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My Children!My Africa one of the most studied novels in South Africa by Athol fugard ,the novel consists of two Acts ,Act 1 consist of six scenes and Act 2 consist of five scenes
COMMENTS ON ACT 1 SCENE 1 The main function of this opening scene is to introduce the some of the main themes of the play The audience is also given a few glimpses of the potential conflicts that could develop in the play. We learn that Mr M is a passionate and enthusiastic teacher who insists on order and who admires intelligence. We learn that Thami is an intelligent, popular learner in standard 10,Matric.Isabel picks up that Thami is Mr M's favourite student,but Thami's reaction hints at the conflicts that will follow between teacher and learner.He says,"I don't listen to what he says and I don't do what he says".Thami's reaction to Mr M establishes the theme of generational conflict/generation clash,which develop during the course of the play.
We see the immediate attraction between Thami and Isabel.The scene ends with a stage direction that says "it is obvious that they both want to prolong the conversation".However,the scene makes it clear that the teenagers come from very different backgrounds and that this has the potential to create conflicts between them. Thami and Isabel's dramatically different attitudes to school capture another theme that will be central to the play:the devastating effects that an unequal education has on black learners in South Africa during the apartheid years.