Master Harold: Interaction Of Slaves And Their Masters

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Master Harold It is interesting to read through the script of the play, but more importantly to experience the thrills on the stage. The play Master Harold, is quite interesting seeing the interactions between the slaves and their masters. The play presents the lives of the South Africans during the time of the apartheid rule (Mandell). It is a play that revolves around the lives of two slaves, Sam and Willie work for the Harold’s family (Scheck). The mother runs a shop and the father is a cripple having lost both of his legs during the Second World War. As such, much of the time he is in and out of hospital to treat the complications that came with the same. Of importance in this paper, however, is the fact that, the play brings out a strong debate on the notion that humans have a difficult time communicating. A closer evaluation of the relationship that the author reveals between Sam, Willie, mother and the father as well as Harold, shows the level of difficulty in communication between the parties, despite being close. Between Harold and the father, there is a clear air of mistrust and rejection that paints their relationship (Scheck). Harold is actually seen to wish that his father ever stays in hospital, never to come. The author creates the relationship between these two basic on the plot of conflict and the theme of hate. They constantly hate one another and there is not a father-son relationship that one would have expected for a family of this caliber. It is a relationship that is more of a protagonist versus an antagonist. In the case of the slaves and Harold, this is where the author brings out the quagmires associated with communication. From the start, the author brings out an element of cohesion that the slaves especially Sam and Harold share. Being of the different races, it would have been expected that th...