Category: Fences

Introduction

It is hard to disagree that different historical and cultural contexts in literary works allow for a better understanding of the meanings and plots implied by the authors. Therefore, those readers who are acquainted with the civil rights movement, World War II events, and other impactful processes in U.S. history, as well as people’s attitudes and behaviors in specific time periods, can receive valuable insights into plays. Fences, a 1985 drama play by August Wilson, is set in the 1950s, and one of the social processes it focuses on is racial segregation. The purpose of this topic is to explore this systematic separation of individuals based on their skin color and then discuss how this knowledge helps understand Wilson’s play better.

Exploring the Topic of Racial Segregation Deeper

To begin with, it is essential to define segregation and mention the key characteristics of this social process. According to researchers, racial segregation is a demonstrated and purposeful separation of individuals into groups based on their skin color or other ethnic features (Bones & Mathew, 2020). Before the civil rights, “regarded by many as second-class citizens, blacks were separated from whites by law and by private action in transportation, public accommodations, recreational facilities, prisons, armed forces, and schools in both Northern and Southern states” (The Library of Congress, n.d., para. 1). Interestingly, Jenkins (2019) states that “whenever the government recognized, certified, protected, tolerated, supported, or ignored discriminatory practices … it effectively produced and reproduced racial segregation” (p. 169). This is one of the key moments to know about this social process – it was promoted not only by citizens but also by the U.S. authorities.

The main characteristic of segregation is inequality faced by racial minorities. While it may be stated that all ethnic groups receive the same treatment, resources, and access to social benefits, African Americans experienced severe discrimination (Rosemblatt, 2018). They were considered ‘unworthy’ of fair and welcoming attitudes, and even when they managed to receive what was always available for the Whites, they never felt accepted or equal. Noticeably, those cases when discrimination was somehow reduced or eliminated were perceived quite negatively by most White citizens. As stated by Bones and Mathew (2020), “the longstanding racial segregation of American neighborhoods leads Whites to see integration as a threat to their social standing, as well as a visible decline in their own status” (p. 6). This is another interesting feature of racial segregation and a reason for its strength.

As a result of this process, White and Black Americans had to attend different schools, shops, and events and be separated in all other ways possible. There were specific professions and vacancies for White persons and others for African Americans, and sometimes such rules were only implied, not indicated officially (Rosemblatt, 2018). As a result, Black persons rarely strived for more than they had, considered White Americans to be more authorized and knowledgeable, and their attempts to reduce segregation levels in the 1940s-1950s were met with hostile reactions (Bones & Mathew, 2020). Even when the government made certain attempts to address discrimination and add more equality to the citizens’ everyday lives, it took African Americans much more years than expected to feel more welcomed, accepted, and eligible.

Relating the Context to the Play

The outlined characteristics and the role of segregation in the 1950s allow understanding the play better. In Fences, Wilson (1985) depicts his characters facing inequalities and discrimination and being unable to do anything with such segregation seen in all levels of life. These societal attitudes have become an integral part of fifty-three-year-old Troy’s vision, and the information explored earlier in the paper can help readers understand why this has happened to the man. For example, when discussing sports with his son, Troy says that African Americans have to put in much more effort than Whites and also resents: “They got colored on the team and don’t use them. Same as not having them. All them teams the same” (Wilson, 1985, p. 37). This situation shows the first attempts of the society and government to make the ethnic groups co-exist, but the resistance from people, including older Blacks, is still strong.

Further, Troy also indicates some unspoken differences between the Whites’ and the Blacks’ opportunities, showing that hierarchies exist everywhere. Troy is a garbage collector, and in his company, only White workers can drive trucks, and the work of Blacks is to lift the garbage (Wilson, 1985, p. 5). This minor inequality once again proves the power of segregation that managed to enter even the least wanted profession. Finally, to demonstrate how people perceived such separation as non-changing, it is possible to provide an example of Bono and his wife living in awful conditions for years. Bono exclaims: “To this day I wonder why in the hell I ever stayed down there for six long years. But see, I didn’t know I could do no better. I thought only white folks had inside toilets and things” (Wilson, 1985, p. 10). This situation can be understood better knowing that African Americans got used to experiencing inequalities, and even when it was possible to receive more, this fact never occurred to many of them.

Conclusion

To draw a conclusion, one may say that contextual information actually makes it easier to understand the events and behaviors described in literary works. Without knowing the characteristics of racial segregation in the U.S. before civil rights, readers may be confused by the actions and attitudes of the characters in Fences. Precisely the behavior of Whites and the inability to change anything shaped Troy’s and other characters’ vision and resulted in the events described in the play.

References

Bones, P., & Mathew, S. (2020). The power (threat) of white women: A content analysis of gender, race, and context in police calls on racial minorities in America. Journal of Liberal Arts and Humanities, 1(7), 1-11.

Jenkins, D. (2019). Who segregated America? In S. Marcus & C. Zaloom (Eds.), Think in public (pp. 169-178). Columbia University Press.

The Library of Congress. (n.d.). Brown v. Board at Fifty: “With an Even Hand”: A Century of Racial Segregation, 1849–1950. Web.

Rosemblatt, K. A. (2018). The science and politics of race in Mexico and the United States, 1910–1950. UNC Press Books.

Wilson, A. (1985). Fences. Internet Archive. Web.

Introduction

August Wilson was born in Pittsburgh’s Hill district in 1945 to a white father and a black mother which was certainly not a promising start in his life. His racial identity caused him quite a number of misfortunes inherent within the trans-racial culture of slavery and discrimination.

In historical sense, the play eluminates the inherent inequality of power between black communities and the white supremacies and ways in which racism has become internalised by invading the social fabric of our communities. In the play, “Fences” by August Wilson, the character of Troy Maxson portrays a man that has a lot of hard times in his past, especially when it came to his father. Because of it, it has turned him into a man incapable of showing love to his own children and in the end a tragic figure.

Analysis

The book’s title “Fences”, offers a central metaphor for the play in exploring lives and relationships of black families back in 1950s as slaves to the white men. Troy, a major character in the book, is fiercely proud of his ability to provide for his family, a responsibility he effortlessly tries to instil into his son’s life who is otherwise determined to find a place in the college league.

Racism and discrimination becomes the centre stone of our analysis by providing the metaphoric activity of the play which however illustrates the distinct relationships that existed between the black and white cultures in 1950s.

For nearly two decades, Troy worked as garbage man alongside Bono. Together they hauled junk on the alleys and neighbourhoods, and later applied for a promotion which was not an easy task due to the white supremacy but got it anyway as a garbage truck driver, a career that symbolically separated him from American community (Wade 1).

To answer the question of fractured relationship between Troy and his son, Troy’s inability to secure a chance in Negro Baseball Team due to racism crippled his future of ever having money or fame associated with it. Since he now works as a garbage man, he sees no hope for his son’s promised college scholarship in a league he considered dominated by the white culture. He asks Cory to instead consider getting a job or help out in the household chores than bartering up in the league.

