Master Harold and the Boys
In the play “Master Harold”…and the boys by Athol Fugard, there are many types of powers displayed. ... Sam finds himself being swayed by Harold’s controlling actions. ... Ervin Beck suggested that when Harold received “ a telephone call from his mother and father immediately follows that noble decision and eventually leads to Harold’s abandoning the essay and, instead, internalizing as his own text the Tarzan-like, racist joke that he shares with his father” (p. ... This can also be proven by the suggestions of Errol Durbach, who states: “a very simple racial equation operates with apartheid: white = ‘master’; black = ‘boy’ (p. ... Sam and Hally do not have a typical relationship because Sam is a black man and Harold is a white boy. ... Harold had no hope of the kite actually taking flight in the sky. ... Sam specifically made that kite for Hally because he wanted Hally to be proud of something, for he felt a great deal of love for Harold. ... Sam has proven that he truly cared for Harold as a friend and as a mentor. In one situation, Sam helped Harold when he was very young, Hally’s father was drunk at central bar and Sam went to go help. ... Master Harold” (p. ... As a mentor, Sam would often suggest things to Hally with a sense of respect towards Harold and respect towards himself. ... This was demonstrated when he told Sam to start calling him ‘Master Harold’, like Willie did (p. ... For this is why he made it clear to Harold that if he wanted him to start calling him Master Harold, he would not call him anything else. ... It is now evident that throughout the play “Master Harold”…and the boys, power plays a major role in people’s actions and abilities towards one another.