Words: 983
The relationship between Willed and Sam is established in the introduction. Sam is the other black man working in the cafe, for the white family that owns it. The position of the two characters on stage at the beginning of the scene gives the audience a clear idea of what kind of role they are going to perform. The dialogue between the two characters in the introduction showcases one of the underlying themes of violence in the play, when Willed talks about how he beats his wife.
Although this theme of violence comes through in introduction en also gets an uplifted feel when the two characters, Sam and wily are dancing the quick step, which is also in the introduction. This then shows the audience there are almost two parts to the play, one being love issues, violence and later discrimination then on the other hand the happiness of dancing and when the son of the owners later enters there is joy and content, always leading from good to bad.
The introduction conveys the themes of the play and the context leading its audience in the right direction. The play starts with just Sam and Wily in the cafe alone. This is done because it gives you an idea of the themes that are going to be brought across during the play. The audience also notices through the set like the old fashioned tables and chairs the jukebox in the corner of the room from the uses and the dress also indicated the era it is placed in, which is during the apartheid era.
The introduction also gives you an idea of the relationship of the two characters, Sam and While, who are close due to the fact they have worked together for so many years. By placing only these two characters on stage at the beginning the audience could then see hat the actions didn’t change to mulch degree around each other when Hall (who is the young son of the owners of the cafe) entered. This then displayed the relationship between them.
When Hall, Master Hall enters the scene the audience can immediately see he has power over Sam and Willie, although one notices there is friendship amongst the characters. There is a warm attitude between them and we can see that they have known each other for a while. After he enters he then sits down at the table with no intention of tidying like the other two had done. This then reinforces the idea of Hall having power over Sam and Willie. The plot unfolds very carefully and slowly to address the main issue, which is the issue of discrimination.
The plot after the introduction starts out with Sam and Hall discussing Hall’s school work. Hall is teaching Sam (the elder man) new words and they are going through Halls school work together. The plot then swiftly moves to the scene where Hall speaks about his memory of flying a kite with Sam when he was little and how amazing it was. Hall also says how it was strange because one was black and the other was white, but he then end t off saying we must do it again some time.
It then moves to the scene where he has convocation with his mother in the phone about how they are going to bring his crippled father home from hospital although Hall disagrees and says he’s not ready. Hall is then a little cross and upset and takes it out on San although is not too bad and Sam understands the circumstances and he deals with it. The mother then phone back from the hospital a little while later while Sam and Willie are helping him with his school assignment, she tell Hall that his father is coming back and he would have to prepare.
Hall becomes upset and frustrated his anger then overpowers him and this is what provokes him to say the discriminatory things he said to Sam in the next scene. This leads to a confrontation with Sam, Willie and Hall. The confrontation is set off by Hall, when he says a few really derogatory comments to Sam as well as spiting in his face, after Sam was trying to help him. This argument progresses and raises very uncomfortable issues about apartheid that want to be forgotten. Hall orders Sam and Willie to call him Master Harold and to show respect towards him.
The fact that Hall was racist had to do with the fact that his father being incredibly racist, this raise another issue of how racism was passed down through the generations due to the young boys and girls role models. When Hall confronted them like he did Sam felt as though he had failed in his mission to not let Hall have the same racist views as his father had. The confrontation completed changed the relationship between them. And later lead to an upset, Sam told Hall the real story about the kite flying and how he only did it to make him feel utter after what his father had done.
He wanted Hall to look up again and be proud of what he had done. The play Master Harold and The Boys ends by Hall leaving the cafe contemplating his actions and what Sam had said to him, Willie and Sam dancing into the faded light after Willie told Sam that he was no longer going to beat his wife it was going to be romance. The play leaves you with an uncomfortable feeling and raises issues that want to be forgotten, but it achieves it goal in getting the themes and motifs across in a successful way. Isabella Hamilton Russell