THE POWER OF THE STATE EMBODIED IN CORRUPTION AND BETRAYAL IN ATHOL FUGARD’S A LESSON FROM ALOES
THE POWER OF THE STATE EMBODIED IN CORRUPTION AND BETRAYAL IN ATHOL FUGARD’S A LESSON FROM ALOES

Summary/Abstract: This paper addresses the issue of how the power of the State in South Africa during Apartheid controlled every aspect of the life of each citizen no matter the colour of his/her skin, no matter the origins or experiences. Apartheid‘s only purpose was to divide, to separate and to control; to be able to do this, it had to sow doubt in the mind of the individual, to create suspicion and mistrust in order to destroy the group from the inside. A Lesson from Aloes is one of Athol Fugard‘s plays about the South African politics, about a man-made system that could only be changed through the actions of the people. It is a play focused on two relationships influenced and paralyzed by fear and the effects of corruption and betrayal. Fugard‘s play Boesman and Lena is shaped by their status as the Other in a society controlled by the white man. The image of South Africa has never been defined by terms such as equality and human rights. The problem of identity in South Africa is even more problematic when it comes to the one of the Coloured people. Where does the identity of the Other stop and where does the identity of the One begin? What is their position in society? Are they allowed to pretend that they are white in order to benefit from the white privileges or should they embrace their status as outcasts?Boesman and Lena is one of Athol Fugard‘s small-cast plays that takes place in a society controlled by Apartheid, a system based on dehumanization, inequality and segregation. It is a play about two coloureds, about their status and their self-discovery. The South African mixed-race people are confronted with a terrible and severe identity crisis during Apartheid and this is what this paper is intended to analyse.

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