A Man of Magnitude
A Man of Magnitude One of the plays I study with my Grade 10 Drama boys is ' Master Harold'...and the boys. There is a scene in the play where Hally, a young school boy, has a debate with his middle aged servant, Sam, about who they would consider a 'man of magnitude' to be. Various suggestions are made by both characters - Socrates, Karl Marx, Freud, Abraham Lincoln, Sir Alexander Flemming - and studying this particular scene in the play makes for both an interesting history lesson and a philosophical one too. Last night, out of the blue, I was reminded of this scene while I was praying as I considered who I would award a man of magnitude prize to. I would first need to design a profile of the qualities I think are most important in a man (and I will be the first to admit that they are different to the ones I would have for a woman). For me a man of magnitude is first and foremost a family man. A man who is devoted to his wife and children. Too much tragedy stems from...