“Master Harold” and the Boys Segregation Simulation
The Model Home Competition was the small group activity in which you were asked to construct a model home in small, single sex groups. Each group was given different amounts of materials to build model homes. The girls were given more resources than the boys, and groups were given the option to share or not share materials. A prize was awarded to the group with the home that best followed the guidelines. After participating in the Model Home Competition, perhaps you were better able to understand why apartheid laws were economically, socially, and politically advantageous to white South Africans.
In the kite scene in “Master Harold” and the Boys, Sam builds a kite out of limited resources. Hally does not believe that the disheveled kite will ever fly. But then, as Hally recalls, ”The miracle happened! I was running, waiting for it to crash to the ground, but instead there was something alive behind me at the end of the string, tugging at it as if it wanted to be free” (30). The kite’s ability to fly is a miracle given its decrepit condition. In a similar fashion, Sam manages to scrap his life together with very few rights and resources. Just like the kite desires to be free, Sam desires to be free from the bonds of apartheid.
The Model Home Competition was intended to simulate segregation and to be somewhat of an analogous situation to the kite scene in “Master Harold”… and the Boys. In what ways did both the Model Home Competition and the kite scene in “Master Harold” and the Boys deal with prejudice, segregation, and inequality? How can the Model Home Competition be seen as an analogous situation to the segregated and unequal society in South Africa during apartheid?
