"Enthusiasm for your cause is most commendable but without personal discipline it is as useless as having a good donkey and a good cart but no harness" (p.8) (Simile)
This quote is spoken by Mr. M during the debate that begins the play. He instructs both Thami and Isabel to calm down, since they cannot get their points across when they act "without personal discipline." The simile sounds traditional, almost biblical, showing this perhaps conservative side of Mr. M's character (especially as he is seen by Thami).
"My unruly behavior? I caught that disease in the location, I'll have you know." (p.31) (Metaphor)
Isabel speaks this quote jokingly to Mr. M early in the play. However, Isabel's use of the metaphor of the location giving someone disease suggests the complex and incendiary dynamics between the characters, since it refers implicitly to the belief that the segregated areas in which blacks lived were dangerous and could "infect" one with bad behavior. On the other hand, her irony about this—she is in effect defending her behavior—makes this also a critique of the idea that the behavior "caused" by the location is "unruly" or bad.
"I've got a whole zoo in here, a mad zoo of hungry animals...and the keeper is frightened!" (p.33) (Metaphor)
In this quote, spoken directly to the audience, Mr. M talks passionately about the emotions inside of him. He uses this metaphor of animals in a zoo to show how he tries and fails to control his emotions, and how powerful and fierce they can be. This instability is a result of his internal conflict over how to best serve his students and his country under apartheid.
"Sometimes dealing with the two of you is like walking on a tight rope. I'm always scared I'm going to put a foot wrong" (p.48) (Simile)
Isabel says this quote to Thami about being in situations with him and Mr. M, since their relationship is strained by the student-teacher dynamic, and their differing views on how to deal with apartheid. While Isabel is not directly impacted by apartheid, especially in her life before the play begins, she begins to experience these tensions when she spends time with Thami and Mr. M, trying to grapple with their charged conversations.
"I remember my school bells like beautiful voices calling to be all through my childhood" (p.52) (Simile)
In this quote, Thami reminisces about earlier days in his life when he enjoyed school more than anything. The school bell is already a motif in the play, used by both Thami and Mr. M, but here it is painted in a very positive light through its comparison to "beautiful voices."
