Blood Knot

1. Over the course of the play, Zach and Morris get a feel for their relationship as brothers. The entire play takes place in their shack; every day, Zach comes home and the two of them talk. When Zach mentions wanting a woman, Morris suggests that Zach get a pen pal, and Morris will write the letters for him, because Zach can't write. When Zach's pen pal sends a picture with her return letter, they realize that she's white, and that opens the door for a lot of trouble. Morris is light-skinned, so when Ethel (the pen pal) wants to meet Zach, they decided to put Morris in a suit. Fortunately, Ethel gets engaged and can't continue the correspondence anymore. Then the men continue to play roles to parse out their societal roles.

2. Fugard achieves his intentions (illustrating a view of the way people deal with race and racial issues in a twentieth-century South Africa, where apartheid is the rule) by providing an example with Zach and Morrie. They're brothers, but only half; Morris is light-skinned enough to appear white. Because of their skin color, then men are expected to behave, be treated, and act very differently in the community. The example is provided in the text and in the action, through the interactions of the brothers when they talk and have "playtime."

3. Zach's objective is to live a comfortable, decent life; for him, part of that means having a woman occasionally. Morris's objective is to make a better life for him and Zach, and that means buying their own farm.

4. There are many obstacles to both objectives; for Zach, being black and illiterate are two major obstacles, and they encompass many more. They are mostly physical things. Morris's obstacles are more psychological; behavior that he doesn't understand, and his fears. In addition, the brothers are each others' obstacles.

5. Conflict is an integral part of the play. It's all about conflict, really; there's so much tension. The mini-conflict created by Ethel's request is resolved by her engagement, but the bigger conflict, the apartheid conflict, is not solved; it does not need to be resolved for the play to be understood, but it needs to be resolved... which is what the play is saying.

6. The "world of the play" is interesting in that it's our world, in the sixties. That's how it was. Racial conflict was very different than it was in the U.S., because apartheid and segregation aren't synonymous. It was not a good time to be in South Africa; the world of the play is one of terrible injustice.

7. Being South African gave Fugard quite a bit of insight when he wrote this play (and by that, I mean, it was much easier for him to write in that style than it would be for me to do so.) The play reads easily, and I think the language was appropriate; I really liked that about it.

8. The play helped me because I can look at it and pick out why I think it's good, and what bits of that will help me. There's a lot of strength in the play, but the plot itself is simple, and it takes place on one set. I think those are pretty powerful things (and useful, too!)