Troy and Bono narrates the story of their childhood in the South and their difficult relationships with their fathers and how Negro League scaled down his life time dream to fit a rich man’s society into a run-down yard, an experience he never wishes his son Cory to encounter.

He’s been seriously scarred by the 1950s racism that loomed black communities. Brutality can also be portrayed when Troy’s father severely beat him when he found him with a girl and even raped the girl, reflecting conflict and abuse within the play (Fisherman 15).

Due to slavery, Troy and his son, Cory, interpret life differently because of their histories. For instance, Troy discourages his son from participating in the college’s football team arguing that his past racism experience discriminated him against the league for being of the minority culture.

And Cory should not experience the same hardship, disappointment and rejection he encountered. Corry, however, dismisses his claim by arguing that life has changed since he played. He therefore goes ahead and provides examples of successful African American athletes Wilson mentions as “The Braves got Hank Aaron and Wes Covington. Hank Aaron hit two home runs today. That makes fourty-three” (Act One scene three).

And Cory responds by saying that “Hank Aaron aint nobody” (Act One, scene three). It’s evident that if Troy would accept this change in the world would mean accepting his own misfortune. Their different perceptions of history provide a conflict that drifts away the father and son relationship.

Troy looks back at his past experience in the Negro League baseball with repulsive resentment that locked him out of the major league’s money and fame; an experience Zirin considers “turned his scars into wips” (1).

Due to is past experiences that never achieved him higher status in the social society, he insist on Troy returning to work and earn his way up in academic career because he sees employment to be fair and honest rather than risking his chance in the college league that is dominated by the powerful majority group. He is sure, sooner or laiter, that they will want him out of the league. And it was this discrimination that made him defiance.

In historical perspective, Cory sees life the way it is; a changing world that is gradually accepting a place for talented black players like him, but Troy’s irrational hypocrisy illustrates conflicting interpretation of history.

His hardened perception of the past makes him refuse to see the college recruiter coming to seek his permission for Cory to join the college football. He considers his selfish decision as protection, a strategy that clearly holds back a promising future for the son he believes to be protecting (Wilson Act One scene five).

Dr. Shannon argues that Wilson book “Fences” has contributed greatly to the historical legacy of African American tradition in relation to slavery and racism. She continues that the play provide themes that cut cross the contemporary social issues inherent within the slavery period.

She adds that the book lets the readers talk openly about unemployment, discrimination, pain, resignation and dislocation and exposes the long held stereotypical myths and views white people have against blacks. She also uses the book to lecture in seminars on social relevance of the books themes in today’s society (Shannon 3).

Conclusion

Fences by August Wilson re-writes the history of African American in the United States that was otherwise ignored by a vast majority of historical writers. By confronting horrors of slavery, the play uncoils the stories that were forgotten and misrepresented by writers who only read about them but did not have the experience Wilson had. The play brings the past to the present and it is without doubt the most remarkable healing therapy for African American would need to burry the past and move forward.

Which brings us to the question why Troy Maxon’s past made him so harsh towards his son? To answer this question, we consider his painful past experiences he never wishes to pass on to his son, however, it should be noted that his experience only relates to history and should not come in the way of his next generation’s success. By refusing Cory to join the college football league only kills his son’s good future he considers protecting either than bettering it.

Works Cited

Fisherman, Joan. “Developing His Song: August Wilson’s Fences.” August Wilson: A Case Study. Ed. Marilyn Elkins. New York: Garland, 1994.

Shannon, Sandra G. The Dramatic Vision of August Wilson. Washington, D.C: Howard UP, 1995.

Wade, Bradford. “August Wilson’s Fences”. Character and Setting Analysis. 2003: 1 Wilson, August. Fences: A play. New York: Plume Books, 1986.

Zirin, David. 2005. “Tribute to August Wilson: Breaking Down Fences”. Web.

Introduction

In The Literary Symbol by William York Tindall, symbol is defined as “the outward sign of an inward state” where ‘sign’ indicates a material object and ‘inward state’ refers to feelings, thoughts or a combination of the two (1955). As George Orwell used it, symbol refers to any substitution of character or construction that is intended to imply through strong connections characters and events occurring in the broader political world of the writer. As this concept is used in August Wilson’s play Fences, a combination of these approaches can be discerned. The play depicts the life of a group of people living in a small tenement building in Pittsburgh during a span of eight years from 1957 to 1965.

The main plot follows the life of Tony as he slowly builds a fence for his wife Rose, who feels the physical presence of the fence will help her contain the love of their little family and help keep them together. Tony is, in many ways, a progressive black man in an era before Civil Rights in that he helps pave the way for black men to obtain better employment positions. However, he is also a victim of his upbringing as he discusses with his oldest son. This causes him to build metaphoric fences that shut himself off from making meaningful emotional connections with those who should mean most to him. By naming his play Fences, the plural form of the word even though only a single physical fence is evident in the play, August Wilson brings attention to the symbolism of the fence itself as defined by Tindall while he also employs the wider political concepts of Orwell regarding the state of the entire race during this era.

Main text

One of the main activities holding the play together despite the long expanse of time that is covered in it is the building of Rose’s fence. At the end of Act 1, scene 2, Rose reminds Troy of the fence she wants him to build around their yard. This is an important element of the home front to her as the house with the fence around the yard signifies a step toward the middle class. That this was the case can be found in essays about women’s issues during this time period. According to Hewitt (2002), “in response to dramatic economic and political upheavals, they constructed white, middle-class ‘True Women’ as the gladiators at the gate, fending off the evils that accompanied the pursuit of wealth and power by bourgeois men and the expansion of cities, factories, and plantations that fed their success. Yet this was a warrior without armor taking her stand behind a white picket fence” (157).

The physical presence of the fence not only indicates an economic perception of a higher social status than those without fences, but also becomes a permanent reminder of the yard space that belongs to the family, highlighting the freedom they have gained. In Act 1, scene 1, Troy himself alludes to this upward economic motion as he jokes around about the possibility of Rose cheating on him and threatening to put a rooster in the back yard to keep the other men away from her. “Only thing is … when we first got married … forget the rooster … we ain’t had no yard!” (14). Although the family has achieved some financial success, for which Troy can take some pride, he is still resentful at the thought of the fence because of the work it represents and the way in which it serves to keep him locked within his own property rather than leaving him free to wander the neighborhood in whichever direction he chooses to roam. Throughout the play, Rose continues to push Troy to build the fence and it is only completed as Troy exits the play in death.

