Here are the videos for "Master Harold and the Boys". Each section is 15 minutes long. Please finish viewing these clips by Friday, April 19th. You will have to respond to two of the questions below. (these questions are from Ms. Butler's class in Springfield, PA. Go Cougars!
Master Harold Part 1
Master Harold Part 2
Master Harold Part 3
Master Harold Part 4
Master Harold Part 5
Master Harold Part 6
1. How is Hally’s character shaped by his
father’s inadequacies and imperfections?
In what sense is he his father’s son?
In what sense does he try to compensate for his father’s shortcomings?
2. In what ways is the relationship between
Hally and Sam like and unlike a father-son relationship?
3. The play uses a personal relationship to make
a statement about a social and political situation. In what respect can it be
seen as also using political tensions to make a point about personal
relationships?
4. Is the background of apartheid in South
African social and cultural mores/society essential to the play, or could you
imagine other settings and contexts in which Sam might be vulnerable to Hally’s
mistreatment? Do you think the play is ‘dated’
now that apartheid has been abolished?
5. Is Sam’s failure to react with violence
realistic? What their options are
available to him?
6. What is Willie’s function in the play? Does his presence affect the dynamics between
Hally and Sam? Does it give the audience
any essential information about the other two characters? How would the play be different without him?
7. What are the advantages and disadvantages of
the play’s focusing only on three characters and using a single setting? What could Fugard have gained by showing
Hally, Sam and Willie in other contexts?
By having them interact with other characters?
8. Is the play’s ending hopeful? Pessimistic?
Cynical? How do you think the
playwright could have improved the ending?
What were you still left wondering?
9. Hally seems obsessed with past events. What comment do you think Fugard is making
through Hally about the past and its impact on the present?
10. What do Sam and Hally learn during the course
of the play? How do you think this knowledge
might affect their future lives?
11. How does Master Harold deal with the
following:
Ø
Intense
relationships and the impediments to them
Ø
Happy
memories giving way to the recovery of the past through vivid recreation
Ø
Important
offstage characters precipitating onstage action
Ø
Hopes
and dreams entertained, then shattered
2) Because of the lack of father-figure in Hally’s life, he finds one in Sam. We can see their relationship take on a more father-and-son style when Sam is encouraging Hally to do well in his studies, as well as when Sam is trying to calm Hally down after the call from his mother. Hally had to deal with the loss of the fatherly relationship at a very young age. Because of this he searched for the closest thing he could find to it, which was his mother’s employee. This affiliation developed and eventually stemmed off, but it mostly likely originated as a young boy desperately seeking for someone to fill the empty role of a father. Hally and Sam’s relations is also unlike a father-son relationship due to the fact that Hally is Sam’s employer and he can order Hally around. Hally also reminds Sam to refer to Hally as master.
ReplyDelete3) The play takes place during the time in South Africa when apartheid takes place. The relationship between Hally and Sam show the political tensions of the time frame and how Hally wants to be Sam’s friend but also struggles with the fact he is still Sam’s “master.” These relationships make it a point to show that although there was a separation between whites and blacks, the line was often blurry, and many times it was ignored.
-Erin Woods