How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
WILLIE. I know, I know! (To the jukebox) I do it better with music. You got sixpence for Sarah Vaughn?
[…]
SAM. (Shaking his head) It's your turn to put money in the jukebox.
WILLIE. I only got bus fare to go home. (94-100)
Sam and Willie are busy practicing for the upcoming dance contest only two weeks away, but the music's only in their heads. They don't even have enough money for the jukebox, and how much could that be? We're not experts in the South African exchange rate in 1950, but we'd guess less than a nickel. So right off the bat we see that Sam and Willie are very poor, that their opportunities are really limited. As we get to know them, these limits feel even more unfair.
Quote #2
HALLY. [. . .] (Shaking his head with disbelief) The sheer audacity of it took my breath away. I mean, seriously, what the hell does a black man know about flying a kite? (826-829)
Check out the language Hally uses in this simple quote to show how crazy it is that Sam would know how to make and fly a kite: "disbelief," "audacity," "seriously." The kite, the utmost in leisurely objects (because, really, since Ben Franklin it's had no useful purpose) is outside of the realm of the black man because he's smack dab in the world of work—no time for fun for him. Hally doesn't seem to see how offensive this comment might be. It's just a fact, in his mind.
Quote #3
HALLY. [. . .] You explained how to get [the kite] down, we tied it to the bench so that I could sit and watch it, and you went away. I wanted you to stay, you know. I was a little scared of having to look after it by myself.
SAM. (Quietly) I had work to do, Hally. (890)
Sam can't stay and play with Hally because he's got work to do. We can read between the lines and interpret a little bit, too: he has work to do because he's black. He has to leave the kite behind and get down to it. Of course, we find out later the real reason Sam couldn't stay.