On a metaphorical level, the fence is seen as a symbol for keeping something beloved close and protected. It is Rose who continues to push for the fence, feeling it is necessary to protect her small family from the outside world. The fenced yard is reinforced as a symbol of the family’s status as well as the loving grace of God smiling upon them. However, the fence is also quickly recognized by the other characters as a means of trapping in the love and sense of family Rose has always struggled to maintain in spite of Troy’s contentious behavior. “Her desire to see it built becomes an openly symbolic issue that the characters comment on with insight and sadness” (Zinn, 2005: 1).

The idea that for Rose, a fence is something used to contain all the love and togetherness of an ideal American family is first introduced in the beginning of Act 1, scene 2 when she is found singing a song asking Jesus to protect her like a fence. It is again reinforced by Gabriel’s dream that the fence of heaven has Rose’s name marked clearly for entrance, highlighting the idea that Rose has nothing to fear from the construction of fences because they will be there to welcome her, protect her and provide her with a safe sheltered place in which to live her life in happiness and peace. Bono later explains Rose’s strong desire for the fence to Troy, telling him, “Some people build fences to keep people out. Others build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold onto you all. She loves you.” Unfortunately, this effort to keep things in for love, on its external level, appears the same action as that perpetrated by the white man in attempting to keep the black man contained as a means of domination.

For Troy, the metaphorical meaning of the fence is quite different from the ideas held by Rose. For him, it is a symbol of the many ways in which he has been prevented from living the life he should have been living simply because he was born a little too early. “Fences is baseball slang for the outfield wall that must be cleared for a home run. … Troy, who could clear the fences with ease on the field, feels trapped by them in his life. Sports, which held the promise of escape, instead fenced him in and swallowed him whole, and he attempts to take his family with him” (Zinn, 2005: 1). In completing the fence, he feels as if he will be trapped within the much smaller world of his wife’s home and family, never again to escape into the greater world he once dreamed of entering and that he hopes his sons will enter successfully.

In direct contrast to the motion his wife continues to push on him, Troy works as hard or harder at building up psychological fences to keep people out. One such fence is his affair with Alberta, which he sees as a means of achieving some of the excitement of his youth. This concept is hinted at when he describes his marriage to Rose as “living for eighteen years on first base.” When Alberta becomes pregnant and Troy has to confess to Rose, he does so in terms that indicate she should understand the difficulties he’s had in attempting to confine himself within another world’s contradictory and dramatically unfair rules while still managing to provide for his family (Thompson, 2007: 2). Unfortunately, a large portion of the reason Troy has been able to provide his family with a home and a yard has been because he has taken over the money the state gives to his brother as compensation for the brain damage Gabriel suffered in the war.

Troy also works to separate himself as much as possible from Corey, believing this is the appropriate way to launch a son into the world. Troy’s vehement rejection of Corey’s possible sports career is an example of the type of fence he is attempting to build between himself and the boy. Rose asks him, “Why don’t you let that boy go ahead and play football, Troy?” to which he responds, “I want him to move as far away from my life as he can get. You the only decent thing that ever happened to me. I wish him that. But I don’t wish a thing else from my life.” Toward the end of the play, just before Troy’s death, he drives Corey from the house as a means of forcing him to get out on his own and support himself, to be a man, by closing the fence between them. Notice how the fence at the end of the play has finally been completed, the last obvious thing Troy did.

Conclusion

As is suggested by Tindell, the symbolism of the fence is thus related to the various psychological and philosophical understandings of life held by the characters involved in the play. What takes the play to the deeper level, however, is the way in which Wilson uses this symbolism to discuss issues that have been a fundamental aspect of black people’s lives since emancipation. Through this presentation of the various fences that function to contain and to separate, Wilson speaks about the fundamental issues being faced by black people throughout the country. “Throughout the play Wilson places Troy within the historical context of the Negro Leagues, allowing his character to echo the feelings of actual black ballplayers who were denied a chance to compete at the major-league level. Furthermore, by situating Troy within three of baseball’s mythic settings – the garden, the battlefield and the graveyard or sacred space – Wilson contradicts the idea of America as a ‘field of dreams’” (Koprince, 2006: 349). At the same time, whether one has been involved in the game of baseball or not, the common analogy drawn between baseball and the American dream serves to expand the metaphor out to the general public and resonates within the heart, addressing political issues through his symbolism in true Orwellian fashion.

Works Cited

Hewitt, Nancy. “Taking the True Woman Hostage.” Journal of Women’s History. Vol. 14, N. 1. 2002, pp. 156-62.

Koprince, Susan. “Baseball as History and Myth in August Wilson’s Fences.” African American Review. Vol. 40, N. 2, (2006): 349-358.

Thompson, Jennifer. “The Coming of Age in August Wilson’s Fences.” Associated Content. Vol 389, (2007).

Wilson, August. Fences. (1987).

Zinn, Dave. “Tribute to August Wilson: Breaking Down Fences.” Common Dreams Newscenter. (2005).

Tindall, William York. The Literary Symbol. Bloomington, IN: Columbia University, 1955.

In Fences Wilson examines the trials of black family life in racist America. The family is faced with racial segregation along with unchecked housing and job discrimination forces them to settle for far less than the American Dream. The main character, Troy is depicted as the tyrant and the doting who commands a full range of emotions from pity to disgust. His family and all other characters pale beside his boisterous elocutions and selfish codes of behavior. Thesis The parental mistake made by Troy Manson is inability to compromise with and understand his children.

The play is based on a conflict between a father and his sons caused by misunderstanding and egoism of Troy. Troy Maxson is a fifty-three-year old garbage collector who still can recall ugly images of life under the iron rule of a frustrated, defeated father. At the same time, Troy tries the best way he knows how to direct the course of his own son’s life away from the negative influence of the boy’s ancestors. The main problem is that a top-notch baseball player during the Negro League’s heyday, Troy is too old to play on a desegregated Major League team. Troy asks Bono: “How in the hell they done changed? Bono replies: They got lots of colored boys playing ball now. Baseball and football. Troy’s egoism affects his son Cory. Intense dramatic episodes show that Troy and Cory clash over the boy’s plans to become a football player. Troy explains “the white man ain’t gonna let you get nowhere with that football noway”. When Cory is convinced by high school coaches that he has a future in football, he is quick to quit his after-school job at the local A&P. After Troy and his son Cory fight, Cory says “I’ll be back to get my things.” Troy replies, “They’ll be on the other side of that fence.”. Troy, who has other plans for Cory’s future, secretly discourages an interested recruiter from scouting the boy’s talents. As expected, Troy and Cory have a major argument, in which Troy encounters more opposition than he has ever gotten from any member of his family. Troy responded to rejection and to the segregation that kept him from using his talents in Major League baseball by adopting sheer survivalist codes of behavior: he resorted to stealing, eventually murdered a man, and, as a result, was sentenced to fifteen years in a penitentiary.

