How and why is a social group represented in a particular way? Social groups are always represented with a stereotype. This could include their physical appearance, their language, style, or manners that will define this certain social group. In “Master Harold”… and the boys, written by Athol Fugard , social groups are represented in a particular way. In this case, Fugard represents South Africans creating a stereotype, creating characters like Willie that represents the cultural context of the play which is Apartheid and ballroom dancing in the 1950’s.
Apartheid and Ball Room dancing are elements essential to the South African culture. In fact, the book takes place in South Africa in the 1950’s at the beginning of Apartheid, where a
By creating a character like Willie, Fugard shows his own culture against the blacks. An environment defined by Apartheid where discrimination against the South Africans was primordial for their segregation from whites who were considered the authority in that time period.
Social groups are represented in a particular way to create distinction. Through this method, stereotypes are created unintentionally. Fugard represents the ordinary South African with Willie in the book who is a black servant with poor education and hits his girlfriend for not doing things right. The mistake of this representation is that it creates stereotypes and discrimination against blacks or South Africans because the author has portrayed South Africans as violent beings and with lack of education. Additionally, Fugard also uses the cultural context to represent South Africans. He does it by setting the play during Apartheid and using ballroom dancing as part of South African culture that gives a wider view of the social group of South Africans and their representation in this case. Certainly, this avoids misunderstandings and this is why the cultural context of the book is relative to why the author chooses to represent social groups in a particular way in the play.

Bibliography

* Fugard, Athol. 1984. “Master Harold”… and the boys. New York, New York, Penguin Group. * The History of