Master Harold and the Boys quotes

Question 1

.. the secret is to make it look easy. ballroom must look happy. Willie, not like hard work. It must..Ja!.. it must look like romance.

(sam)

Answer 1

Interpretation of Ballroom Dancing: Is that its light and romantic, meant to symbolize an escape from conflicts and problems

2nd Interpretation of Ballroom Dancing: Metaphor for Human relationships because ballroom dancing can only be accomplished by adding another person. During ballroom dancing, there is social harmony nobody judges the other person. It’s meant to represent how Willie and Sam hoped society would be.

Question 2

You should be grateful. This is why you started passing your exams. You tried to be better than me.

(sam)

Answer 2

Sam was Hally about school and grades

Lightheartedness between Hally and Sam in the beginning.

Question 3

” look at the three of us this afternoon: I’ve bumped into Willie, the two of us having bumped into you, you’ve bumped into your mother, shes bumping into your dad… none of us knows the steps and there’s no music playing”

(sam)

Answer 3

A metaphor for confusion and lack of direction is through the use of “bump”. “no music playing” normally in dance music is used as a tool to help create the choreography and give it direction. However, due to the lack of it, it shows how they are unsure and confused about the direction of life.

Question 4

Stage instructions - he gets up and moves the bucket. Stands thinking for a moment, then raisin his arms to hold an imaginary partner, he launches into an intricate step dance

(willie)

Answer 4

A metaphor for willies escapes from the brutal realities of a black male from apartheid South Africa. Gives him a moment for a way to be in his own world and express himself. The imagination of a parter illustrates the wish willie has for human connection. As the character is facing oppression

Question 5

so? She makes me the hell in too much

Answer 5

referring to him hitting Helen

‘The hell in’ is Colloquial language meant to further convey the informal character of willie. This violent attitude towards women isn’t the main thrust of the play, but its presence is just another reflection of the violent society the characters live in. Willie’s cluelessness about his violent behaviour mirrors Hally’s lack of awareness of how he demeans his friends.

Question 6

wanted you to look up and be proud of something

Answer 6

referring to the kite Sam made for Hally

its wishes that Sam has for Hally show the relationship between the two is very parental. The idea of looking up shows confidence and pride, to be approving of himself. Looking past what he finds shameful about himself or his family.

the kite is in many ways a clear metaphor for freedom from oppression, as the kite flies high above the chaotic and discriminatory society that Sam and Hally inhabit. Sam fashions for Hally is a symbol of the human capacity to rise up and to rise above

Question 7

Symbol of the kite

Answer 7

human capacity to rise up and to rise above the differences and prejudices of society

joyful freedom. When Sam first presents Hally with the kite, Hally is embarrassed at the idea of flying a kite with a black man, but, when the kite begins to fly, his embarrassment melts away and is replaced by pure elation.

Question 8

The symbol of the whites-only bench

Answer 8

The bench is a perfect symbol of apartheid and the kind of damage it does to people. It isolates them.

Sam is not allowed to sit on the bench with hally to fly the kite

Question 9

Scene setting: Tables and chairs have been cleared and are stacked on one side except for one which stands apart with a single chair

Answer 9

Sam and Willie aren’t sitting; Sam’s leaning against the table and Willie’s on his knees cleaning the floor. Some reviewers have described this table and chair as a symbol of a “white man’s privilege.” It’s a mini-throne for young Master Harold where he can sit and relax while his black friends work. He’s there to be served.

Foreshadowing the continued treatment of Hally in comparison to sam and willie

Question 10

the Koran is as bad as the Bible

(Hally)

Answer 10

The allusion to religious figures such as Jesus christ.

During the discussion of the man of magnitude. Religious figures are mentioned which Hally very quickly dismissed. This allusion to important religious figures reveals Hally’s cynical views of the world.

Question 11

Charles Darwin

Answer 11

Another allusion during the man of magnitude.

