In the play Fences, August Wilson, the American playwright, aims to foretell the discrimination towards Black people in America, by defining duty in the eyes of Troy, the protagonist, and depicting broken relationships through manhood and responsibilities, for the audience to gain an understanding of the struggles through racial oppression in the 1950s-1960s in Pittsburgh, PA. As Wilson sets Fences amid the horrors of the Civil Rights era, it creates a sense of distress imagery towards the African American community of later generations. In Act One, Scene 3, it becomes clear how Troy’s attitude toward his sons came to be. Troy used to be into sports as Cory, his son, is now. Unfortunately, playing sports didn’t get him anywhere due to discrimination …show more content…
Troy may feel ashamed, not of Cory, but of himself. If Cory were to become someone, like a star football player, that begins to storm upon Troy, allowing him to feel hidden and jealous, especially if Cory was given this gift by God, and not his dad, his father. In a heated argument, Cory realizes that his father has always held him back, in fear that he “was gonna be better than” him (757). Consequently, his relationship with his son began to become broken, by the fear of discrimination in Troy's mind. The fear of not having the American Dream stirs Troy and grows him weary and lacks love from a young age through his father. He too had a broken relationship with his father, who was a sharecropper, and took Troy’s girlfriend and raped her. He became who he is now, separating himself from the brutal memories of abuse and wishing Lyons would become financially stable with his career and Cory to work a real job and allow his responsibility to grow and provide for his family as his dad once did. The symbol of fences allows the readers to understand the barriers and the need to stay close and safe as Rose sings “Jesus, be a fence all around me every day/ Jesus, I want you to protect
This two things are the main focus of the play because it gives us a message that the author wants to give us to secretly while we read. A theme that was given in Fences is oppression does not choose to hurt people of color, but gender as well. In the beginning of the play Troy and Bono are discussing about their sanitary job and Troy says “I ain't worried about them firing me. They gonna fire me cause I asked a question?” (Wilson 2). What this quote is stating is that people were not being treated equally and had trouble accomplish what others did. During this time they were being treated unfair and this shows how white men are to be more credible than anyone else, in other words, if a white person would say anything it will always be true. When Troy went to Taylor’s to watch the game and Rose ask him for the score he says “What I care about the game? Come here, woman.” He tries to kiss her. (Wilson 30). This is basically stating that women are men property and they can do anything they want to them. Women might not feel uncomfortable or mistreated because men can do anything to them and even tell them to go away like if they were
There was no “distinction between Troy Maxson, human being, and Troy Mason, baseball player,” (Pereira, 41). Troy describes his life in terms of baseball. “Fences” in baseball is “slang term for the outfield wall that must clear for a home run,” (Dreams and Zirin, 2018). The phrase “swing for the fences” or “clear the fences” derived from this, (Dreams and Zirin, 2018). Troy, who could clear the fences without a problem playing baseball, had difficulty clearing the fences in his life even though he was an outstanding baseball player. He portrays himself as not being afraid of anything and immortal to death. His family is the second generation of Maxsons and he passes on a legacy of songs his father taught him, his personal history and bitterness
Wilson uses many symbols in the play to depict oppression. The primary symbol used is racism. Troy files a complaint to the Commissioner’s office against the Sanitation Department in reference to white men are the only men driving trucks. This complaint gets Troy promoted and he also becomes the first African American to drive a sanitation truck. Racism and segregation also play a major factor in Troy’s dream to be a professional baseball player in the Major Leagues. Since he is African American, he could only play in Negro League baseball. This defeat in his life now affects Troy’s son, Cory. Cory has an opportunity for a college education by be...
