Master Harold... And The Boys

A detailed Summary of Master Harold... And The Boys

Athol Fugard's drama, "Master Harold" . . . And The Boys, was written during a time of great conflict in South Africa, where he was raised. Fugard was torn between his mother, who was "Afrikaaner," (1291) and his father, who was "of English decent" (1291). These differing influences caused Fugard to use the discussions between Sam and Hally to demonstrate the religious, racial, and political tensions of his lifetime in South Africa.

The discussion between Sam and Hally about who was "a man of magnitude" (1300) represents the religious tensions of Fugard's lifetime in South Africa between the growing belief in evolution and Jesus Christ's teaching of Creation. Hally says that Charles Darwin was "a man of magnitude," (1300) because he was "somebody who benefited all mankind" (1301). He admires Darwin "for his Theory of Evolution" (1301), which according to Hally, proves "where we come from and what it all means" (1301). Sam totally disagrees with Darwin's "Theory of Evolution" (1301) because evolution is in contrast to the Bible's teaching on Creationism, and he says that just because it is in a book it "does not mean [he's] got to believe it" (1301). Sam believes that "Jesus Christ" (1302) was "

The final discussion between Sam and Hally about their experiences during the day and the dance championship that Sam and Willie are going to participate in demonstrates the political tensions in the world during Fugard's lifetime. Sam points out to Hally that people are "bumping into each other all the time" (1317) and nobody "knows the steps and there's no music playing" (1317). Sam said, "I've bumped into Willie, the two of us have bumped into you, you've bumped into your mother, she bumping into your Dad...(1317). Sam is using their experiences that day to represent how countries are in constant conflict. He points out to Hally that "America has bumped into Russia, England is bumping into India, rich man bumps into poor man" (1317). Sam says that at the dance, they're "going to see six couples get it right, the way we want life to be" (1317-1318). Sam uses the dance to represent the hope that was held by people in Fugard's lifetime about the political future of the world by looking at these six couples' success. He convinces Hally that the world does have hope for political stability because Hally states that "maybe there is some hope for mankind after all" (1318). Sam uses all of these examples about their experiences during the day and the dance championship to demonstrate the political tensions that were present in Fugard's lifetime.

Although the discussions between Sam and Hally seem to be confined to the characters' lives, the

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Approximate Word count = 981
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English