Master Harold and the Boys story
Man of Magnitude “How does this passage reveal important aspects of the characters of Hall and Sam? ” In this extract Hall and Sam are discussing their favorite historical characters.
This was a clever device to allow the author to reveal their different viewpoints and how they are affected by their social standing in society, which also shows important aspects of the characters of Hall and Sam. While reading about their choices of the man of magnitude, we learn that one of the important aspects of the character of Sam is that he is an idealist because of his choices of men who were social reformers.He is a person that popes for equality and freedom, which we can see when he said, “there’s the social reformer we’re waiting for” after reading Napoleon and the principle of equality. The word ‘waiting’ shows how he is still hoping for something to happen, someone to change things from the way they are.
It also emphasizes on the long period of time he has spent waiting but still hasn’t given up yet. On the other hand, we can see Hall as a negative character, who has no hope and no intentions for things to change.We can see this when he turned Cam’s hopes down by saying “don’t confuse historical significance with greatness. ” He was not ailing to believe that Napoleon was a great man and disagrees with Sam that he is a man of some magnitude.
This also shows the selfish side of him, not thinking on his friend’s behalf and bursting his bubble of hope. This was also shown when Sam chose Abraham Lincoln as his man of magnitude and Hall replied saying “l might have guessed as much” with a sarcastic tone saying that he saw it coming and it was too obvious for Sam to choose a man who ended slavery.The tone of hearing his choice also suggested that he was disappointed, which shows that he has no sympathy towards his friend, as it is a very sensitive topic to Sam.
Another important aspect we learn of Sam in this particular extract is that he is very wise, however on the other hand, Hall is ignorant and not as smart as he thinks he is. When Hall said “l showed it to you in black and white” which means that it was written down in the book, Sam replied “doesn’t mean I got to believe it” showing how he has his own opinions and suggesting to Hall that he shouldn’t believe in everything he reads.Hall showed his ignorance and naivety through the fact that he said “you’ve never been a slave. We freed your ancestors here in South Africa long before the Americans. ” This shows how clueless he ally is of the whole situation because even though he said that Cam’s ancestors were “freed”, they are not actually free and still not treated equally. The fact that Sam and Willie are working for Hall and calling him Master already proves the point of how blacks and whites are still not equal.
When Hall used the word “we”, it shows how he was in lining himself with greatness, giving himself credit for freeing the blacks, when in reality, the audiences know that he did nothing. The author is making this ironic because white people are not originally from South Africa, the fact that they have taken over the people who were already vying there is something that should have never happened in the first place. Throughout the passage, Hall has also shown his arrogant nature making Sam seem a lot more humble compared to him.During the conversations he had with Sam, he never failed to complement himself which shows his confidence in front of Sam. When they were talking about his English exam Hall stated that it would be a “piece of cake. Eighty percent without even trying.
” Emphasizing on how it is so easy that he wouldn’t even have to try to score a good mark. Another example would be when Hall said to Sam ” It’s deeply gratifying, Sam, to know hat I haven’t been wasting my time in talking to you. ” This shows his sarcastic and condescending tone and how he expected that Sam would have nothing worth listening to.He then continued by saying “Tolstoy may have educated his peasants but I’ve educated you. ” It is clear in this sentence that he thinks of himself much greater than Sam, giving himself full credit for educating him. He also compared the word ‘peasants’ to ‘you’, showing how he thinks of Cam’s social status.
Forward purposely created a character that is so full of himself making him come off as an arrogant character but actually in reality is just a boy who is anorak and disrespectful.This dramatic irony makes the audience pity Hall and at the same time sympathize for Sam, as he is the real wise man. Through their conversation on the man of magnitude and their different choices, we learn a lot more about the important aspects of the two characters. Hall, an ignorant and naive young man who isn’t as good as he thinks, which makes him come off as an arrogant and overly confident character.
Sam, on the other hand, the underrated wise man, hoping for a better world in the future where peace and harmony will finally be achieved.