Quotations+-+Master+Harold

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** Quotations - Master Harold ** ** ** Master Harold and the Boys   ** ** Key Quotations ** __Quotes to do with Sam and Willie’s status__ - “untrained hand” – at start - in reference to Sam and Willie’s lack of education “intricate ballroom dance step” – at start – Sam and Willie associated somewhat unexpectedly with dancing seen as sophisticated “Willie: I only got bus fare to go home.” Suggestion that Sam has been in jail, or at least knows people who have – “Sam: That’s the way they do it in jail.” Sam “mispronounces the word magnitude” __ Quotes to do with the conflict between idealism and realism / need for social change- __ “Willie: I try because it is hard. Sam: But don’t let me see it. The secret is to make it look easy. Ballroom must look happy, Willie, not like hard work. It must… Ja! … It must look like romance.” – line 21 “Hally: I oscillate between hope and despair for this world as well, Sam.” – line 175 “An intrepid social reformer will not be daunted by the magnitude of the task he has undertaken.” – Hally line 203 “What the hell does a black man know about flying a kite? ... I had no hopes for it ” – Hally line 334 “The miracle happened! … there was something alive behind me at the end of the string, tugging at it as if it wanted to be free.” – Hally “I had work to do, Hally.” – Sam “No. You can't fly kites on rainy days” – Sam “it’s just that life felt the right size in there… not too big and not too small. Wasn’t so hard to work up a bit of courage. It’s got so bloody complicated since then.” – Hally line 379 “Sam: Have you ever tried? Hally: Of course not.” – Hally “It’s beautiful because that is what we want life to be like. But instead, like you said, Hally, we’re bumping into each other all the time.” – Sam “It doesn’t stop with us, the whole world is doing it all the time.” – Sam “Without the dream we won’t know what we’re going for. And anyway I reckon there are a few people who have got past just dreaming about and are trying something for real.” – Sam “This is a lot bigger than I thought” - Hally “That’s what all this talk about a decent world has been… just so much bullshit… Life’s a fuck up and it’s never going to change” – Hally “Nobody knows the steps, there’s no music, the cripples are also out there tripping up everybody… Do you know what the winner’s trophy is? A beautiful big chamber pot with roses on the side”- Hally “You’re a coward Master Harold” - Sam “Sam: fly another kite, I suppose. Hally: it’s still raining Sam. You can’t fly kites on rainy days.” – Hally and Sam “You know what that bench means now, and you can leave it any time you choose. All you’ve got to do is stand up and walk away from it.” - Sam “Let’s dream… you lead. I follow.” - Willie __Relationship between “the boys” and Hally__ – “Hally: [cheerfully] How’s it, chaps?” – Hally’s first entry – also important that he does not reprimand Sam and Willy for dancing instead of working The fact that Sam calls Hally “Hally” and not “Master Harold” shows their familiarity. Sam almost a father figure – knows Hally well – reprimands him for not working hard, etc. “Sam: You didn’t do too badly last year” in reference to history exam - familiarity “Little white boy in short trousers and a black man old enough to be his father flying a kite” – Hally line 369 Foreshadowing of their future dispute – “grabs his ruler and gives Willie a vicious whack on the bum” - Hally “Tolstoy may have educated his peasants, but I’ve educated you” – Hally line 284 “Don’t try to be clever Sam. It doesn’t suit you.” - Hally “You’re only a servant in here, and don’t forget it. And as far as my father is concerned, all you need to remember is that he is your boss.” – Hally “Let’s stop before its too late… if we’re not careful, somebody is going to get hurt.” – Sam “Why don’t you start calling me Master Harold, like Willy?” – Hally “Hally spits in his face” __ Hally and his father __ “[Viciously] Then just remember to start hiding your bag away again, because he’ll be at your purse before long for money for booze.” – Hally “I’m not going to be a peacemaker anymore.” – Hally “[When he speaks again, his tone changes completely. It is not simply pretense. We sense a genuine emotional conflict]” – before Hally talks to his dad “[Speaking carefully as his shame turns to rage]” – Hally after Sam tries to stop Hally speaking ill of his father “We also have our good times together” – Hally + joke about “a nigger’s arse” “The one person that should have been teaching you what that means was the cause of your shame.” - Sam __ Racism / racial tension __ “God, you’re impossible. I showed it to you in black and white.” - Hally “He’s a white man and that’s good enough for you” - Hally __ Misc. __ Sam “a more accomplished dancer” than Willie “He’s a little boy, Boet Sam. Little white boy. Long trousers now, but he’s still a little boy.” – Willie “Little man you’re crying… someone took your kiddy car away” – Hally’s loss of innocence **