While Troy considers Cory’s job at the A&P to be a fitting beginning to a future of similar work, Cory has his sights on much greater goals. Because Troy was virtually shut out of Major League baseball, he wants his son to have no part in collegiate sports. Some, like Troy Maxson, rationalize that their downright mean treatment of their sons prepares them for the similar treatment that awaits them in society. These men let no opportunity pass without reminding their sons that they are the unquestionable authorities in their homes. Troy tells Cory, “You a man. Now, let’s see you act like one. Turn your behind around and walk out this yard. And when you get out there in the alley… you can forget about this house. See? Cause this is my house”. Troy denies his son’s coming manhood and continues to relish his powerful roles, as the sole provider, and as head of the Maxson household. Instead, acting in his usual autocratic manner, Troy maneuvers behind Cow’s back to destroy the boy’s chances of playing college football. He seems to gloat over this desperate display of authority, although it causes an already distant son to despise him. More important, Troy is the conspicuously absent father. The basic conflicts that emerged from such settings, therefore, revolved around the black female as sole head of the household, stoic in her resolve to hold her family together at all costs

Lyons, Troy’s son from a previous marriage, avoids confrontation and visits his father only when he wants a small loan; and Rose exists as a mere shadow in Troy’s presence until she learns that he has impregnated Alberta. However, throughout the play Lyons dislikes his father’s tactics and is not afraid to express his dissatisfaction, whether verbally, in the form of snide remarks, or physically, in a brief wrestling match. The other son, Cory, personifies optimism, but he must first confront and overcome the potentially emasculating dominance of the Maxson men. Cory suffers because of a father who has grown to regard him as “just another nigger on the street” and memories of a grandfather who sired children to be field hands, Cory is the hope of a new generation of black men. His unbridled enthusiasm about the possibility of attending college on a football scholarship suggests that he does not yet suffer from the defeatist attitudes that plagued the Maxson men before him. Interestingly Troy gets along marvelously with his first son, Lyons, who is an unemployed deadbeat musician. Despite his troubled relationship with Cory, Troy somehow feels that it is best that he humor Lyons to compensate for being a fifteen-year absentee father/convict. While he hands over Lyons’s usual $10 loan, the most resistance he can muster is, “Boy, your mama did a hell of a job raising you”. However, it is Cory, the son with boundless aspirations for a lucrative career and a college education, whom Troy opposes more. Troy is indifferent towards his family trying to prove his power and authority. “You got to take the crookeds with the straights. That’s what Papa used to say”. While on the surface it would appear that Troy is acting in Cory’s best interest, his motives reveal an undercurrent of jealousy prompted by a fear that Cory will exceed him on all counts. Trot says to Corry “Get your black ass out of my yard!”, The causes of envy is that Troy cannot envision that his son’s athletic ability may finance his college education and does not even consider discussing the matter with Rose.

The final scene takes place on the day of Troy’s funeral: one of his favorite concocted stories about doing battle with the grim reaper has caught up with him, and he has died while batting the rag doll he tied to a tree in the yard. Previously alienated, the family members respond to Troy’s death by tightening their communal bonds at this solemn occasion, and Rose gently convinces her prodigal son Cory to tear down the fences that have long existed between father and son. Troy was surprised at what the North had to offer: “I thought I was in freedom. Shhh. Colored folks living down there on the river banks in whatever kind of shelter they could find for themselves…. Living in shacks made of sticks and paper”. Troy dies a lonely man, but with at least the hope that his son Cory would rise above the racism that had made him so bitter.

In sum, troublesome relationships between Troy and his sons cause sufferings to all of them. Troy Maxson is fiercely proud of his so-called paternal responsibility, yet he is ashamed of sons who choose not to follow their father example. Although Cory’s failure to hold his job and his ambitions to play college football show lack of parental support and love so important for children. Wilson portrays challenges faced by fathers and sons who need to find their place in the society.

Works Cited

Wilson, A. Fences. Plume, 1986.

Discussion

August Wilson’s Fences displays the struggle of African Americans to attain their ambitions. Wilson explained clearly how men in African-American struggled to be victorious in achieving their dreams. Literary scripts can contribute greatly as historical articles which express social actualities that are creatively displayed by the Wilson.

Hence, literature may not be disconnected from society and the analysis of literature must be associated to society. August Wilson is well-known in American literature as a writer of plays of African-American who usually narrate about African incidences in the past societies in U.S. The attempts of African Americans to attain their ambitions, as well as its challenging social matters like discriminations are portrayed in his play called Fences.

This play narrates about a black family in 1950s who attempted to live among the people in the American urban regions (Bogumi 34). The author himself stayed in African American slum society during his early age, which he went on to portray in several dramatic writings.

The play, Fences, gives an appealing case of the way both metaphysical and physical expressions of particular African retentions joint to enhance existing African American culture. The Africa which the author revives in Fences portrays itself through different levels and in both explicit and implicit ways. Normally, such ways may not be comprehended if American sense exists as the only standard. These African links come out in unspoken policies which shape everyday rituals of such characters and instill the play on several stages.

Through analyzing Fences within African American cosmology, instead of depending only upon Western models of examination, the play produces a greater important interpretation of how black Americans settle the issues of their “double consciousness” in the America (Steffens 5). That African cosmology turns into an important section of the play’s sub textual tale, a tale which opposes America’s disruptive discrimination with Africa’s ability to cure, reunite, and empower.

All through the play, the search of dreams has contributed greatly in the characters’ self-achievement. Nevertheless, Fences mainly focused on the men characters and their goals; the author did not talk much about the characters of women. As Wilson portrays the characters of men in detail, the dreams of female characters stay undeclared.

Furthermore, just one female, called Rose Maxson, who represented his women characters, while the rest of women protagonists only existed after they are cited by other women characters participating in the play. It appears that the author merely provides opportunity to Rose to express her mind as a member of the African American women. Hence, Rose is a main character which may be employed as the channel to understand about the way women observe the benefit of possessing and attaining their dreams.

From the start of the play, Rose is expressed as the character under the patriarchal control and association with her spouse is exemplified through her spouse’s sexist viewpoints. Just like the rest of Black women, when she went into marriage, she had to sacrifice her freedom and she is possessed and completely authorized by her husband.

While she attempts to safeguard her family, Troy is betraying through having relationship with different women as his manner to attain free will. This issue surprised Rose: “You should have stayed in my bed, Troy… You should have held me tight. You should have grabbed me and hold on.” (Wilson 1333). She is curious about Troy’s faithfulness as her spouse and his compliance to maintain their marriage in a positive path.

The goods moods and close relations among a mother and children as well may be observed in the family of the author. Wilson and his brothers and sisters took their mother as their role model, whereas their father was mainly not there during their early age. Their mother was the person who showed them the benefit of possessing stable sense of satisfaction and zero tolerance for impartiality.

As the author wrote about African-American, he did not prevent the control of culture in the place he grew up, including his previous incidences of discrimination, and he made his play derived on those factors which he experienced from his life. Additionally, he expressed that Fences provides a distinct viewpoint on the way persons observe the African-Americans, which can have an impact on the way they think and contact each other.

