Art And Political Revolution In The Island By Athol Fugard

Decent Essays
Art can be a very powerful tool to demonstrate the views a person has. In The Island by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona is a perfect example of the power that art has and the place it occupies in political revolution. It can parallel many event that occurred and that are happening at the moment. Performance and art can be use a weapon for political revolution by making lasting impression that leaves the audience with a sense that justice needs to begin. As it gives a visual for the oppression and treatment that many go through. The Island conveyed that message perfectly in a way that was subtle and inspired people. As it uses the play “Antigone” to demonstrate how a rebel can stand up to the state and defend their own rights and …show more content…
I know why I’m here, and its history not legends.” (Reader 92) as he tries to differentiate how literature can effect reality when in fact the use of art provokes his thinking and the words of others had a change in Winston and how he saw the prison and the crime he made. While “the classics cannot console” it can demonstrate in the past how people stood up for what they believed in and begin a revolution. Making a parallel connection can provide the audience and the character and example of what history has taught and the lessons that need to be learned. He rejects playing the part of “Antigone” and describes it as “child’s play.” Winston ultimately confesses of the frustration that he can sympathize with Antigone, anguished he is “jealous of your freedom, John, I also want to count” he then take the consolidations of what the arts give him and performs at the end because ultimately as his friend leaves, art is the only constant he has left. The Island “becomes battle cry and a way to show that freedom can sometimes be ascertained through art” (Fischer).Director Derrick Sanders pointed out that “oppression by the state is precisely” what it is about. The Island can give the audience a glimpse into the lives and struggles of what other groups have to face. It brings the injustice that many face with the hope that change will come when people see the

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