The Road to Mecca

by Athol Fugard

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Discussion Topic

Trust, Love, and Friendship in The Road to Mecca

Summary:

In Athol Fugard's play The Road to Mecca, themes of trust, love, and friendship are explored through the relationships between the characters. Elsa and Miss Helen share a deep friendship characterized by trust and mutual support, despite Elsa's own struggles with love and trust. Helen's relationship with Marius shows a different dynamic, where Marius's care is seen in his concern for her well-being, although he struggles to understand her need for independence. Helen's dedication to her art reflects self-love, while her relationships highlight varying expressions of trust and care.

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What themes of trust, love, and friendship are experienced by characters in The Road to Mecca?

Athol Fugard’s play explores the close friendship and love between Elsa and Miss Helen. The question of trust is paramount as Elsa tries to support the older woman’s decision and, if that cannot be accomplished, ease transition from her own home to a senior living facility.

The other side of trust is conveyed by the pastor, Marius, who believes he has Helen’s best interests at heart but does not take her seriously. He believes he is asking her to trust his judgment but fails to see that he is actually trying to impose his own, narrowly defined standards.

A lack of trust is also connected with pain in love through Elsa’s doomed relationship with a married man, which resulted in her terminating a pregnancy.

Love also can be found in Helen’s relationship with her own creations, which indicates an overall positive type of self-love that began to blossom after...

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her husband passed away. Helen has not only being living on her own but has become isolated from society because her neighbors view her as eccentric or even mentally unbalanced. Over the years, Helen has filled her garden with the sculptures she makes, so that now her house is completely surrounded. Her dedication to this work is one of the main reasons she does not want to move. She worries what will become of the Mecca garden once she leaves. Helen realizes that she cannot trust anyone in the community to care for her creations.

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How do Helen and Elsa demonstrate trust, love, and friendship in The Road to Mecca?

Elsa thinks of herself as a "serious young woman" who most people think is not very fun, and yet she is able to be silly and let down her guard with Helen. Clearly, Elsa trusts Helen, perhaps because Helen is so accepting and nonjudgmental of her. Elsa says to Helen, "You have the rare distinction of being the only person who can make me make a fool of myself." Helen responds by extending Elsa some grace and using self-deprecatory humor, saying, "You weren't making a fool of yourself. And anyway, what about me? Nearly seventy and behaving as if I were seven!" Helen makes Elsa feel at ease by offering sincere friendship, and she earns Elsa's trust and love in this way. Helen also knows Elsa well, knows what a kind person she is, even if other people in Elsa's life do not see it. She tells Elsa, "There's a new sound in your voice. One I haven't heard before," and she explains that she knows Elsa cares about the woman to whom she gave a lift on her way there even though Elsa spoke as though she does not. Helen very clearly just wants "to help" her friend, and Elsa is certainly aware of her friend's concern and love. Elsa returns Helen's care and concern as well, insisting that Helen not defend the "bigots" in town after "the way they've treated [Helen]." She wants Helen to stand up for herself, and she defends her as best she can when the pastor arrives.

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How do Helen and Marius demonstrate trust, love, and friendship in The Road to Mecca?

Marius shows his friendship to Helen in a few ways. First, he brings her some potatoes and vegetables from his garden, insisting that it "wasn't any bother at all." He insists that they "need fresh vegetables" at their age and admonishes her for her imbalanced diet of cookies and tea. While this might look like nagging, I do think it shows that Marius cares about her. Helen's acceptance of his admonitions shows that she understands their intent.

Marius also tries to take Helen's side when Elsa speaks in a way he dislikes, saying, "It is my world—and Helen's—and we can't expect an outsider to love or understand it as we do." He cares deeply for Helen, clearly, and he doesn't want her to feel badly about the way Elsa views her home, the place that Marius has also made his home. Marius does not feel that Helen is safe living on her own anymore, because she accidentally started a fire in her home when she knocked over a candle four weeks ago. He tries to explain to Elsa that "Helen is [his concern], and [his] concern is that she gets a chance to live out what is left of her life safely and happily as is humanly possible." This shows real love for her, I think.

Ultimately, Helen feels badly about disappointing Marius when she explains her need to create and her need to be independent, and she assures him that "it wasn't intentional." Helen accepts his claim that "There is more light in [her] than in all [her] candles put together." Elsa realizes that Marius is in love with Helen, and Helen's kindness to Marius, despite his lack of understanding regarding her need for freedom, shows that she also values and cares for him.

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