Fences Symbolism Essay

616 Words2 Pages

In the dramatic play, “Fences” written by August Wilson, where there is a lot of symbolism, intertwined throughout the play. The most symbolism is directed towards a fence that the main character, named Troy and the main character’s son, Cory, are building together as asked by Rose, the wife of Troy. Although the symbolism is directed towards the same object it's seen in different point of views. For example, in Troy’s point of view, the fence symbolizes an obstacle. In Rose’s point of view, the fence symbolizes a safety net and in Cory’s point of view, the fences symbolizes a trap. The fence is symbolized in three different point of views by Rose as a safety net, Troy as an obstacle, and Cory as a trap in many ways. One way how the fence in the dramatic play, “Fences” is symbolized in Rose’s point of view as a safety net because it keeps her loved ones safe. She is caught singing to Jesus on how the fence is a safety net. For example, “(sings) Jesus, be a fence all around me every day Jesus, I want you to protect me as I travel on my way. Jesus, be a fence all around me every day. (Troy enters the house)” (pg.21) In this scene, Rose is singing to Jesus basically explaining that she wants a fence as a safety net so she asks Troy and Cory to build a fence, it can be an example to show her wanting to keep her and her …show more content…

For example, “Your first chore is to help me with this fence on Saturday. Everything else come after that. Now get that saw and cut them boards” (pg.31) In this scene, Troy is view the fence as an obstacle because he cannot finish the fence by himself. Rose wants Troy and Cory to build a fence for her safety and the boys think of it as a struggle and another obstacle to deal with it. That is how the fence is symbolized in the point of view of

Show More
Related

  • An Analysis of August Wilson's 'Fences'

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the play Fences by August Wilson, Troy is shown as a man who has hurt the people who are closest to him without even realizing it. He has acted in an insensitive and uncaring manner towards his wife, Rose, his brother, Gabriel and his son, Cory. At the beginning of the story, Troy feels he has done right by them. He feels this throughout the story. He doesn’t realize how much he has hurt them.

    Read More

  • Adversity In Fences

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Fences” is a play written by August Wilson about a family living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1957. Troy and Rose have been married for 18 years and have two grown children; Lyons and Corey. Troy is an uptight, prideful man who always claims that he does not fear death, the rest of his family is more laxed and more content with their lives than Troy is. As the play progresses the audience learns more about Troy’s checkered past with sharecropping, his lack of education and the time he spent in prison. The audience also learns more about Troy’s love for baseball and the dreams he lost due to racism and segregation. In the middle of the play the author outwardly confirms what the audience has been suspecting; Troy isn’t exactly satisfied with his life. He feels that he does not get to enjoy his life and that his family is nothing more than a responsibility. Getting caught up in this feelings, Troy cheats on Rose with a woman named Alberta and fathers a child with the mistress. By the end of the play Troy loses both of the women and in 1965, finally gets the meeting with death that he had been calling for throughout the play. Over the

    Read More

  • Wilson's "Fences"

    872 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fences was published in 1983 but the setting was the 1950s in August Wilsons home town. Wilson’s main purpose of this play is to show how the separation of humans into racial groups can create social and finance instability and can have a huge effect on African Americans and whites. The 1950s was the middle of the civil rights era. The Maxsons Family is African American, In the 1950s there was not many jobs for African Americans; most people believed that this is what pushed Troy to steal things in order to provide for his family. Troy went to prison for murder and when he got out he was determined to do good deeds and to turn his life around; shortly after he got out of prison he got a job as a Garbage man. Troy is a tragic figure and a villain; he is a tragic figure because he made great effort to do good deeds for his family, but he allowed his imperfections to get in his way which led to a horrible death. Troy is a villain because of what he did to his wife Rose. (Shmoop; Editorial Team)

    Read More

  • Exposing Boundaries in Wilson's Fences

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fences is a play that deals with boundaries that hold people back and the trials and tribulations of those who try or wish to cross them. The characters are African-Americans in a time before the civil rights movement, living in an industrial city. The main character, Troy Manxson, is a talented baseball player who never had the chance to let his talent shine, with restrictions on race and his time in jail as the main obstacles that held him back. He is now hard working and loves his family. However, he tends to exaggerate and has his faults, most prevalent a wandering eye when it comes to women. His wife, Rose, is younger than him and loyal, but she may not have known about all of his faults when she married him. At the beginning of the play, Troy has a son from a previous marriage, Lyons, and a son with Rose, Cory. Also appearing are Bono, Troy’s drinking buddy, and Gabriel, his brother.

