Essay On Fences By August Wilson

The play Fences by August Wilson revolves around Troy Maxson, an African American who works in the sanitation department during the late 1950s through to 1965, a period best known for the Struggle for Civil Rights and fight to end racism for the African-Americans. Troy in order to escape his abusive father made his way north where the black lived in poverty and had hard time finding jobs. Troy is sent to prison for stealing and killing, where he learns how to play baseball. His baseball dream is shattered when he is not accepted to the Negro Leagues. His anger over racism for denying him rights over the years creates a home environment filled with resentment and negativity, which begins to deteriorate his relationship with his wife, Rose,

and his son Cory. He commits his brother, Gabe to a mental institution, cheats on his wife, and throws his son out of the house.

The play opens up with longtime friends Troy Maxson and Jim Bono ritually participating on Friday, his payday, drinking and talking on Troy’s porch. They discuss the complaint Troy had filed against not giving the opportunity of driving the trucks to the black garbage workers. The setting of the play feels eerily familiar and true to life-gathering in one another's homes to have alcohol-fueled conversations about grievances, fears, past, and plans for future. The year of the play is true to life, it is the year of 1957 in Pittsburgh, where African Americans escaped to the north from the savage conditions they had in the south. The author shows the 1950s as a time when opportunities for blacks begin to flourish. Troy, who grew up in the time before this, felt like a complete stranger. Even though he was a responsible man, he was scarred by the racism he had faced in his younger years. His actions and bitterness reflected his experiences and disappointments.

August Wilson used baseball as the sport of choice to deal with the subject of the American dream of becoming a professional baseball player in a society where racism stands as a hurdle.

The play is true to the historical events like the Civil Rights Movement and the Negro leagues. In the play, there is a baseball bat leaning on a tree that has a ball made of rags hanging from it, amongst other things (Wilson 964). The ball is made of rags could be seen as representing Troy's poverty, and his shattered dream. Baseball is used metaphorically when Troy sees death as a “Fastball to the outside corner”. Which means that he is not scared of death rather he is ready for it so that he can hit it away. In many other instances, baseball is used on many occasions by Troy to explain himself, for example when Troy ruins Cory’s opportunity to play football at the end of the argument Troy tells Cory that he has one strike, and he better not strike out (Wilson 995). Which meant that he made once which he better not make again. Even though Troy is a good baseball player, he learns that even in the land of equal opportunity, chances for a black man are not always equal, and the same country that deprived him from his right, did rightfully take the sacrifice of his brother in World War

II.

Racism played a very influential role in Troy’s life, it made him make biased and judgmental decisions for himself and his family.

The author intends to shed light on how racism can affect the mental and physical lives of the people living at that time through the characters of Troy Maxson and his family. The trials of Troy’s life are filled with racial discrimination. His usage of the symbol of death in his fictional stories can represent the oppression of the white man during that time or the struggles he undertook to survive the trials of life. His painful memories provide a context in which we can understand the similarities and differences of the generations separating Troy and his sons. Troy’s fails to recognize the good change for African-Americans in the new world. When Rose mentioned that the white baseball leagues accepted black players such as Jackie Robison he replied: “I done seen a hundred niggers play baseball better that Jackie Robison…Jackie Robison wasn’t nobody”. Jackie Robison was the first African American professional baseball player and was awarded the Rookie of the year for his performance.(1) Troy’s inability to come out of his experiences blinded him to see any change, he believed that things were still bad for the people of color.

The funeral of Troy brings his family together, Cory who joined the army after the argument with Troy, returns after 8 years, Gabriel is released from the mental institution, the half made fence surrounding the Maxson’s

house is now complete and Rose still has a chance at a family life. She can nurture her step daughter, Raynell, in the way she wants.

In conclusion, Wilson in his play depicted the role of racism in the creation of social and economic gaps between African Americans and the whites during the 1950s. His character, Troy had a difficult childhood but he had no right to take out his frustration out on his wife and children. Wilson not only sheds light on the effects of racism but also acknowledges Troy's flaws. Troy’s bad decisions not only brought difficulties in his life but also in the life of his family. His family suffered not because of the racism but because of the bitterness Troy had succumbed due his experience of racism and denying rights. This play is a wake up call for people who instead of pushing their kids to aim high, shelter their children from anything that could potentially beat them down, intentionally limiting their abilities.