Analysis of the Island by Athol Fugard – Athol Fugard was born to an English father of mixed European descent and an Afrikaner mother. He grew up in Port Elizabeth which forms the setting for most plays. He went on to study anthropology and philosophy at the University of Cape Town. Then dropped out a few months before the final examination. Along with a friend, he hitchhiked till Port Sudan in North Africa where he worked on a steamship. Later, Fugard returned to South Africa and married Shiela Meiring, an actress, who ignited in him the love for theatre. His job as a court clerk made him keenly aware of the injustices of apartheid which is the theme for most of his plays.

Analysis of the Island by Athol Fugard

Cellmates John and Winston are imprisoned on an island for fighting against South African apartheid. They spend their days undertaking back-breaking labor outside in the searing heat, and are generally mistreated by the guards, one of whom they refer to as ' Hodoshe,' a word for a carrion fly that feeds on decaying dead bodies. The Island- The Greenhouse Theater Center- Athol Fugard's daring drama is set in an unnamed prison based on the one where Nelson Mandela was held. John and Winston are cellmates who spend their days doing back-breaking labor, and their nights rehearsing Sophocles' Antigone to present to their fellow inmates.

Later, he organized a multiracial theatre which caused a direct confrontation with the white government. His passport was revoked when his play Blood Knot was staged in England and his criticism of the practice of segregating theatre audiences in South Africa brought on more restrictions. Fugard’s plays kept the issue of the absence of individual freedom in South Africa at the forefront and drew the whole world’s attention to it. He won several awards and a lot of his plays have been converted into movies. He has also acted in movies like Attenborough’s Gandhi and The Killing Fields which is about the Pol Pot regime’s massacre of innocent Cambodians. Fugard now teaches theatre in the US.

The Island is a play written by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona. The apartheid -era drama, inspired by a true story, is set in an unnamed prison clearly based on South Africa 's notorious Robben Island prison, where Nelson Mandela was held for twenty-seven years. The Island by Athol Fugard. Characters list. Winston made a huge stand against the regime when he burned his passbook in front of the police. Jan 01, 1973 “The Island” by Athol Fugard is short but deeply moving. This short-story follows two prisoners, John and Winston, who have been imprisoned on Robben Island for unknown reasons. The two men are tasked with performing the ancient Greek tragedy, “Antigone”, for a concert that is being put together by the inmates.

The notorious island prison

The notorious island prison called Robben Island is the setting for this play. The most renowned inmate of this prison was Nelson Mandela who spent twenty-seven years incarcerated here. During this period, South Africa was run by the white Afrikaner National Party. In order to perpetuate white rule in South Africa, they brought a catalogue of draconian laws aimed at apartheid which in Afrikaans meant separateness.

Every aspect of the native African’s life was affected by these rules that aimed at segregating the blacks from the whites. Any opposition to apartheid from the blacks was put down ruthlessly. Extra judicial killings were common and the punishment dished out to the political prisoners aimed at breaking their spirit. Shifting sand from one heap to another all day long or pulling a road roller round and round were some of the cruel and meaningless punishments devised.

Analysis Of The Island By Athol Fugard

Nelson Mandela and his associates were arrested while at a meeting in Rivonia. On June 11, 1964, they were sentenced for life and imprisoned in Robben Island. The play ‘The Island’ draws on the real-life experiences of some of the prisoners who were incarcerated on Robben Island. Antigone was staged there once with Mandela playing the role of King Creon. Athol Fugard chose the story of Antigone to highlight the conditions in South Africa where the majority community was kept down by ruthless rulers who like King Creon passed laws which went against God’s own rules. Antigone is just a young girl but she assumes the moral authority to challenge the king.

Summary – Analysis Of The Island By Athol Fugard

The play is set in an unnamed island but the inference is there for all to follow. The island could only stand for the Robben Island which was packed with political prisoners one of which was Nelson Mandela, serving a lengthy prison sentence. There are only two characters who appear in flesh and blood – two cellmates, John and Winston, who share a close friendship that helps them survive those brutal conditions. In a short while John’s appeal for commutation will come up but meanwhile, they have a play to perform for the other inmates of the prison. The days are spent in meaningless back-breaking physical labour out in the open while the nights are utilized for rehearsals.

The play that is chosen is Sophocles’ tragedy, Antigone. This play has echoes of the South African situation where the people are oppressed by ruthless rulers similar to Antigone being oppressed by King Creon. John plays the role of King Creon while Winston plays Antigone. Winston is reluctant to be a female character as he feels that his wig and fake tissue roll breasts will invite ridicule. John meanwhile gets the news that his appeal has been successful and his ten-year sentence has been reduced to three years and in three months, he will be free while Winston will be detained for life. The friendship is tested here as Winston does not understand why he has been singled out. But in the end, the friendship endures and the two are back at hard labour.

Plot

John and Winston are prisoners on the island where they share a cell. Day after day they are subjected to intense labour or forced to run while they were shackled to each other. But their friendship is a constant source of solace for both of them. They take care of each other’s wounds and remember the times when they were free while they rehearsed for the play they were to perform for the rest of the prisoners on the island. The play that has been chosen is Sophocles’ tragedy, Antigone which mirrors the conditions in South Africa where despotic rulers crush all opposition. In the abridged version of the play, John is King Creon while Winston plays Antigone.

When Winston sees his costume, he is reluctant to perform as he feels he will be mocked by the audience. Meanwhile, John is summoned to the office of the governor. He returns elated with the news that his appeal for the commutation of his ten-year prison sentence has been granted and in just three months he will complete his three-year prison sentence. Winston shares John’s joy and both dream of what it will be like to be free. Soon Winston is racked by questions and he wonders why he opposed the regime in the first place and what the purpose of his very existence was. These doubts have a cathartic effect on him and he realizes that this is his lot in life.

The Island

The final scene of ‘The Island’ is the play, Antigone. Winston as Antigone has been sentenced to be walled up in a cave and left to die of hunger for having defied the orders of the king in giving her brother a ritual or proper burial. Here Winston steps out of his role as Antigone and makes a final stand against the white regime. He yells ‘ Gods of Our Fathers! My Land! My Home! Time waits no longer. I go now to my living death because I honoured those things to which honour belongs.’ The last we see is the image of John and Winston once again shackled together, running as the siren sounds.

Themes

Racial Segregation

Apartheid was practiced, and racial segregation was imposed on the black majority by the Afrikaner National Party in 1948. It existed till 1994 when democratic elections were held in South Africa. An informal form of racial segregation had been practiced by the Dutch colonists when they took over South Africa but it was institutionalized in 1948.

The population was divided into four groups namely, black, white, coloured and Indian. Several western nations had tacitly supported the racist white regime but gradually world opinion turned against them. Punitive measures like trade embargo and boycott of sporting ties were imposed on the country.

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