The fence for Rose symbolizes the protection and nurturing feelings she offers. It’s a positive figurative symbol, showing what type of person she is―someone who cares for others. One morning, Rose was hanging clothes and singing, “Jesus, be a fence all around me every day. Jesus, I want you to protect me as I travel on my way” (2074). Seemingly, the choice of song that she selects demonstrates the protection that she’s willing to offer for her family. Rose asks Troy to build her a fence, and Troy does not understand why. One afternoon when Cory and Troy are building the fence, Cory asks why her mother wishes for a fence and Troy responds, “Damn if I know either. What the hell she keeping out with it? She ain’t got nothing nobody want,” meaning
For him, fences were used to keep people out. Such an example can be found near the end of Act I, Scene IV when Cory and Troy are fighting and Cory says “Tell Mama I’ll be back for my and things” and Troy responded “They’ll be on the other side of that fence.”(905). In short, Troy built a physical fence around his house to create a border or separation from the outside world. However, in Troy’s situation, fences can be interpreted as a double entendre. For many weeks he kept putting off the building of the fence around the yard. Instead, he would wander off to “Taylor’s” to watch the game. By not building the fence it also showing his lack of commitment to Rose who was urging him to, “Where you going off to? You been running out of here every Saturday for weeks. I thought you was gonna work on this fence?”(888). Which is ironic because him not building the fence involuntarily not only broke Rose’s fences in addition to his as it let Alberta and Raynell into their lives. The lack of commitment he showed to Rose proves that as a family man, Troy was missing some key values that are entrenched in a prosperous
In Fences, Troy manifests hubris through the neglect to see his own wrong doing. Before going into prison, Troy is denied the right of playing pro baseball because he is African American. When African Americans are finally able to play in the major leagues, Troy is too old to play. Cory, Troy’s son, is recruited to play football for a college leading Troy to
Should a neglected, discriminated, and misplaced black man living in the mid 1900s possessing a spectacular, yet unfulfilled talent for baseball be satisfied or miserable? The play Fences, written by August Wilson, answers this question by depicting the challenging journey of the main character, Troy Maxon. Troy, an exceptional baseball player during his youth, cannot break the color barrier and is kept from playing in the big leagues. That being his major life setback, Troy has a pessimistic view on the world. His attitude is unpleasant, but not without justification. Troy has a right to be angry, but to whom he takes out his anger on is questionable. He regularly gets fed up with his sons, Lyons and Cory, for no good reason. Troy disapproves of Lyons’ musical goals and Cory’s football ambitions to the point where the reader can notice Troy’s illogical way of releasing his displeasures. Frank Rich’s 1985 review of Fences in the New York Times argues that Troy’s constant anger is not irrational, but expected. Although Troy’s antagonism in misdirected, Rich is correct when he observes that Troy’s endless anger is warranted because Troy experiences an extremely difficult life, facing racism, jail, and poverty.
Troy's relationship with his son Cory is virtuous example of how he misses the mark. Bono's concern for Troy's marriage takes precedent over his fealty to their assistance. Troy Maxson - The protagonist of Fences, a fifty-three year-old, African American man who manufacture for the sanitation department, lifting garbage into exchange. Troy misses the token by doing the wrong thing for what he thinks are the right reasons. Unlike Troy, Rose is a realist, not a romantic longing for the by- gone days of yore. Like his calamitous wedge teammates, Troy dedicates himself to a course of act that he thinks is right, despite setting record to the opposed. Bono and Troy met in jail, where Troy literate to wanton baseball. Troy is a buskined-grinder who has excessive show for his breadwinning party. Alberta vanish while giving birth. Troy calls idle words, "Chinese music," forwhy he understand the harmony as foreign and impractical. She has lofty hopes for her son, Cory and sides with him in his longing to wanton football. Rose's request that Troy and Cory build a security in their small, earth backyard comes to represent her request to keep her loved-once finish to her kindness. Stawicki - Cory's knob at the A&P. Troy often disappoint to supply the love and verify that would mean the most to his lief ones. Lyons' humanity and assurance in himself garners respect from others. Because of the external damage and his service, Gabriel embrace checks from the state that Troy used in part to preempt the Maxson's domestic where the play takes place. Lyons, like Rose, plays the numbers, or sectional gamble. Read an in-depth analysis of Troy Maxson. Cory Maxson - The teenage son of Troy and Rose Maxson. Instead of giving in to what everyone aroun...
