Road to Mecca

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ENG1501 SEMESTER 01 ASSIGMENT NO 02 UNIQUE NO: 553393 NAME: MABIDILANA MI STUDENT NO: 45600457 (c) The Road to Mecca (Athol Fugard) Marius is portrait as a born preacher, from his shock of white hair to the way he turns everything he says –even a speech of potatoes in to sermon. He is a Calvinist Pastor in Nieu Bethesda and visits Helen regularly. He represents conservative values and complacency of a pro-apartheid society. He is Helen’s minister, a man Elsa innately distrusts. Her distrust appears to have some justification, since Marius is determined to get Helen to sign an application for the local old age home. In the play, he and the church try to convince Miss Helen to move out of her home and into a retirement facility. Marius at times arrives to Helen’s home with the expectation that she’s ready to sign a contract and move out , which only deepens her depression while Marius ‘ intentions in regard to miss Helen and community are good, they reflect the ignorant belief of his conservative society. He claims to know what is best for Helen. He inverted in Helen moving to the home because he fears for her safety (she recently burned herself by accident). Beneath this, however is his deeper fear of her “idolatry” and herself imposed exile from the church, yet deeper still, is his human love for Miss Helen. He admires Helen, even loves her, though he would never admit it. H wants to persuade Helen to retire to his church’s home for the elderly. He is in the play to test the relationship between the two women and to test Helen’s ability to make decisions for herself. Marius is jealous of Elsa’s intimacy with Helen, tries to make Elsa feel like an ignorant and intrusive outsider who does not understand the Karoo and traditions of its Afrikaner people. He uses the pronoun “we” and “our” to refer sorely to the local white population, excluding Elsa. Marius constantly
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