The ball dance in this play is a symbol of?

Sam and Willie’s love of ballroom dancing is a driving force in Master Harold…and the boys. In the beginning it is a type of escape for the men, something they are good at, that they enjoy, and that takes their minds off of their work. Becoming proficient and talented at ballroom dancing is a goal to which they can aspire. Thus, for Sam and Willie, ballroom dancing symbolizes freedom and escape. For Hally, however, it symbolizes something else entirely. When Hally comes home and speaks to his parents on the phone, his mood turns sour and angry. He takes his anger out on Sam and Willie by denigrating the thing they care most about at the moment: ballroom dancing. At first he calls it “simple” and “mentally retarded,” and then sees it as a symbol of “primitive black society” (114 and 126).