In Fences, Wilson attempted to describe the experiences of women in the past societies through introducing or using Rose, he employed her character as his device to portray how difficult the life of Black American is. Her disappointment in attaining her dream to have a successful marriage and her intention to dedicate her life greatly on her parenthood’s side, looks like the life of some African American mothers.

His mother, who was unsuccessful in trying to have the best family during her initial marriage, along with her achievement in improving her children’s status, are his devices to direct his reader to understand effectively about the past of African American females.

From the analysis of Fences, it can be deduced that the author is conscious of the status of African-American who are near him and he made his play derived from such facts (Bogumi 34), therefore Wilson employed the characters like Rose to pass a point to the African American women to consider their ambitions and even, to add more efforts to attain their goals, even though their goals are still nearly linked to the concepts satisfying their responsibilities as the core provider of the family.

He did well in displaying is perspective on the way African American women must observe the benefit of having their own goals and what they must perform to attain such goals.

Certainly, African American women in the past had fewer opportunities upon getting into adulthood. Rarely did such options go past their marriage, parenthood, and family life.

Finances used during their schooling was seen as an ill-advised investment, particularly since less job opportunities were not there for them which needed more than a capacity of providing for the needs of the white Americans. Furthermore, the status of anti-intellectualism against female proposed that schooling “stained” women and create them not to be better wives.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the existence of the African-Americans is mainly evaluated by men values and standards. From the above analysis, female are placed in the inequality position by men and the patriarchal structure, and this status creates them, rarely, have an opportunity to consider their own dreams so attain them. Wilson is successful in displaying is perspective on what issues experienced by women who are attempting to attain their dreams as a kind of equality and acceptance in the community.

August Wilson’s Fences not only motivates debate, but it as well motivates thoughts concerning human status. The play brings about the degree of understanding that exceeds certain experiences of the Maxson family and continues to portray a simple wisdom for both the individual and for that particular person as a connection in a family system (Steffens 5). The idea of this play is to bring to the front within complete observation of the racial and economic difficulties which African Americans faced during past America society.

Works Cited

Bogumi, Maryl. Understanding August Wilson. Columbia, SC: Univ of South Carolina Press, 1999. Print.

Steffens, Johannes. Recognizing ‘Fences’ – Troy Maxson’s Identity Politics. New York: GRIN Verlag, 2007. print.

Wilson, August. Fences Drama: A Pocket Anthology. 3^rd Ed. New York: Penguin Academics, 2006. Print.

Introduction

It is worth noting that August Wilson’s play Fences is considered one of the greatest achievements of contemporary African-American dramaturgy. It is part of a series of works revealing the tragic experience of African Americans living in 20th century America (Wessling 124). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the significance of the play’s title as applied to different themes and characters of the play.

General Points

The title of the play directly intersects with the image of the fence, which is being built along with the development of the plot and evolution of the main characters. Curiously, the symbol of the fence is crucial for each character of the play. Initially, the reader cannot understand why Troy wants to build a fence. The author gives the audience the opportunity to answer this question autonomously. It is evident that the fence has a physical function; nevertheless, it also has a psychological connotation – this is a barrier that the father has built between himself and his family (Wessling 124). At the same time, the fence reflects Rose’s efforts to preserve what she values. The title is in the plural form to indicate the barriers existing between people on different levels.

Discussion

The play’s title reflects the leitmotif of the plot – people erect a sensitive fence to protect themselves and their family members from the outside world that is often hostile. Simultaneously, by building such fences, they attempt to execute their control over other people, which also alienates them from each other. This way, a fence becomes something similar to a trap because driven by a deep internal feeling, individuals try to protect themselves and their loved ones from the circumstances they cannot control (Wills 50). As a result, they end up in an environment full of conflict. By building a protective fence, the heroes of the play attempt to secure themselves, but in the end, the only thing they have is disrupted relationships.

The symbolic meaning of the title is revealed immediately after the reader gets acquainted with Troy Maxson. This person is someone who loves his family and is eager to do everything he can to protect his wife and sons. Importantly, he is an individual with a particular worldview and someone who has wraith, but he considers himself helpless. He wants his children to have the things he could not afford and never to face the challenges he had to face (Blackburn 339). Troy decides to build the fence so that it becomes a physical barrier protecting his family from the outside world while he also wants to establish a secure psychological environment for his children. The father cannot think of how his sons could deal with the difficulties and inequalities he had to overcome.

The theme of racism is also transmitted through Troy’s character and the symbol of a fence. In particular, the father finds himself in a situation when a barrier existing between people of different races has a form of institutional racism. At work, white people were the ones who would do the driving; meanwhile, the colored ones had to do all the lifting. He is eager to break this inequality, so he poses this question directly. He then wonders: “They gonna fire me cause I asked a question? That is all I did…” (1. 1. 2825). It may be assumed that it would not matter if an African-American worker was better qualified for the job – a white employee would still be driving the truck.

Importance of the Symbol for Other Main Characters

However, fences are not a symbol with a strongly negative connotation; in fact, it is always a mixture of moods and attitudes. In the case of Rose, a fence for her is something similar to a love shield (Wills 51). The woman sings: “Jesus, I want you to protect me as I travel on my way” (1. 2. 2852). She strives for the feeling of security and wants to feel that her family is protected by a greater force. The mother needs to have a safe environment in which she will be able to take proper care of her family.

In contrast to the female character, Troy and Cory are sometimes reluctant to continue building the fence. It is important that Bono understands the difference between Troy and Rose at some point. As he puts it: “Some people build fences to keep people out…and other build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all” (2. 1. 2908). For the father, the fence is a measure necessary for not letting other people in, while for Rose, the fence allows forming a secure area in which the family could be nurtured. The goal of the two heroes is to protect their sons, but their perceptions of how to achieve it are different.

Symbolism and Themes

Troy’s reluctance to finish the fence displays his poor commitment to his marriage, while Rose is eager to keep everyone together despite the difficulties faced. The reader may notice that the fence is being built throughout the play, and it is ready at the end. This process is so lengthy because Troy neglects his liability just the way he disregards his responsibility to be a loyal husband. Notably, he mentions that it is because of Cory, who is not always available for continuing the construction works. In his turn, Cory stresses that Troy “don’t never do nothing, but go down to Taylors’” (1. 3. 2864). The implication here is that Troy spends time with his mistress Alberta, and the fence becomes a symbol of not only infidelity but also some degree of indifference in regard to the family.

