“MASTER HAROLD”…and the Boys: Analysis of Major Characters
“MASTER HAROLD”…and the Boys explores the complex relationships between three central characters against the backdrop of apartheid South Africa. Sam, a black man in his forties, serves as a trusted figure and surrogate father to Hally, a white teenager struggling with the absence of paternal guidance due to his alcoholic father. Despite their close bond, Sam's dignity and self-worth prevent him from accepting Hally's attempts to assert superiority, which becomes a turning point for their relationship. Hally, who initially admires Sam, grapples with his own confusion and resentment, redirecting his emotional turmoil onto Sam in a bid to reclaim a sense of power. Meanwhile, Willie, another black employee in the tearoom, represents a more traditional and less reflective dynamic, highlighting the stark contrasts in his relationship with Hally compared to that of Sam and Hally. The play poignantly illustrates the emotional and social tensions that arise from the oppressive structures of apartheid, ultimately leading to a painful rift in the once-cherished friendship. Through these characters, the narrative delves into themes of identity, power, and the quest for dignity in an unjust society.
“MASTER HAROLD”…and the Boys: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Athol Fugard
First published: 1982
Genre: Play
Locale: St. George's Park Tea Room, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Plot: Political realism
Time: 1950
Sam, a black South African man in his forties. Sam has worked for many years for a white family and is a trusted presence in their lives. A figure of dignity and wisdom, he has become in many ways a surrogate father for the family's young son, Hally, whose real father is an alcoholic. Sam's genuine affection for the boy is tempered by a sense of self-worth that will not allow him to accept humiliating treatment from Hally as long as their relationship is a friendship not defined by the restrictions of apartheid. When Hally's actions alter the tone of that relationship, Sam becomes a symbol of the humanity of black South Africa, forced into a position of subservience by an inhumane social system.
Harold (Hally), a white, seventeen-year-old South African boy. Hally's parents own the tearoom where Sam and Willie work and where the play's action is set. A student, Hally enjoys showing off his knowledge to Willie and Sam, already displaying an air of superiority and condescension although the three enjoy an easy familiarity. Hally is also unhappy and confused, and he looks to Sam for the male guidance that his own father has failed to provide. His resentment toward his father, however, gradually becomes refocused on Sam as Hally assuages his own feelings of humiliation by insisting that Sam treat him as his superior. Halley's actions toward his longtime friend create an irreparable rift in what has been one of the central relationships in his young life.
Willie Malopo, a black man about Sam's age, employed in the tearoom owned by Hally's parents. Less thoughtful and reflective than Sam, Willie is also less deeply involved in the lives of Hally and his parents. His relationship with Hally falls within the traditional boundaries of that between a black South African and the son of his white employers, and it becomes symbolic within the story of the type of relationship that Sam and Hally have so far transcended as the play opens and into which they will fall by its close.