To truly understand the movie you have to understand the historical context of the time period. Much like the horrible stuff that happened to anyone with dark skin in the US to the civil rights movement of the 60's, South Africa was a country that had severe segregation period known as apartheid. The end is poignant because of two reasons
1. This white boy who never truly knew the context of the society he lived in was friends with Sam and willie as they were the father figure he desperately needed. one night after succumbing to the social pressures and familial pressures that came from having an abusive and drunk father, he cracked and hateful words that he probably heard all his life came out of his lips. So when Sam warns him to think twice before Hally demands to be called "master Harold", Sam is hoping to spare Hally from becoming another product of the racism of the society and bring about the change that he dreams about. At the end when Sam calls him Hally again and Hally doesn't ignore or spew the same hateful words its a glimmer of hope because even if he rides away, Hally knows what he knows and it's basically open ended- a what will he do now moment.
As far as the joke goes, One of the main derogatory terms used to describe a black african in that term was the word "kaffir." (the equivalent to the n word in america)
The racist joke was
"Hally, it's not fair."
"what's not fair?"
"a kaffir's ass."
Fair is a word with two meanings; when you say something isn't right and it also means something light in color.
So when Hally's father originally said that statement "it's not fair" he was saying as if he were complaining about some injustice in the world only to turn around and use it to describe the color of someone's skin. Which is why sam dropped his pants to prove that his ass is indeed as black as the rest of him.
- I hope this helps. If you can find a copy of the play or a version of the movie with subtitles to get passed the south african accent, i definitely would recommend you watch it again. It's a thought provoking movie.
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