The author manages to make the characters engage the audience's sympathies to such an extent that one feels sorry for Hally when he is at his worst. The spectators are presented with a seventeen-year-old boy that is limited by the social convictions that surround him and therefore finds difficulty in choosing between the man that society expects him to be and the man that Sam, his substitute father, wants him to grow up into. Hally also has to deal with an invalid, alcoholic father that forces him to do insufferable tasks. This makes the viewer take an empathetic position towards the confused teenager and feel sympathetic for him. Sam and Willy, easily capture the audience's compassion because of their nature as the segregated class, discriminated and prejudiced unfairly.
Ties of friendship and love closely entangle these three characters. Although Sam and Willy are the "hired help" they have been with Hally since he was a small boy and have been a part of Hally's upbringing. In way they became his substitute family, in which Sam is the father and Willy a sort of brother. There is an inevitable twist within Sam and Hally's relationship because supposedly Harry has authority over Sam and it is quite difficult for a father to maintain his role when his son is encouraged to discriminate him and treat him as an inferior being. At first Sam feels pity for the small boy that burns with shame because of his father's behaviour and tries to cheer him up, to make him proud of himself. One of the situations that clearly depicts this is when Sam prepares a kite for the small boy and takes him outside to fly it. The lines: “If you really want to know, that’s why I made you that kite. I want you to look up, be proud of something. Of yourself . . . and you certainly was that when I left you with it up there on the hill. Oh, ja something else.”(p. 58) clearly show that Sam gave to Hally the phenomena of flying, the ideology of climbing high above his shame. Sam then becomes fixated upon the idea of teaching Hally the unethical qualities of discrimination. Hally has educated Sam with the knowledge acquired from school textbooks, but Sam has been trying to teach Hally vital lessons necessary for life. There is a clear difference between the way Hally treats Sam and the way he deals with Willy for he harbours great respect for Sam and thinks little of Willy.
The author does not transmit that the characters dwell in an arbitrary and almost meaningless world. There is a discussion between Sam and Hally that deals with whether or not their world is devoid of meaning. Hally strongly maintains the position that the world is indeed bleak and desolate (" perpetual disappointment") whilst Sam holds on to a totally different, positive view. The play's message rests within Sam's persistent optimism that expresses that the world can be changed for good. The dance is a symbol of Sam's beliefs in harmony, social peace, and a world without violence or aggression.
The dreama that Athol Fugard creates in the play goes beyond the trivial lives of the characters and hold a vast symbolism related to the racial tension that existed in South Africa, representing all discrimination that existed, exists and will exist in the world. Hally is constantly reminding Sam and Willy of their position as servants and lesser beings: “All that concern you in here, Sam, is to try and do what you get paid for -- keep the place clean and serve the customers. In plain words, just get on with your job . . . You’re only a servant here, and don’t forget it.” (p.53). The teenager also diminishes the dance show and believes that taking it as a cultural event with significant importance is a big joke. He is constantly making remarks that show his racist qualities but he is torn apart between his father's thoughts and his feelings for Sam. The bench is the symbol of apartheid, division, hatred, and racism. With the words "If you're not careful [. . .] Master Harold [. . .] you're going to be sitting up there by yourself for a long time to come, and there won't be a kite in the sky" Sam explains that the choice is Hally's alone to make trying to separate him form his father's racist ideology. It seems as though Sam's influence is incapable of outweighing the negative environment and can not shape the confused boy to his liking, but given the nature of the ending the audience can not know what will happen next, only speculate.
To conclude, the play does indeed narrate the quest of three characters, but the world that surrounds them is demanding and challenging and not totally bleak and devoid of meaning. But, more importantly, the play deals with hatred, segregation and discrimination with a worldwide meaningfulness. Unfortunately, the apartheid system, Hally’s parents, and society as a whole had a greater influence on Hally than the one black man that was like a father to him. But the question that remains unspoken is whether or not the readers will choose to sit in the bench, bearing in mind that the choice rests solely upon them. It is possible to say that Athol fugard is "An intrepid social reformer" that "will bot be daunted by the magnitude of the task he has undertaken." (p. 17)
