In the play “Master Harold...and the Boys,” ballroom dancing extends far beyond jazz music, swishing skirts, and sashaying couples. It has universal significance as a symbol of a "world without collisions", of an inherent desire, a dream, an inspiration which, although not fully understood, must surely be shared by all men. In the historical context of the play, a "world without collisions" implicitly refers to a South Africa without any trace of friction between the different races. This raises the question of whether or not this is just a fantasy. Hally's relationship with Sam and Willie reflects humanity's potential to dissolve racial boundaries, which encourages the audience. However, at the same time, the play casts a shadow over our hopes as a rift is created between them, and we wonder if that rift can be healed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay True to this ambiguity, Hally “oscillates between hope and despair for this world.” The cause of Hally's despair is his unsatisfactory father who is a self-centered and drunken cripple. Although he is not directly present in any scene, his presence permeates the play in the form of Hally's bitterness and hostility. Hally's initial skepticism about kite flying, for example, gives the reader considerable insight into his past: "...I thought, 'Like everything else in my life, here's another fiasco.' » This comment demonstrates how Hally's self-esteem has been damaged over the years due to his father's trials and tribulations which he endured as his own from a young age. Despite Hally's disappointments, there is clearly hope in his life; it lies in his relationship with Sam, a relationship that, unbeknownst to him, has supported and nurtured him from a young age, relieving much of the pain caused by his father. His hope seems to surface especially during his "man of greatness" discussion with Sam. There is abundant evidence in this dialogue that Hally also has ambitions for the world, as he assures Sam: "But things will change, just wait and see, one day someone will stand up and kick history." and start again." Yet such moments of optimism are fleeting – they are always invaded, interrupted by phone calls from Hally's mother, who remind him of the adversity of his life with his father. At the start of the play, as Hally comes home from school to find Willie and Sam practicing their quickstep, he claps and says "Well done! No doubt about it. First place goes to Mr. Sam Semela." This shows his friendly interest in the boys' lives and his gentle and indulgent approval of their ballroom dancing. Additionally, the feeling of indulgence gives the impression that he is very fond of playing the role of the indulgent white master It is after Hally's first telephone conversation with his mother that the audience can see that his mood and opinions subtly change. interested more in the very notion of ballroom dancing, with its intellectual airs and graces, its intriguing combination of precociousness and naiveté?©, initially dismisses the activity as "simple - as in simple d. 'mind, that is to say mentally retarded. You can't exactly say that it challenges the intellect." Nevertheless, Sam is "categorical" in his great wisdom that ballroom dancing has its merits because it is "beautiful" and "makes people happy." Hally concedes, partly because of Sam's persistence, and partly because he wants to "teach the old man a lessonbugger [his English teacher].” He moves the dance competition from "mere" entertainment to a "cultural event", although he wonders if it "does not go a little too far in poetic license". Clearly his curiosity was triggered, but perhaps there were other factors contributing to his appreciation. Hally decides to write about the dance competition for her school essay on an event of cultural or historical significance. This is a provocation for his white English teacher who “doesn’t like natives.” Presumably, old Doctor Bromely would consider it entirely inappropriate to consider any event in the black community as valid. Hally attempts to elevate the importance of the competition so that his teacher cannot refute the fact that, technically speaking, "in strict anthropological terms, the culture of a primitive black society includes its dances and songs." Yet the use of the word "primitive" is far from flattering, and Hally's thesis that "the war dance was replaced by the waltz" implies that the backward tradition of the "war dance" was replaced by a more civilized, albeit more civilized, tradition. intellectually dry, activity. To a colored South African audience, Hally's statements, while well-intentioned, seem overly academic, distant and of course uncomplimentary. Just as Hally "oscillates between hope and despair for this world," the audience continually alternates between encouragement of his honest, liberal views and disappointment at his air of white superiority, which is ingrained in him and perhaps only half done. Even as Hally writes the report, we see that he tends to pick up on any possible negative side of a situation quite quickly, as he immediately questions the "penalties" for "doing something wrong" while that Sam informs him of the points scored for the positive points. like style and rhythm. Hally's question amuses Sam, but his answer is surprisingly profound: "...this dance floor is like...like being in a dream about a world in which accidents don't happen." This is a key point of the play; Hally is now genuinely moved by the idea of ​​ballroom dancing, as he exclaims in a tone that seems devoid of anything but pure admiration: "Jesus, Sam! It's beautiful!" Previously, when the doubtful Hally disagreed with Sam's opinion that dance was an art, he gave a definition of art as "the act of giving meaning to matter" or " "giving form to that which has no form", he defined it as something that "goes beyond that [beauty]". After Sam's impassioned speech, we realize that ballroom dancing is actually an art. These shapeless dreams of humanity, which it is so difficult for us to make tangible, so difficult to translate into words, are finally taking shape; they take the form of enchanting figures on the dance floor. Ballroom dancing is the embodiment of the dream of a “world without collisions”. This is the very language of this deep-rooted dream, a dream embellished with music and “fancy lights” and “ladies in beautiful evening dresses.” But is this elaborate vision enough to overcome the horrific real-life images of black slavery, prison torture, and "light caning" that Sam previously described to Hally? One wonders if Sam's fanciful ideas are not a reflex mechanism to deny the hopelessness of the situation, or a genuine inspiration to somehow heal the wounds of apartheid, or, possibly, a indefinite fusion of the two motifs. Whatever the answer, Sam's take on Ballroom Dancing is definitely more than just ornate; he transports usout of the microcosm of the St. George's Park tea room and takes us around