How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
HALLY. Little white boy in short trousers and a black man old enough to be his father flying a kite. It's not every day you see that.
SAM. But why strange? Because the one is white and the other black?
HALLY. I don't know. Would have been just as strange, I suppose, if it had been me and my Dad…cripple man and a little boy! (908-915)
Hally points out how unusual it is to see a white child with a black man doing something that's entirely meant to be fun. What do you think about Hally's comment that it would have been just as strange with his "crippled" father? Is Fugard implying that blackness in apartheid South Africa is a crippling handicap?
Quote #5
HALLY. [. . .] My mother is right. She's always warning me about allowing you to get too familiar. [. . .] You're only a servant in here, and don't forget it.
(Still no response. HALLY is trying hard to get one)
And as far as my father is concerned, all you need to remember is that he is your boss. [. . . ] He's a white man and that's good enough for you. (1643-1656)
As we saw in the kite scenes, up until now Hally and Sam have had an unusually close relationship, like a father and son. The rest of the world, like Hally's mom, disapproves of their closeness and Hally, stressed out about his family problems, is starting to adopt society's view. Hally uses his father's racial "superiority" as a reason that his father is also Sam's boss. There's no other explanation needed for white superiority than the simple fact that you're white.
Quote #6
HALLY. [. . .] I can tell you now that somebody who will be glad to hear I've finally given it to you will be my Dad. Yes! He agrees with my Mom. He's always going on about it as well. "You must teach the boys to show you more respect, my son." (1700-1707)
Hally wants Sam to call him "Master Harold" to show him some respect, and he thinks he's earned that respect merely by being white. His dad calls Willie and Sam "the boys," as though they were children. Usually, when a boy identifies with his father, it's a good sign he's growing up into an adult. In an apartheid society, though, it's not good news.