Dr. Jeckyll and Master Harold by Athol Fugard

Athol Fugard's "MASTER HAROLD"...and the boys deals with the problem of apartheid in South Africa during the 1950s. In the play, intellect and emotion are antithesis, and as a result of these opposing forces, Hally is forced into a bipolar state. Throughout the play, Fugard uses dancing as a metaphor for life, and Hally is faced with important realities concerning Sam and Willie's concept of dance, and his own bitter view. In the end, Hally realizes that the things that he "knows" have fallen through, and so Fugard means the audience to realize that emotions and intellect are not supposed to be so at war with one another and a body in which the two components fight is going to be unhealthy. Fugard turns Hally, a being whose inner components are not at peace with one another, into a microcosm of South Africa, where whites and blacks are socially and economically at different levels, even though they should be equals working together within society to make it a better place.

When dealing with the concept that Hally is a microcosm of Africa, it is important to point out the rivalry between emotion and intellect throughout the play. The most blatant example of this occurs when Sam and Willie are trying to explain to Hally that dance is a form of art:

HALLY. All right. So you make it sound like a bit of a do. It's an occasion. Satisfied?

SAM (victory). So you admit that?

HALLY. Emotionally yes, intellectually no. (763)

Here, Hally shows just how torn he is between what he feels, which is respect for Sam, and how he knows he should act and think, as per his parents and Old Doc Bromely, Hally's English teacher who "doesn't like natives" (764). The people in Hally's life who are supposed to guide him, i.e. his parents and teachers, have raised him to think that he is superior to Sam and Willie. However, emotionally Hally has let himself become attached to the black men and has a hard time dealing with the inner conflict.