    Read More

  • Comparing Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and Fences by August Wilson

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even at a young age, she knows how to focus on a small enclosed area and try to achieve success; this is something Troy learns very late in life when he tries to build a fence around all that he holds valuable. He begins to build the fence only after confessing the truth to Rose; by then it is too late to protect his valuables because he has already lost his most precious one, his relationship with his wife. The similar symbols of the father figure, the "other woman," and the garden, in Death of a Salesman and Fences, are used to develop the similar themes of father-son conflicts, marital conflicts, and the need to leave one's mark of success on the world. The main difference is that while Willy plants seeds by himself to see them grow, Troy's garden is planted by Raynell, his "seed."

    Read More

  • Troy and Cory Maxson's Relationship in Fences by August Wilson

    1240 Words  | 3 Pages

    The theme of August Wilson’s play “Fences” is the coming of age in the life of a broken black man. Wilson wrote about the black experience in different decades and the struggle that many blacks faced, and that is seen in “Fences” because there are two different generations portrayed in Troy and Cory. Troy plays the part of the protagonist who has been disillusioned throughout his life by everyone he has been close to. He was forced to leave home at an early age because his father beat him so dramatically. Troy never learned how to treat people close to him and he never gave any one a chance to prove themselves because he was selfish. This makes Troy the antagonist in the story because he is not only hitting up against everyone in the play, but he is also hitting up against himself and ultimately making his life more complicated. The discrimination that Troy faced while playing baseball and the torment he endures as a child shape him into one of the most dynamic characters in literary history. The central conflict is the relationship between Troy and Cory. The two of them have conflicting views about Cory’s future and, as the play goes on, this rocky relationship crumbles because Troy will not let Cory play collegiate football. The relationship becomes even more destructive when Troy admits to his relationship with Alberta and he admits Gabriel to a mental institution by accident. The complication begins in Troy’s youth, when his father beat him unconscious. At that moment, Troy leaves home and begins a troubled life on his own, and gaining a self-destructive outlook on life. “Fences” has many instances that can be considered the climax, but the one point in the story where the highest point of tension occurs, insight is gained and...

    Read More

  • Fences: Day-to-Day Obstacles of the Average African American

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Fences, August Wilson strives to accurately depict the social and economic situations of the time period the play is set in. He uses the plots, characters, and the characters’ relationships with each other to show the day-to-day obstacles the average African American faces in the mid 1900s; and to show the various types of relationships between people during the time, from the black/white racial relationship to the relationship between man and woman. In particular, he uses Rose and Troy as examples of the typical relationship between a man and woman of the period – more specifically, he uses them to show the relationship and power structure between men and women. This relationship and power structure – the woman playing a subservient role to the strong, alpha male type – is definitely illustrated in Fences. Rose and Troy’s relationship depicts the conventional gender roles of the late 1950s-60s by displaying an unequal relationship between man and woman – one that was usual of the time period – with Rose often forced to concede her desires and wishes for Troy in her role as a dutiful housewife. Troy, a dominating man both in an out of his home life, plays a masculine, controlling, and often – though unintentional – selfish role in their relationship.

    Read More

  • The Symbolic Importance of the Fence in August Wilson’s Fences

    1169 Words  | 3 Pages

    The entirety of the Nadel’s article sheds light on a topic that is not easy for many authors to use without creating caricatures or exaggerated images of a stereotype. At first reading, the content is a little confusing, and somewhat daunting. However, after another reading, the text is easier to grasp. Nadel’s article would have been much stronger if he took time to mention other characters than Troy. Adding more about the character of Rose in this article created a fuller and better grasp on the topic of the fence, which Nadel...

