Hally represents the coming of age that all children have to go through during times of oppression.
His
“Master Harold”…and the boys takes place in the year 1950, five years before Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus, seven years before the Little Rock Nine segregate into a previously all-white school and thirteen years before Martin Luther King’s transformational “I Have a Dream” speech. In short, not much had been accomplished for racism in 1950 in America. On the other hand, in South Africa, apartheid was in the midst of its dawning years. The “National Party gained power in South Africa in 1948, its all-white government immediately began enforcing existing policies of racial segregation” (Apartheid) …show more content…
He begins the play singing a tune and dancing around the café. He is, if you will, the carefree one of the bunch. He is the closest the story gets to any sort of comedic relief as the play goes on. Sam comes out immediately as a teacher figure. His first lines are teaching Willie how to ballroom dance for his competition saying things like “you’re too stiff”, “try to glide through it”, and “make it smooth”. The exposition teaches a lot about Sam and Willie. The audience doesn’t learn as much about Hally quite as quickly. He comes into the scene later; however, the things they do learn are serious. Hally is seldom a man of small …show more content…
The first man he mentions is Charles Darwin, writer of the Theory of Evolution, one chapter in the book being “The struggle for an existence”. Hally also frequently mentions Leo Tolstoy, who wrote books such as Anna Karenina and War and Peace. Tolstoy would later alter his views and question whether there is any sort of meaning to life. These thoughts troubled him so much so that he wondered if death would be a better option than life without a purpose. Hally has an existentialist mindset in the way that he talks down modern education. He believes in a world where wisdom trumps knowledge and experience is better than anything someone could learn in an old classroom. This existential thought process paired with Hally’s pessimism is a dangerous combination. When Hally and the boys are talking about ballroom dancing and bumping into one another, Hally says “just when you’re enjoying yourself, someone or something will come along and wreck everything” (52). This may have stemmed from Hally’s anger towards his father, but it seems etched into his brain. He understands that there are high points and low points in everyone’s life, but it’s his lack of hope that really differs from Sam, who says (about ballroom dancing) “There’s no collisions out there…nobody trips or stumbles or bumps into anybody…it’s beautiful because that is what we want life to be like...learn to dance life like champions
His
“Master Harold”…and the boys takes place in the year 1950, five years before Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus, seven years before the Little Rock Nine segregate into a previously all-white school and thirteen years before Martin Luther King’s transformational “I Have a Dream” speech. In short, not much had been accomplished for racism in 1950 in America. On the other hand, in South Africa, apartheid was in the midst of its dawning years. The “National Party gained power in South Africa in 1948, its all-white government immediately began enforcing existing policies of racial segregation” (Apartheid) …show more content…
He begins the play singing a tune and dancing around the café. He is, if you will, the carefree one of the bunch. He is the closest the story gets to any sort of comedic relief as the play goes on. Sam comes out immediately as a teacher figure. His first lines are teaching Willie how to ballroom dance for his competition saying things like “you’re too stiff”, “try to glide through it”, and “make it smooth”. The exposition teaches a lot about Sam and Willie. The audience doesn’t learn as much about Hally quite as quickly. He comes into the scene later; however, the things they do learn are serious. Hally is seldom a man of small …show more content…
The first man he mentions is Charles Darwin, writer of the Theory of Evolution, one chapter in the book being “The struggle for an existence”. Hally also frequently mentions Leo Tolstoy, who wrote books such as Anna Karenina and War and Peace. Tolstoy would later alter his views and question whether there is any sort of meaning to life. These thoughts troubled him so much so that he wondered if death would be a better option than life without a purpose. Hally has an existentialist mindset in the way that he talks down modern education. He believes in a world where wisdom trumps knowledge and experience is better than anything someone could learn in an old classroom. This existential thought process paired with Hally’s pessimism is a dangerous combination. When Hally and the boys are talking about ballroom dancing and bumping into one another, Hally says “just when you’re enjoying yourself, someone or something will come along and wreck everything” (52). This may have stemmed from Hally’s anger towards his father, but it seems etched into his brain. He understands that there are high points and low points in everyone’s life, but it’s his lack of hope that really differs from Sam, who says (about ballroom dancing) “There’s no collisions out there…nobody trips or stumbles or bumps into anybody…it’s beautiful because that is what we want life to be like...learn to dance life like champions