Apart from that, the fence is a symbol of a broken relationship between a father and a son. It is quite possible that the mother, Rose, asked her husband and son to build a fence in an effort to reinforce the connection between them. She might have noticed the growing distance and alienation between Troy and Cory, so their mutual effort could have reunited them. The fence could have become a symbol of a union if the plot had a different denouement. As was discussed earlier, for Troy, the fence is a barrier, which allows him to leave something out of his life. When talking to his father, Cory says: “Tell Mama I’ll be back for my things”, and the father reacts: “They’ll be on the other side of that fence” (2. 4. 2946). This dialogue puts an end to the bond between a parent and a child, building both a physical and psychological barrier between the two. The choice of words allows assuming that the child is no longer welcome in his father’s territory.

The significance of the title of the play may be analyzed on a deeper level as well. Closer to the ending, the father builds a fence as a measure to protect himself from Death. When his mistress dies in childbirth, he addresses Death, saying: “All right…Mr. Death. See now…I’m gonna build me a fence around what belongs to me. And then I want you to stay on the other side” (2. 2. 2930). It is clear that he understands that, one day, Death will come and take his life away as well as the lives of his family members’. However, he is ready to fight, and this eagerness to struggle is quite revealing (Blackburn 339). It implies that he thinks not only about himself but also about his loved ones.

Nevertheless, his attempt to shield his family from Death is not that important. What is more significant is the barrier between a father and son and the loss of connection between a husband and wife. When Troy’s newborn child is brought to Rose, she agrees to take care of the baby; however, she tells her husband: “You a womanless man” (2. 3. 2933). This has indicated that a fence between her and Troy will remain forever, and no effort from his side will be able to change that. The complexity of the situation lies in the fact that Rose wants to keep her family away from hardships and temptations using the fence, but all of that has been detected inside the family itself.

Further Points

Moreover, the title of the play symbolizes all the difficulties the main character, the father, has faced throughout his life. Troy grew up in a family with an abusive father. He did not come from a well-off family and had to live in poverty (Blackburn 339). Growing up, he became quite a promising athlete, but racism intrinsic to society did not allow him to become a professional player. As an adult, he gradually becomes more and more separated from his family by a multitude of different fences. However, the end of the play leaves the reader with an open ending. After Gabriel finishes his dancing, the audience may assume that Troy finally becomes free and finds forgiveness. After he dies, nothing prevents him from feeling harmonious, and nothing can disrupt his peace.

It should be stressed that the author of the play uses the symbol of a fence to indicate the multi-layered internal conflict inside the family and individuals (Blackburn 340). The title of the play is a direct reference to this idea. Everybody in Fences needs to overcome their own sins and barriers, while the literary device Wilson has used is simply a tool to drive the reader through the complex conflicts inside the reading. As the characters evolve, their fences either grow together with them or become less noticeable, but for every hero, a fence represents both love and hurdles of life.

Conclusion

Thus, it can be concluded that Fences by August Wilson is a play the parts of which require close reading. The fence the family has built together indicates something different for everybody. As the family was erecting the fence, people protected by it would become more and more distant from each other. However, when the work was done, the family would reunite again despite the losses experienced. The title of the play is a collective symbol of all the obstacles each member of the family had to face.

Works Cited

Blackburn, Regina Naasirah. “Erupting Thunder: Race and Class in the 20th Century Plays of August Wilson.” Socialism and Democracy, vol. 17, no. 1, 2003, pp. 339-358.

Wessling, Joseph H. “Wilson’s Fences.” The Explicator, vol. 57, no. 2, 1999, pp. 123-127.

Wills, Anne Blue. “Heroes, Women, Wives: Writing Other Lives.” Fides et Historia, vol. 49, no. 2, 2017, pp. 49-52.

Wilson, August. “Fences.” Literature: A Portable Anthology, edited by Janet E. Gardner et al., 4th ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2017, pp. 2820-2963.

Introduction

Reputedly, Fences is one of the most famous dramas in American literature. In 1983 August Wilson wrote a story of a man who built fences around himself. The play is full of metaphors concerning fences which reveal the major theme and idea, building fences. Depicting the life of the average African American family Wilson articulates the universal truth that if “someone builds a fence, the builder is at once fencing in and fencing out” (Bloom 139).

It is important to point out that Wilson portrays negative outcomes of such building in a very lively manner. The dramatic structure of the play, use of numerous metaphors, and, of course, depiction of such a modern hero as Troy make Wilson’s ideas obtain physical form.

Dramatic structure of the play

Admittedly, drama “is not flexible as other forms of literature” (McMahan et al. 736). The playwright is limited in time and space, so it is essential to be precise when writing a play. Wilson manages to reveal his ideas within the necessary limits. The story is told in two major parts. The first part is revealed in the very beginning of the play, more so, in the very setting of the play: “a small dirt yard, partially fenced” (Wilson 788).

In this first part of the play Wilson portrays the process of building fences. Troy’s memories, Troy’s dialogues with the members of his family make the viewer see how Troy is building his fences, and why he is doing that. The image of the incomplete fence enhances the idea of building fences.

The second part of the play is its very ending. This part reveals the outcomes of fences building. Troy is buried. Now he is completely fenced from the rest of the world. The fence around the yard is completed. This part of the play is concerned with the outcomes of fence building. Wilson draws a conclusion in this part: a man, who is trying to build a fence around himself, manages to do it, but he fences himself in, and makes this person absolutely lonely.

This specific structure makes the play really appealing since the playwright ends his story with a strong and evocative scene when insane brother of Troy, Gabriel, opens the heavenly gates to his brother and makes him free from the fences Troy was building during his life. Of course, the viewer understands that the fences are destroyed too late.

This makes the end very strong, since the viewer starts thinking about his/her own fences. It goes without saying that such a dramatic structure serves the major aim of the play: to reveal the negative outcomes of building fences.

Troy – the modern hero

Admittedly, to reveal his ideas Wilson uses one more tool. He creates a lively modern character. It is necessary to point out that Wilson’s Troy is one of the brightest examples of the modern hero since he is not only bad or good, only tragic or comic (McMahan et al. 786). Troy is a living man who is characterized by myriads of good and bad features.

Sometimes he is too distant from his wife and children. For instance, in his talk with his friend Troy confesses about his love affair, but at the same time it is possible to feel that he loves his wife and sometime can express his affection (Wilson 790-791). Troy can be characterized as a stern father, but he still loves his children. Even in his disapproval of his son’s longing to enter big sport it is possible to feel care.

Troy simply does not want his son, Cory, to experience the same disappointment: “I decided seventeen years ago that boy wasn’t getting involved in no sports. Not after what they did to me in the sports” (Wilson 806).

Of course, times has changed and Cory has a real chance to become a famous and successful player, but Troy does not see the changes because the fence he built in his mind is too high to see it (Wilson 805). Thus, Wilson creates a hero who is, so to speak, multifaceted. This characteristic feature of the modern hero Troy makes it possible to understand why he built the fence around him.

Metaphors and symbols – direct messages to the audience

It goes without saying that the image of the main character and his fences is enhanced by the use of metaphors and symbols which play essential role in revealing the playwright’s ideas. Admittedly, the major symbol of the play is physical representation of the fence, which is incomplete in the first part of the play and is finished in the second, culmination part of the play.

