Identity Is the Central Theme of the Poem - Essay Example

Poems Reflection Insert Insert Identity is the central theme of the poem. Hally tries his best to get his identity but in vain. Racism is also a game depicted in the poem and absenteeism of male parent. The poem begins with two black men, Willie, and Sam, who are both forty-five years of age. They are both black and do work at St. George’s Park Tea Room, a restaurant owned by a white family. At the moment, the restaurant is empty because of torrential rains which give Willie a chance to practices his dance steps being instructed by Sam, his colleague. Willie needed advice from Sam about how dance is carried out since Sam was more experienced. The opportunity to do this emerges because of the rain, no supervision, no customers they were alone in the room. In this situation, the black can only be free when the white boss is not around and the only entertainment they can pass the time with is dance. Racism is criticized in the poem; the poet portrays the black and the white as equal, and they both have errors. Willie beats up his dance partner but since she was a woman, she felt no reason to say sorry which depicts blacks as chauvinists. Sam is both good in dancing and his mental capacity. He has the best dance move that is envied by his mates. Sam is shown to be knowing how to go elegantly in stressful situations; he can move swiftly even in a hard case without a clash. The central conflict in the play arises when Hally’s father return is announced. Hally is not happy about his return and since Sam overheard his conversation with his mother about his father’s return from the hospital. Hally opposes what Sam had overhead and refuses to tell him the truth. This shows racism; the whites do not trust the black with their personal matters. He pushes them back to work even though he was younger than them. The whites are shown to have authority over blacks despite the age difference. A young white has the power to control older blacks. Sam’s need to gain knowledge drives him to Hally, who seem very lazy and takes education for granted. Sam and Hally are close friends when it comes to education, they are seen to be discussing topics on corporal punishments and historical injustices. Hally does not understand the racism that occurred especially in South Africa this shows that the white are ethically blind. His black counterpart knows every detail about the racism situation in South Africa which means both blacks and white have a chance to education. Hally does not give cooperation by ordinary people an opportunity as a solution to problems he thinks that problems can only be solved by the high and mighty in the society. In their studies Hally refuses to admit Napoleon as “a man of magnitude” he sees the history of Napoleon is humorous he feels that the blacks had no such magnitude, but the whites owned it. Sam struggle with his education and becomes Hally’s teacher in some way. Hally compares Napoleon with Lincoln and Wilberforce, who are less of magnitude than the black Napoleon. His story is understood, and his role well stated, but Lincoln and Wilberforces role are not well stated, their story does not come out well. Though it is evident that the white’s economic and political power was an emergent of racial dominance, Sam fails to believe even given evidence to the fact. Hally believes that the poetry of Shakespeare carries all the history. Hally is an atheist and does not recognize that other religions exist. Hally and Sam both agree on science, the penicillin discovery by Alexander Fleming, which is no doubt a development that has helped millions of people both whites and blacks. “Sam suggests the scientist Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin, and the two agree he is a great man.” (Fugard, 1932). By being black Sam, had no knowledge about his countries geography despite being much older than Hally, who understood every bid of the countries geography in his adolescence age. The blacks were separated from the whites in South Africa despite the land being owned by the blacks. The whites received fertile lands; the blacks were given unproductive lands due to their skin color. Both Sam and Hally are elegant. They spent most of their time studying together which sharpened their minds; each had to learn from his friend. They taught each other and at the end the cooperation brought success. The kite comes in the play; Sam made a kite for Hally, and he takes him to fly it though he had fun he rubbished all these by saying the kite was ragged. Though he was young, he was able to show how whites undermine the blacks. The fun the tattered kite brought him wiped away the racial differences Hally had first created, he felt Sam meant much to him, and he wanted him to stay with him all through. The rugged kite is compared with his crippled father though it is fun to play with it torments when you look at it. When Hally thinks about his father, he ends up shouting to his friends Sam and Willie the state of his father scares him, he has no power to change it. Though he has power over the two black men, he lacks the authority to help his dear father. Hally’s father being crippled could not accomplished a lot of tasks for his son Hally, Sam steps in as a father figure. He assists him in school work, entertaining him and helps him get him busy to forget the return of his father from the hospital that was bad news for him. Sam became a role model to Hally and Sam made sure that he led by example not empty words. In the short story reunion, father figure misses out in a young man’s life as the case of as Hally’s dad. The meeting was good but lasted a short time, "Goodbye, Daddy," I said, and I went down the stairs and got my train, and that was the last time I saw my father (Cheever, 1982). Fathers must be there for their boys to grow upright and be happy always. References Fugard, Athol (1982). "Master Harold"-- and the Boys (First Edition Ed.). New York: A.A. Knopf.  Read More