The double consciousness in Fences is representative of both double consciousnesses’ effect and the impact that it has had on the African-American community as a whole. In the play, Wilson presents to the reader a world not yet torn by the strife of racial change. However, its presence is still felt through the actions of Troy Maxson in the play as double consciousness acts both as a metaphorical fence that constrains Troy, as well as an idea that will ultimately destroy much of Troy’s personal life. In Fences, double consciousness is destructive not only because of it affects the black race as a whole, but also because it showcases how the actions of a single person can affect the people the love and cherish most.
Throughout the play, readers see an incomplete fence which symbolizes Rose (Troy’s wife) and Troy’s drifting relationship. Rose wants Troy and Cory to build a fence to keep her loved ones protected. This is evident when Rose is seen singing the church hymn, “Jesus, be a fence all around me every day. Jesus, I want you to protect me as I travel on my way” (I. ii). This insinuates the fact that Rose wants to keep her family close. Rose and Troy’s relationship seemed to be breaking down after eighteen years and the fence may have also been a way to keep Troy in Rose’s life. Yet, Troy has been in no rush to finish the fence. He sees it as some sort of confinement. Fences contain a lot of barriers that Troy tries to keep down; one barrier being his marriage. Troy claims that he has so much love for Rose, but readers see that exclusive relationships makes him feel caged in. He keeps the fence unfinished because he knows that if he finishes it than it will symbolize the end of his escape to his mistress, Alberta. Troy’s affair builds a fence that separates his marriage causing his actions to affect Rose by caging her in with a daughter that is not hers: “From right now . . . this child got a mother. But you a womanless man.” Rose tried to use a fence of divine power to keep her family protected. Troy neglected this by committing adultery, leavi...
struggle for survival. Troy has come to believe, from his experiences, that blacks cannot get something for nothing and that life does not owe blacks anything. Due to this, Toy ?fences in? everything that he loves to protect his possessions from the monster of society. Thus there is a symbolization of Troy building a physical fence in the yard but building an emotional fence of protection around his family and friends. He believes that blacks owe it to themselves to make an honest, hard-earned living and that is the only way to survive. Troy states sarcastically that Lyans is blowing his...
August Wilson’s famous 1983 stage play Fences explores African-American lifestyle in the 1950s. It tells the story of racial relations and African-American culture during that era. The main character in Fences is Troy, a mid-age African American man struggling to take care of his household. In August Wilson’s plays, the characters are developed to reflect the struggle of African American people, especially black males. These men are struggling for a power that is out of reach to them because the power is held by others. Two characters that stand out are Troy from Fences and Levee from Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Though these men live their lives in different decades, their situations are very similar. Both are oppressed by white culture and
In Fences, the setting is a big element which shows that racism can take a toll on the characters’ quality of life. The play begins with an introduction informing the readers as to where the play is taking place, “The
The play “Fences” by August Wilson is set in a time when African Americans are coming out of the clasps of slavery and seeking a new life. There are many new opportunities in the job market as well as in the sports world. In the play the main character and father, Troy, is put into many controversial two-sided situations. He evaluates them from what he thinks is just and only uses his perspective, not heeding anyone else’s advice. In doing so he contributes to the rising action of the story where Troy refuses to let his son, Cory, play football when everyone else thinks it is a good idea. Troy thinks it will lead him on a path to nowhere because of his past experiences but doesn’t acknowledge how times have changed since he was younger.
By investing all of one’s time, effort, and energy into one specific group of people, a person can be segregated from the rest of society. Racism in the play “Fences” is an impeccable example of a border created by societies that doesn’t just separate people from one another, but enmeshes communities inside themselves. “Fences” is a play about an African American family in the 1950’s. The family is constantly encountering societies borders, or fences, in the form of parenthood, marriage, religion, and racism. The main character, Troy, can be described as a tough father, unfaithful husband, angry deity believing African American man searching to maintain a sense of control and protection of a family that is slowly falling apart.