This is someone Hally belives is a man of magnitude. Many use his book The Origin of the Species in order to justify their oppression. And hally would be able to benefit from his theories as Hallly is a white boy. His deep respect for Charles Darwin possibly demonstrates his acceptance of South Africa’s racial hierarchy.

Shows hallys lack of understanding and ill-informed views on the world. Lives in his own bubble where he believes everything he says is correct (superiority complex)

Question 12

They make you lie down on the bench one policeman pulls down your trousers and holds your ankle another one pulls your shirt over your head and holds your arms

(sam)

Answer 12

This is significant as a policeman is meant to represent justice this creates juxtaposition as sam is being harassed. Meant to convey the inequalities and discrimination within society.

Furthermore, the reference to the bench is important as he is normally not allowed to sit there creates irony.

Question 13

No joking, if it wasn’t for your room, I would have been the first certified ten-year-old in medical history.

(hally)

Answer 13

certified refers to mental illness or success.

Question 14

With all the patients and nurses around? Regular visits from the Salvation Army? Balls! It’s ten times worse for him at home.

(hally)

Answer 14

Hally talking about his father
Hally seems cut off from all the intimate relationships that make up a home; he doesn’t value the connections he has with the people he lives with.

Still a child with very little understanding of the realities of human relationships

‘With all” suggest the idea of excess and privilege. As it is an indication of the difference in treatment between the two classes. Further showing the lack of equality within apartheid

Question 15

they must see a man and a woman who are dancing their way to a happy ending.

(sam)

Answer 15

Referring to advice that sam is giving to willie about winning the dance competition. To act happy even if he may not be. give us insight into how sam and Willie are forced to live their life.

alternative viewpoint is that it is optimism, that there will be social justice within society. And this is through the symbolism of the dance competition and winning the dance competition.

Question 16

“I think I spent more time in there with you chaps than anywhere else in that dump. And do you blame me? Nothing but bloody misery wherever you went.”

(hally)

Answer 16

Hally has clearly had a traumatic childhood, especially because he has always had to assist his dad when he got drunk and dissolute. Even now that he is a teenager, Hally feels embarrassed, ashamed, frustrated, and hopeless when he thinks about his father.

He also feels anger towards his mother, who seems to be rather weak-willed and incapable of standing up to her husband.

As a child, Hally sought solace by spending time with Sam and Willie. There is no mention in the play of friends his own age, and Hally says he is not interested in a girlfriend. His life is marked by loneliness and volatility. It is a shame that as he gets older, he ruins his friendship with Sam and Willie with his arrogance and inability to admit his weaknesses.

Question 17

“He’s a white man and that’s good enough for you.”

(Hally)

Answer 17

Hally that he is a white man in apartheid-era South Africa. This quote reveals that Hally has internalized the cruel and derogatory structure of apartheid and uses it to hurt Sam when Sam says something Hally does not want to hear. Discrimination within south African Society

“good enough” - minimum, suggest that society is built this way and Sam should not need any more reason. Where despite all the factors the colour of someone’s skin will always be the ruling factor.

Question 18

You’re only a servant in here, and don’t forget it

(hally)

Answer 18

Hally uses his father’s racial “superiority” as a reason that his father is also Sam’s boss. Depicting power structure.

Shows Hallys small temperament

The word “only” is demeaning, and neglects Hally and sams previous relationships and past.

Question 19

It’s still raining, Sam. You can’t fly kites on rainy days, remember

(hally)

Answer 19

The clear loss of hope for Hally, the kite represents more than just the literal object which Hally is unable to grasp.

also, the rain is a Pathetic fallacy where the rainy weather helps to covey the sadness and loss of hope in the story and end of Hally and sams friendly relationship in the play

Question 20

what the hell does a black man know about flying a kite?

(hally)

Answer 20

One interpretation is Hally questioning sams lack of education, undermining his intellectual capabilities and undermining him. However, an alternative interpretation could be about questioning Sams’s experiences with freedom as a black man in apartheid as the kite represents freedom from oppression.