Master Harold … and the Boys | Athol Fugard and the Psychopathology of Apartheid
In this essay, Durbach discusses the personal manner in which Fugard'splay examines the South African system of apartheid.
In this play, dredged out of Athol Fugard's painful memories of a South African adolescence, at least one event stands out in joyous recollection: the boy's exhilarating, liberating, and ultimately transcendent experience of flying a kite made out of tomato-box slats, brown paper, discarded stockings, and string. From the scraps and leavings of the depressingly mundane, the boy intuits the meaning of a soul-life; and he responds to the experience as a "miracle." "Why did you make that kite, Sam?" he asks of the black servant whose gift it was—but the answer is not given until much later...
[The entire page is 3742 words long]
Join eNotes
The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:
Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...
Navigate
- Add Master Harold … and the Boys to your favorites
Tell a friend about Master Harold … and the Boys at eNotes.