"MASTER HAROLD" ...and the boys
although i had heard of this play, i had never read it before. my immediate impression was that it started out slow, a rather pedestrian recitation of humanistic virtues. however, the dramatic twist at the end redeemed it for me and i decided that i enjoyed reading it.
as i was reading, i could not help but think about 'huck finn,' it being [as far as i'm concerned] the gold standard of literary conversations that similarly cross racial and generational lines simultaneously. granted that the novel/play comparison is an apple/orange one, i still find the parallel to be interesting -- a reverse parallel at that. in huck, we see the epiphany of an unconsciously racist boy growing toward a socially conscious manhood right before our eyes. fugard gives us almost the opposite -- a boy that seems preternaturally mature at the beginning of the play regresses, from his hurt, to a less mature, racist lashing out at his friend. only in the last few lines of the play are we left with a slight opening for an optimistic future development: 'all you have to do is stand up and walk away from it.' just as in 'huck finn,' it is the 'social inferior' who is the conduit for wisdom.
the only negative criticism i have of 'master harold' is that the dialogue fugard gives hally seems not as true to character as it should be, particularly in the earlier lines. based upon his school level, he should be about a high school sophomore, maybe 16 years old? but he doesn't speak as you might think one that age would. you might expect to hear him say something like 'well, uh, you know...social consciousness and all that stuff.' instead he says things like: 'i know. i admit it. that's why i suggest we reserve our judgment until...' and 'don't confuse historical significance with greatness. but maybe i'm being a bit prejudiced...'
he is so articulate that i have a verisimilitude problem -- he often sounds like a 50-year-old fugard speaking while wearing a facemask. again, back to twain, huck never sounds like anything other than what he is, an uneducated midwest boy. you never hear twain speaking; you may hear sam clemens, but never mark twain. i read somewhere that an actor was good when you couldn't see him acting. perhaps a parallel might be that a playwrite is good when you can't see him writing.
anyway, i enjoyed the play, but i thought the hally dialogue could have been better.
as i was reading, i could not help but think about 'huck finn,' it being [as far as i'm concerned] the gold standard of literary conversations that similarly cross racial and generational lines simultaneously. granted that the novel/play comparison is an apple/orange one, i still find the parallel to be interesting -- a reverse parallel at that. in huck, we see the epiphany of an unconsciously racist boy growing toward a socially conscious manhood right before our eyes. fugard gives us almost the opposite -- a boy that seems preternaturally mature at the beginning of the play regresses, from his hurt, to a less mature, racist lashing out at his friend. only in the last few lines of the play are we left with a slight opening for an optimistic future development: 'all you have to do is stand up and walk away from it.' just as in 'huck finn,' it is the 'social inferior' who is the conduit for wisdom.
the only negative criticism i have of 'master harold' is that the dialogue fugard gives hally seems not as true to character as it should be, particularly in the earlier lines. based upon his school level, he should be about a high school sophomore, maybe 16 years old? but he doesn't speak as you might think one that age would. you might expect to hear him say something like 'well, uh, you know...social consciousness and all that stuff.' instead he says things like: 'i know. i admit it. that's why i suggest we reserve our judgment until...' and 'don't confuse historical significance with greatness. but maybe i'm being a bit prejudiced...'
he is so articulate that i have a verisimilitude problem -- he often sounds like a 50-year-old fugard speaking while wearing a facemask. again, back to twain, huck never sounds like anything other than what he is, an uneducated midwest boy. you never hear twain speaking; you may hear sam clemens, but never mark twain. i read somewhere that an actor was good when you couldn't see him acting. perhaps a parallel might be that a playwrite is good when you can't see him writing.
anyway, i enjoyed the play, but i thought the hally dialogue could have been better.
posted by taotianone at 9:20 AM
2 Comments:
BH--
Glad you liked the play. Keep in mind that we're reading this next week -- we have writing assignments from the book this week.
JM-S
i agree janet. i thought the dramatic turn at the end was very sad. but i liked sam's strengh of character, allowing hally a way back. i like to think that the next day hally thought it over and came back and accepted the hand of friendship sam proffered.
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