The viewer is exposed to the major idea of the play all the time. Troy is building a fence around his yard in the real world and around himself in his mind. He wants to defend himself from the hostile world, but instead he isolates himself. Troy’s fences do not let him see numerous opportunities which appear in a rapidly changing world.

Interestingly, Troy also uses numerous metaphors dreaming about “swinging for the fences” (Bloom 139). Wilson’s main character does not admit he has built fences (does not see new opportunities and does not always let somebody in), but he still wants to escape from the metaphorical fences. Troy wants to go beyond his own fences. These metaphors also enhance the idea of being imprisoned in one’s own fences.

One of the most evocative symbols of the play is the final performance of Gabriel who is breaking the fences for his brother and sets him free. Notably, Wilson articulates an idea that in many cases only insane can ruin fences whereas “normal” people build new ones.

This idea is articulated by the scene when Lyons is trying to stop Gabriel when he is “opening” the gates for Troy (Wilson 834). Admittedly, these are only some of the brightest metaphors used in the play. And the whole scope of these metaphors reveals the major idea of the play.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is possible to note that Wilson made his idea of the negative outcomes of building fences absolutely explicit in his famous play. More so, specific structure of the play, numerous metaphors and symbols create a complete picture of fences which can exist in human life.

Moreover, Wilson’s modern hero, Troy, is a kind of illustration of a fenced individual. Wilson reveals his sorrows and his happy moments, but apart from all this Wilson claims that any fences lead to loneliness. Notable, Wilson’s expressive and emotional play makes people think of their own fences and their own ways in the world.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. August Wilson. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing, 2009.

McMahan, Elizabeth, Susan Day, Robert Funk. Literature and the Writing Process. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.

Wilson, August. “Fences.” Ed. Elizabeth McMahan, Susan Day, Robert Funk. Literature and the Writing Process. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. 788-834.

Introduction

Fences is a tragic play by August Wilson, premiered in 1985. It tells of a black man in the 1950’s USA, Troy Maxson, and his relationships with his family and only friend, Bono. The play received critical acclaim, and, in 2013, a film adaptation. As a tragedy, Fences shows its central character’s downfall, caused by his flaws. This essay will examine some of the characters and themes of the play.

Summary

The entirety of the play takes place in front of Troy Maxson’s, the main character’s house. As he interacts with and eventually alienates his friend and family, the viewer learns more about the personal flaws — stubbornness, inflexibility, selfishness — which causes him to conflict with those who trust him. After he drives away his wife, brother, two sons, and only friend, he has one final bout with Death — whom he describes as a white, hooded figure — and dies. His broken family reunites for his funeral, and his brother, who believes himself to be Archangel Gabriel, blows his trumpet in an attempt to open the gates to Heaven.

Themes

Baseball is a significant theme in the play and serves as a central part of Troy’s character and history. His greatest regret is his failure to make it into the Major League despite allegedly being a sufficiently capable player. He blames systemic racism for it: “don’t come telling me I was too old. I just wasn’t the right color” (Wilson, 2017, p. 42). Baseball metaphors occupy a significant part of Troy’s vernacular, such as referring to mistakes as “strikes,” or his place in life as “standing on first [base].” Even the play’s title, Fences, is a reference to “swinging for the fences” in addition to the literal and metaphorical fences Troy builds that keep the other characters out — or in. However, there is an argument that “the entire social, racial, and political world view Troy derives from baseball is misguided” (Letzler, 2014, p. 302). Whether one agrees with this or not, America’s national pastime plays an integral part in the story.

As Troy has three children a significant part from each other, the difference between generations is put into perspective. It has been pointed out that these children were born “precisely seventeen years apart, represent Troy’s paternal responsibilities to three successive generations” (Nadel, 2018, p. 74). While his relationship with Raynell is understandably short, and Lyons’ story happens mostly off-stage, it is his lack of understanding and subsequent falling out with Cory that the viewers see unfold.

Characters

The play’s characters are defined by their relationship with Troy Maxston, each highlighting a different flaw in him. It is his stubbornness that drives away his middle son, Cory. He gets invited to college on a football scholarship, but Troy goes to significant lengths to prevent him from being accepted. He claims that the same racism that kept him out of the Major League will affect his son, as well. Even after being shown successful non-white athletes, he refuses to admit that times have changed and heed anyone’s experiences but his own. The play does not make it clear whether his fatherly protectiveness or jealousy cause that his son might succeed where he failed. In the end, the viewers see Cory making his way in life, having joined the US Marine Corps.

Lyons, representing the second generation of the Maxstons, followed a different path from Cory. While his father had dominated Cory’s life, Troy was absent for most of Lyons’ childhood and youth. Lyons also has a strong aspiration his father disapproves of: music. This disapproval is not as evident as with Cory, but Troy again refuses to acknowledge it, or see him perform when he joins a band. Their relationship seems to be purely transactional, as Lyons visits occasionally to borrow ten dollars. However, it also shows that Troy feels some obligation or duty towards his son since he lends him the money. Later, when Lyons establishes a source of income and tries to repay his debts, his father refuses to take it or not present at all. By the end, Lyons finds himself serving a prison sentence for fraud, but finds the people to form a band even there, and intends to continue his musical career after his release.

His wife Rose falls victim to his selfishness and unwillingness to let an opportunity pass. He appears bored and complacent with his family life, driving him to have an affair with another woman. Although Troy has difficulty justifying it, he feels no remorse for it, again falling back on his baseball metaphors: “after eighteen years I wanted to steal second” (Wilson, 2017, p. 73). Rose confides that she had also thought about an affair and reminds him that he is not “the only one who’s got wants and needs” (Wilson, 2017, p. 74). It falls on deaf ears as her husband, again, refuses to acknowledge anyone’s perspective but his own.

Troy’s relationship with Gabriel, his war veteran brother, is already deteriorating at the beginning of the play. Gabriel received a large pension from the government, which Troy spent to buy their house. This decision is initially justified since Gabe’s head injury left him “in no condition to manage that money” (Wilson, 2017, p. 31). However, he eventually desires a degree of independence and moves out, noting at every visit that “Troy’s mad at me” (Wilson, 2017, p. 28). Finally, Troy signs the papers that allow his brother to be institutionalized, claiming that he had signed nothing but a release form, but since he is illiterate, the authorities might have tricked him.

Discussion

Fences uses its themes to connect with a broad audience. The play’s tragedy and Troy’s flaws are universal, not uniquely African-American or American in general. While racism plays a significant role in the main character’s worldview, the play, its events show that although it may not be gone entirely, things have improved over his lifetime. It is telling that when he speaks about his fight with Death, Troy describes a white-robed figure with a hood. This similarity has not gone unnoticed: “by depicting Death as a Klansman, Troy explicitly links his wrestling match to his struggles against racial injustice” (Davis, 2014, p. 57). Despite this view, other characters suggest that it was his advancing age that prevented him from furthering his baseball career, and no overt racism is shown in the play.