the world as he explains: "America clashes with Russia, England clashes with India, the rich man clashes hurts the poor man. These are big collisions, Hally. They bruise a lot. » Our awareness of the world suddenly increases exponentially as we become aware of the turmoil that constantly surrounds us. Coming back to the play, which is set in South Africa, the atmosphere of apartheid is also disturbed; however, the play describes it in a subtle way. Hally and Sam's enthusiastic speech about Mahatma Gandhi and General Smuts' attempt to "teach people to take the right steps" reflects the need for South Africa to take the right steps to abolish racial segregation. It is worth noting that both Gandhi and General Smuts possess a great deal of stoicism and therefore participate in passive resistance, as opposed to radically aggressive plans for immediate social change. This echoes Sam's attitude. It would be very interesting to hear the individual perspectives of a black audience: would they largely favor passive resistance from Sam or General Smuts, or would they favor a more vigorous approach? Digging even deeper, Sam's "world without collisions" might have personal meaning for all of us. His words seep into our minds as he asks, "Will we never get there?...Learn to dance like champions instead of always being just a bunch of beginners?" For Hally, in particular, caught in "a deep and sincere admiration for this man", Sam is a source of inspiration and a "little burst of hope". The adversity in Hally's life has led him to believe to some extent, as he mentioned earlier, "It's a really horrible world when you think about it. People can be real bastards." He is, on the whole, somewhat skeptical of revolution and fanciful dreams. Sam offers Hally the encouragement that "it [change] begins with these [dreams]. Without the dream, we won't know what we're looking for." He believes that dreams must precede change, in order to fuel change. Hally is comforted and we sense his growing hope: "You are right. We must not despair. Maybe there is hope for humanity after all." For the South African public, this can be a source of inspiration to persevere in the challenge of destroying apartheid. For his part, Hally brightens up enough to go so far as to support the boys in their quest for dance and dreams by adding: "Keep it up, Willie." Unfortunately, this promising moment is another short-lived moment for Hally as he receives the second phone call from his mother. His disappointment explains his oscillations “between hope and despair”. “Just when you're having fun, someone or something comes along and destroys everything,” he says. His optimism turns to total negativity as he crudely reduces the vision of a "world with collisions" to "just bullshit." He then creates his own bitter interpretation of ballroom dancing where "the cripples are there too, tripping everyone up and trying to stage themselves", and the competition is renamed "All-Comers-How-to-Make- shit championships of life. Ultimately, the prize at the end of the competition is a "nice big chamber pot with roses on the side, and it's going to be full to the brim with piss." In addition to serving symbolically to introduce doubt about a "world without collisions", the reference to cripples and chamber pots is an obvious slander against Hally's father. In addition to passing on chamber pots full of bodily waste to his son,as Hally is most often responsible for cleaning up the mess, Hally's father transmits his mental contamination - his racism, like his crude "nigger ass". " joke. The harshness of Hally's words powerfully makes the audience wonder if Sam's dream is just wishful thinking. Will the mentally "crippled" apartheid supporters invade our idealistic dance floor and prove Is there really a light at the end of the tunnel or is all this just leading to a chamber pot “full of piss” for black South Africans? The audience is faced with a real mental conflict here. Furthermore, Sam, a man of color, has adopted the liberal vision of white people - that of European romanticism - while Hally, a young white boy, has. inversely adopted the cynical view one might expect of an oppressed black slave with a depressing past. For Sam and Willie, ballroom dancing is a symbol of their brotherhood as well as a kind of utopia - especially for the race. Conventionally, ballroom dancing is a pastime reserved for white men and therefore shows that black culture in South Africa is in some way very dominated by that of whites. However, this should not necessarily be interpreted as. unfavorable; perhaps there is an indication here that over time the two races can not only tolerate - as in Hally's way - but actually appreciate each other's presence and traditions. After a perplexed Hally leaves, Willie motions for Sam to dance and says "Let's dream." He offers comfort and friendship to Sam, and another chance to attempt a world without collisions. For black men like them, a “world without collisions” is also important because it refers to a world in which they face no hostility from white men. Specific to the play, Hally fundamentally disapproves of the arrangements of apartheid, and we see this in his admiration for men such as Winston Churchill. Unfortunately, he fails to completely free himself from the typical white colonial attitudes of the era. He stumbles and gives in, pouring out all the bitterness he's been building up on Sam. He only succeeds in ruining his relationship with the older man, thereby hurting himself. Hally disappointed the public's expectations. The former would-be white revolutionary has become a confused and empty shell of a creature, damaging his relationships with his black allies, and indeed, his only allies. We now wonder if Hally's cynicism ultimately proved more appropriate than Sam's vision. However, all is not lost. Willie's transformation at the end of the play is both a pleasant surprise and a renewal of hope. We are first introduced to him as he struggles to perfect his quick step, and Sam's criticisms are that he is "too stiff" and that he needs to realize that "ballroom must look happy...not like hard work.” This parallels the philosophy that the peace and harmony of a "world without collisions" should come naturally without being forced, just as Hally's friendship with the boys comes naturally - whatever the end result. . Another point of Sam's criticism concerns Hilda's physical abuse by Willie, which is perhaps the result of internalized apartheid aggression. It is possible that members of the exploited and poor black classes of society unconsciously release their miseries by taking it out on each other, rather than on the white population. Whatever the cause of his violent behavior, Willie is resolute in his intentions as he tells Sam, "Tonight I find Hilda and I say sorry to her. And I promise I won't beat her again." This potential for reconciliation between Willie and Hilda echoes the potential for reconciliation »..