In the show "Master Harold... And the Boys," ballroom dancing extends far beyond jazz music, swishing skirts and casual couples. It takes on universality of meaning as a symbol of a "world without collisions", an inherent desire, a dream, an inspiration, which - even if not fully understood - must certainly be shared by all men. In the historical context of the work, a "collision-free world" implicitly refers to a South Africa without any trace of friction between the different races. It raises the question of whether or not this is a mere fantasy. Hally's relationship with Sam and Willie reflects humanity's potential to eliminate racial boundaries and this encourages the audience. At the same time, however, the work casts a shadow over our hopes as a rift grows between them, and we find ourselves wondering whether it can be healed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay True to this ambiguity, Hally “oscillates between hope and despair for this world.” The cause of Hally's despair is her unsatisfactory father, a self-centered, drunken cripple. Although he is not directly present in any scene, his presence permeates the entire play in the form of Hally's bitterness and hostility. Hally's initial skepticism about the kite, for example, provides the reader with considerable insight into his past: "...I thought, 'Like everything else in my life, here comes another fiasco.'" This comment demonstrates the way Hally's self-esteem has been damaged over the years by her father's trials and tribulations that she has endured as her own from an early age. Despite Hally's disappointments, there is clearly hope in her life; this lies in his relationship with Sam, a relationship that, unbeknownst to him, has supported and nurtured him from an early age, alleviating much of the pain caused by his father. His hope seems to bubble to the surface especially during his "man of greatness" discussion with Sam. There's plenty of evidence in this dialogue that Hally also has ambitions for the world, because she assures Sam, "But things will change, wait and see. One day someone will stand up and kick history's butt and start it again." ." Yet these moments of optimism are fleeting: they are always ushered in, interrupted by phone calls from Hally's mother, which serve to remind him of the adversities of his life with his father. they find Willie and Sam practicing their quick step, clapping and declaring "Well done! There's no doubt about it. First place goes to Mr. Sam Semela." This demonstrates his friendly interest in the boys' lives and his mild, forgiving approval of their ballroom dancing. Furthermore, the sense of indulgence creates the impression that he really enjoys playing the role of the indulgent white master. It is after Hally's first phone conversation with her mother that the audience can discern that her mood and opinions are changing slightly. However, he recovers enough from his disappointment to eventually, if reluctantly, become more deeply interested in the whole notion of ballroom dancing. Hally, with his intellectual airs and graces, his intriguing combination of precociousness and naivety?©, initially dismisses the activity as "simple - as in naive, meaning mentally retarded. It can't exactly be said to challenge the intellect." . Nonetheless, Sam is “adamant,” in his considerable wisdom, that ballroom dancing has its merits because it is “cool” and “makes people happy.” Hally concedes, partly because of Sam's persistence, and partly because he wants to "teach the old bastard [his English teacher] a lesson." He transforms the dance competition from "simple"entertainment as a "cultural event", although he wonders whether he is "extending poetic license a little too much". Clearly, his curiosity is piqued, but perhaps there are other factors contributing to his appreciation. Hally decides to write about the dance competition for her school essay about an event of cultural or historical significance. This is provocative to his white English teacher who “doesn't like natives.” Presumably, Old Doc Bromely would consider it highly improper to consider any black community event worthwhile. Hally attempts to elevate the importance of the contest so that his teacher cannot refute the fact that, technically speaking, "in strictly anthropological terms the culture of a primitive black society includes dancing and singing." Yet the use of the word "primitive" is far from flattering, and Hally's thesis that "the war dance has been replaced by the waltz" carries with it the connotation that the backward tradition of the "war dance" is been replaced by a more civilized, if intellectually dry, activity. For a black South African audience, Hally's statements, while well intentioned, seem too academic, detached and, of course, unflattering. Even as Hally "oscillates between hope and despair for this world," the audience continually alternates between encouragement from his honest, liberal views and disappointment with his air of white superiority, which is ingrained in him and perhaps only half realized . Even as Hally writes the report, we see that he has a tendency to pick up on every possible downside to a situation quite quickly, as he immediately asks what the "penalties" are for "doing something wrong" while Sam informs him of the points scored for the positive sides. like style and rhythm. Hally's question amuses Sam, but her answer is surprisingly profound: "...that dance floor is like...like being in a dream about a world where accidents don't happen." This is a key point of the work; Hally is now truly moved by the idea of ​​ballroom dancing, for he exclaims in a tone that seems devoid of anything but pure admiration, "Jesus, Sam! How beautiful!" Earlier, when the dubious Hally disagreed with Sam's opinion that dancing was an art dance, he provided a definition of art as "the giving of meaning to matter," or "the giving of form to what it is formless,” he defined it as something “beyond that [beauty].” After Sam's passionate speech we realize that ballroom dancing is actually an art. Those shapeless dreams of humanity that we find so difficult to make tangible, so difficult to capture in words finally take shape; take the shape of the enchanting figures on the dance floor. Ballroom dancing is the embodiment of the dream of a "collision-free world". It is the very language of this deeply rooted dream, a dream decorated with music, "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 "beatings with a light stick" that Sam previously described to Hally? One wonders whether or not Sam's imaginative ideas are a reflex mechanism to deny the hopelessness of the situation, or a genuine inspiration to somehow heal the wounds of apartheid, or, perhaps, an undefined fusion of the two motives. Whatever the answer, Sam's vision of ballroom dancing is definitely more than elaborate; he takes us out 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 with the poor. These are great collisions, Hallybruises." Our awareness of the world suddenly increases exponentially as we become aware of the turmoil that constantly surrounds us. Returning to the play, set in South Africa, turmoil in the atmosphere of apartheid is also noted; however, the play portrays this subtly. Hally and Sam's enthusiastic talk of Mahatma Gandhi and General Smuts' attempt to "teach people to take the right steps" reflects South Africa's need to take the right step to abolish segregation. It is notable that Gandhi and General Smuts both possess a lot of stoicism and therefore participate in passive resistance, as opposed to radically aggressive plans for immediate social change. It would be very interesting to hear individual opinions of a black audience: would they largely support passive resistance from Sam or General Smuts, or would they favor a more vigorous approach? Digging even deeper, Sam's "collision-free world" may have personal meaning for all of us. His words penetrate our spirits as he asks, “Will we never get it right?