Conclusion

Fences is a modern drama, using the metaphor of baseball to show one man’s family destroyed through nobody’s faults but his own. He might have had the best intentions, but his stubbornness, short-sightedness and lack of empathy take the best of him in the end, costing him everyone he has loved. These flaws are universal, and the characters, including Troy, are presented as sympathetic and believable. The setting may be uniquely American, but under the surface, humans are still humans, and tragedy, drama, and Death spare no one.

Reference List

Davis, A. R. (2014) ‘Wrestling Jacob in the Book of Genesis and August Wilson’s Fences‘, Literature and Theology, 29(1), pp. 47-65.

Letzler, D. (2014) ‘Walking around the Fences: Troy Maxson and the ideology of “going down swinging”’, African American Review, 47(2-3), pp. 301-312.

Nadel, A. (2018) The theatre of August Wilson. London: Bloomsbury.

Wilson, A. (2017) Fences. Web.

Characters are the primary driving power in dramas, novels, and plays. Their roles in these stories help in developing and advancing the plotline. In particular, Fences, a play by August Wilson, displays numerous characteristics of Troy Maxson and how these personalities influence the environment and those around him. Troy is a diligent African-American; he began his career as a garbage collector and eventually as a driver in the sanitation service. Troy endured a difficult life and left his home aged 14. Further, he laments his predicaments on how he experienced hardship under the care of his father. Troy was an outstanding baseball player who could compete in the top-flight leagues had he not spent his early years in jail.

Troy is amusing, controversial, inspirational, and upsetting in equal measure, but he is one person who talks a lot. His conversation is filled with bravery, specks of obscenity, and poetry. He shares stories with unflinching zeal, at times frustrating Bono, Rose, and his other acquaintances. Furthermore, he is seen as a responsible man, providing his wife Rose with his earnings. Moreover, his responsibility is encompassed when he fails to aid his son in following his passion for playing college football to protect him from pain and heartbreak.

He is intolerable to people with diverse opinions towards his philosophies, and hence they frequently dispute with Rose. Troy’s words are charming as he uses them in describing nature as he is resentful of his adventure and the things he lost. His past description is a clear depiction of enslaved African American people’s atrocities; thus, he serves as a storyteller of the past in his family. Moreover, he is a hypocrite; he requires his loved ones to lead realistic and decent lives while allowing himself the opportunity to have an extramarital affair. He also fights against his bosses’ racial policies by challenging the restriction of black employees to lifters rather than drivers on garbage trucks.

The central idea I will discuss is the theme of father and son dynamics shown by Troy and Bono with their fathers. As Troy said explicitly in Act I, Scene IV, his father was a constant cause of conflict and was filled with tension and hate at times. Troy’s father acts as the role model for a cautionary story (Wilson 1415). Troy, on the other hand, is entirely perplexed and ultimately emulates his father’s behavior. Despite Troy’s accusations that his father was wicked and the devil, his father has continued to beat him brutally. Troy does not go out of his way to demonstrate to Cory how much he cared about Lyons throughout their relationship to compensate for his missed time. When Lyons tries to get Troy to watch him perform in Act I Scene IV, it serves as an excellent demonstration of their utterly opposed outlooks on life. However, in the paper, various scenes are precisely analyzed and various incidences are revealed, which portrays the existing differences and friendships among the protagonists.

Cory must face the burden of his father’s resentment, and his inability to comprehend what a father-son relationship must perform a crucial part in the scene’s climax. The relationships that a person develops throughout their life have a profound effect on their character. The drama is set at the Maxson family’s middle-class home, which is enclosed by an incomplete fence. This illustration represents the typical Black American household navigating a discriminatory and unequal society. Due to this, Troy’s entire existence is condensed into a specific spot in his domain, and Troy is its defender.

Troy and Bono inform Lyons about their southern upbringings and experiences with problematic dads in Act One, Scene Four. Despite their pessimism, Troy and Bono’s generation’s recollections may be compared to Lyons and Cory’s (Wilson 1418). When slavery was abolished, black people were compelled to work as sharecroppers, including Troy’s father. According to Troy, his father was so vicious that no woman would remain with him for an extended time, and therefore he was mainly raised alone. Troy’s father spotted the runaway animal as Troy was caring for his father’s prized mule (Wilson 1427). When Troy’s father discovered him with a girl he adored, he severely whipped Troy with leather reins until he submitted.

Troy was always defeated, regardless of how long he lived. Troy’s father sexually abused the minor child out of rage at him for failing to obey his demands, demonstrating that this man’s father was considerably more evil than previously assumed. Troy was formerly afraid of his father but has grown to appreciate him. According to Troy, the experience marked a turning point in his development as a man (Wilson 1428). Even though he was impoverished and homeless, he couldn’t bear the thought of living with someone who committed such atrocities. His isolation from his father shaped Troy’s view of manhood after the violence and betrayal of his father. One of Troy’s few redeeming characteristics was his keen sense of duty, which he valued highly. Troy became the primary earner for his eleven children when his father died.

On the other hand, Bono’s parents retained vivid recollections. Despite their differences, neither Bono nor Troy’s dad served as a father or provider for Bono and his family, but Troy’s father did. Bono’s father passed away when he was nine years old after a protracted battle with illness. Bono’s father struggled with a condition known as “The Walking Blues” that made it difficult for him to remain in one spot for extended periods or change partners often. Bono was unaware and unable to locate his father (Wilson 1435). His father declared, echoing the thoughts of many other African Americans of his age. After their release from slavery, many African-Americans migrated to the northern states, especially metropolitan areas, searching for better possibilities. This occurrence is referred regarded as the Great Migration. Bono has chosen not to have children to prevent a repeat of his father’s turbulent behavior. Contrary to Bono’s worries, the father’s attitude was not inherited from his mother; he adopted it to deal with his unique position. He has never breached his commitment to Lucille in 18 years.

They were nurtured differently, yet their journeys to adulthood were startlingly identical to those of their father. Troy could only spend time with his mother during Lyons’ early years since Troy spent most of that time imprisoned. Lyons, who grew up in a more prosperous household than Troy, believes he has earned the right to pursue his creative ambitions independently (Wilson 1442). Despite Troy’s absence from Lyons’ life, he gently steals money from the young man and returns it. Cory ultimately decides to leave home after an altercation with Troy, which parallels Troy’s conflict with Cory’s paternal grandpa. Troy and Cory assert that to be considered a man, one must leave the person who reared him after a brutal battle.” To put it mildly, moving into adulthood is challenging.

Work Cited

Wilson, August. “Fences” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. 2nd ed., edited by Michael Meyer and D. Quentin Miller, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2020, pp. 1408-1453.