experience?
o Much of what happens in the play is drawn from his own experience. He was an active supporter of Anti-Apartheid in South Africa • He had issues with his father, much like Hally • He learned how to fly a kite with Sam, a waiter at his parents' hotel • He also spat on a Black man, like Hally does, and immediately regretted it. His mother runs a business and his father is disabled.
What are the themes, motifs and symbols in the play?
o Themes: hate/anger, racism and bigotry passed down from generation, human rights/apartheid, absolute power corrupts absolutely/acceptance of apartheid o motifs: ballroom dancing, kite flying, fathers/sons, rites of passage Themes: hate/anger (racism and bigotry passed down from generation to generation), human rights/ apartheid, absolute power corrupts absolutely Motifs: ballroom dancing(how life should be), kite flying( symbolic of how Hally and Sam's friendship is affected by apartheid) , fathers/sons( Hally's struggle with his bitter feelings about his father's alcoholism and his handicap spill over into his "father/son" relationship with Sam., rites of passage (Hally's spitting on Sam is his rite of passage into adult humiliation under apartheid)
When is the climax of the play?
o When Hally spits on Sam