…Learn to dance life like champions instead of always just being a bunch of beginners?” For Hally in particular, struck by "a deep and sincere admiration for that man", Sam provides inspiration and a "little wave of hope". The adversity in Hally's life has led him to believe to some extent, as he mentioned before, "It's a damn horrible world when you think about it. People can be real bastards." Overall he is a little dubious about revolution and imaginative dreams. Sam introduces Hally with the encouragement that "[change] begins with those [dreams]. Without the dream we won't know what we're looking for." He believes that dreams must come before change, to fuel change. Hally is heartened and you can sense his growing hope: "You're right. We shouldn't despair. Maybe there is hope for humanity after all." For a South African audience, this can be taken as inspiration to persevere in the challenge of destroying apartheid. For her part, Hally lights up enough to go so far as to support the boys in their pursuit of dance and dreams while adding, “Keep up the good work, Willie.” Unfortunately, this promising moment is another short-lived moment for Hally as she receives the second phone call from her 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 complete negativity as he crudely reduces the vision of a "world with collisions" to "so much bullshit." He then proceeds to create his own bitter take on ballroom dancing where "even the cripples are out there tripping everyone up and trying to get in on the scene", and the competition is renamed "All-Comers-How-to-Make-a fucking championship." Finally, the prize at the end of the contest is a "beautiful chamber pot with roses on the side, and it will be filled to the brim with piss." Besides serving symbolically to introduce doubt about a "collision-free world", the reference to cripples and chamber pots is an obvious slander against Hally's father. In addition to passing chamber pots full of bodily waste to his son, as Hally is more often than not tasked with cleaning up the mess, Hally's father passes on his mental taint - his racism, such as his uncouth "nigger ass" " joke. The harshness of Hally's words forcefully pushes the audience to wonder whether Sam's dream is simply wishful thinking. Mentally “cripple[d]” apartheid supporters will invade our idealistic dance floor and eventually will demonstrate that our efforts areuseless? Is there really a light at the end of the tunnel or does it all lead to nothing but a chamber pot "full of piss" for black South Africans? Here the audience is faced with a real mental conflict. Furthermore, Sam, a black man, has adopted the liberal view of whites - it is a view of European romanticism - while Hally, a young white boy, has conversely adopted the cynical view one would expect of an oppressed black slave with a depressing past. .For Sam and Willie, ballroom dancing is a symbol of their brotherhood and a kind of utopia, particularly for the black race. Conventionally, ballroom dancing is a white man's pastime and therefore demonstrates that black culture in South Africa is in some ways heavily dominated by that of whites. However, this should not necessarily be interpreted as unfavorable; perhaps there is an indication here that over time both races may come to not just tolerate - as in Hally's fashion - but actually appreciate the other's presence and traditions. After a shocked Hally leaves, Willie motions for Sam to dance and says "Let's dream." It offers comfort and friendship to Sam and another chance to try to create a world without collisions. For black men like them, a "collision-free world" is also important as it refers to a world in which they do not face any hostility from white men. Specifically in the play, Hally essentially disapproves of the apartheid arrangements, and we see this in his admiration for men like Winston Churchill. Unfortunately he is unable to completely free himself from the typical white colonial attitudes of the time. He stumbles and gives up, pouring out on Sam all the bitterness he has built up inside him. He only succeeds in ruining his relationship with the older man, thus hurting himself. Hally disappointed the public's expectations. The former would-be white revolutionary has spiraled into an empty, confused shell of a creature, damaging his relationship with his black allies, and indeed, his only allies. Now we wonder if Hally's cynicism ultimately turned out to be more appropriate than Sam's vision. However, all is not lost. Willie's metamorphosis at the end of the play comes as both a pleasant surprise and a renewal of hope. We're initially introduced to him as struggling to perfect his fast step, and Sam's criticisms are that he's "too stiff" and that he needs to realize that "ballroom needs to feel happy... not like hard work." This parallels the philosophy that the peace and harmony of a "collision-free world" should come naturally without being forced, just as Hally's friendship with the boys comes naturally, regardless of the end result. Another sticking point for Sam is Willie's physical abuse of Hilda, which is perhaps the result of internalized apartheid aggression. It is a possibility that members of the exploited and poor black classes of society unconsciously release their miseries by taking them out on each other, rather than on the white population. Whatever the cause of his violent behavior, Willie is steadfast in his intentions as he tells Sam, "I'll find Hilda tonight and apologize to her. And I promise I won't hit her again." This potential for reconciliation between Willie and Hilda echoes the potential for reconciliation between the black and white races of South Africa. Additionally, Willie has absorbed Sam's wisdom in letting the romance of ballroom dancing shine through, as demonstrated by his simple and touching words: "We dream." The impulsive act of sacrificing bus money for a jukebox tune demonstrates his genuine desire to keep the dream alive. Willie's initial appearance in the play was that of an awkwardly aggressive man and"..