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In “Master Harold”… and the boys ballroom dance serves both as a symbol of escape from the world as it is and as an ideal, potential world, a “world without collisions.” Willie and Sam preoccupy themselves with dance as a way to distract themselves from the humdrum routine of waiting tables at the somewhat shabby St. George’s Tea Room. Hally, however, fails to see the beauty and significance of dance. His nonplussed attitude makes sense: as a socially privileged white boy he doesn’t face the same kind of oppression and, therefore, has less to escape from, societally speaking, than Sam and Willie. What’s more, the world already seems a little more ideal when you’re sitting at the top of it. The contrast between an ideal world and the world as it is becomes strikingly evident at the play’s conclusion. Willie spends his bus fare on a song so that he can dance, not with a movie star, but with another aging man, yet, for a moment, Sam, Willie, the St. George’s Tea Room, and the world’s imperfections are transformed into a fluid and ideal beauty.
Ballroom Dance Quotes in "Master Harold" … and the Boys
The "Master Harold" … and the Boys quotes below all refer to the symbol of Ballroom Dance. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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"Master Harold" … and the Boys
Quotes
SAM: That’s your trouble. You’re trying too hard.
WILLIE: I try hard because it is hard.
SAM: But don’t let me see it. The secret is to make it look easy.
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Love story and happy ending! She’s doing it all right, Boet Sam, but it’s not me she’s giving happy endings. Fuckin’ whore!
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Tried to be clever, as usual. Said I was no Leonardo da Vinci and that bad art had to be punished. So, six of the best, and his are bloody good.
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I’ve been far too lenient with the two of you. But what really makes me bitter is that I allow you chaps a little freedom in here when business is bad and, what do you do with it? The foxtrot! Specially you, Sam. There’s more to life than trotting around a dance floor and I thought at least you knew it.
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There’s no collisions out there, Hally. Nobody trips or stumbles or bumps into anybody else. That’s what that moment is all about. To be one of those finalists on the dance floor is like… like being in a dream about a world in which accidents don’t happen.
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It’s beautiful because that is what we want life to be like. But instead… we’re bumping into each other all the time. Look at the three of us this afternoon… Open a newspaper and what do you read? America has bumped into Russia, England is bumping into India, rich man bumps into poor man… People get hurt in all that bumping, and we’re sick and tired of it now.
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You’re right. We musn’t despair. Maybe there’s some hope for mankind after all. Keep it up, Willie.
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Get the entire Master Harold & the Boys LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ballroom Dance Symbol Timeline in "Master Harold" … and the Boys
The timeline below shows where the symbol Ballroom Dance appears in "Master Harold" … and the Boys. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
"Master Harold" … and the Boys
...his dancing, and Sam tells Willie to relax. Willie is frustrated with the difficulty of dance.
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Sam and Willie discuss movie star dancers and romance as a metaphor for dance. Willie says he doesn’t have any romance left...
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Hally and Willie banter about dance and Willie accidentally hits Hally with his washrag. Hally tells “the boys” to get back...
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...from behind the counter. He says there is more to life than “trotting around a dance floor.”
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Hally says that dance isn’t art and that art is “the giving of meaning to matter” or “the giving...
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Sam begins to describe the festive atmosphere at the dance hall, the lights, the excitement, the music by Mr. Elijah Gladman and his Ochestral Jazzonians,...
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...asking how many finalists there are (six couples) and for a description of the final dance.
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...for stumbling or doing something wrong. Sam and Willie laugh. Sam explains that the finalist’s dance is a kind of ideal world, “a world without collisions.” Sam says “it’s beautiful because...
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...to mind his own business. Sam tries to distract Hally with more talk of the dance competition, but Hally tears up the page he had been writing on. Hally calls all...
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...spend his bus fare on a song from the juke box, and the two men dance to a song sung by the singer Sarah Vaughn. Sam leads and Willie follows.
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