    Read More

  • An Overview of 'Fences' by August Wilson

    367 Words  | 1 Pages

    The theme of August Wilson’s play “Fences” is the coming of age in the life of a broken black man. Wilson wrote about the black experience in different decades and the struggle that many blacks faced, and that is seen in “Fences” because there are two different generations portrayed in Troy and Cory. Troy plays the part of the protagonist who has been disillusioned throughout his life by everyone he has been close to. He was forced to leave home at an early age because his father beat him so dramatically. Troy never learned how to treat people close to him and he never gave any one a chance to prove themselves because he was selfish. This makes Troy the antagonist in the story because he is not only hitting up against everyone in the play, but he is also hitting up against himself and ultimately making his life more complicated. The discrimination that Troy faced while playing baseball and the torment he endures as a child shape him into one of the most dynamic characters in literary history.The central conflict is the relationship between Troy and Cory. The two of them have conflicting views about Cory’s future and, as the play goes on, this rocky relationship crumbles because Troy will not let Cory play collegiate football. The relationship becomes even more destructive when Troy admits to his relationship with Alberta and he admits Gabriel to a mental institution by accident. The complication begins in Troy’s youth, when his father beat him unconscious. At that moment, Troy leaves home and begins a troubled life on his own, and gaining a self-destructive outlook on life. “Fences” has many instances that can be considered the climax, but the one point in the story where the highest point of tension occurs, insight is gained and a situation is resolved is when Rose tells Troy that Alberta died having his baby, Raynell.

    Read More

  • Conflict in August Wilson's Fences and How it Affects the Work

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Symbolical Meaning Behind the Title of Fences by August Wilson

    553 Words  | 2 Pages

    In addition, Rose uses the fence, symbolically, to keep Troy in because she wants to keep him close and unknowingly to keep him away from his mistress, Alberta, whom she, (Rose), doesn’t find about until Act 2, Scene 1 of the play. On the contrary, Troy, symbolically, wants to keep people out with the fence. In the play, Troy uses the fence as a way to keep Cory out, this is directly after...

    Read More

  • August Wilson's Fences

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...hand Rose wanted the fence built in order to keep the people she loved and cared about in it. These two different perspectives served to symbolize the difference between Troy and Rose in the story. At the end of the play you see Rose’s fence brings her family back together, showing that if you plants a seed, the idea of building the fence, and take care of it, building the fence, in time it will bear the fruit of your work and love, the family coming together.

    Read More

  • Masculinity In Fences

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever had the opportunity to do something great but someone held you back? Also have you ever had someone that tried to control everything you do and everyone around you? If so you can relate to the book “Fences” By August Wilson. Fences is about a African American man Troy that is trying to keep food on the table for his family, and raise his kids as best as he can. Troy has a wife name Rose two sons named Cory, and Lyons and has a brother named Gabe. In Fences expect to see what seems like a happy family on the outside but in the inside everything is not as good as it seems. Masculinity/Manhood is an important theme in Fences because it shows how true takes care of his family but also shows how controlling and arrogant he can be, and it also helps show August Wilson’s way of saying a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in Fences by August Wilson

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the play the reader sees how 'fences' are used to protect the characters mentioned. Early on, Rose protects herself by singing, 'Jesus, be a fence all around me every day. Jesus, I want you to protect me as I travel on my way' (Wilson 21). By Rose signing this song, one can see Rose's desire for protection. To Rose, a fence is a symbol of her love. Her longing for a fence signifies that Rose represents love and nurturing within a safe environment. However Troy and Cory think the fence is a burden and reluctantly work on finishing Rose's project. Bono indicates to Troy that Rose wants the fence built to protect her loved ones as he says, 'Some people build fences to keep people out' and other people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She loves you? (61). While reminiscing about the 'project', Bono asks Troy why he 'got to go and get some hard wood' (60) as he says, "Nigger, why you got to go and get some hard wood? You ain't doing nothing but building a little old fence. Get you some soft pine wood. That's all you need" (60). Troy choosing to use hard wood instead of soft pine wood shows the reader that Troy wants hard wood to protect him harder from Death and all of his problems. Although each character in the play interprets the concept of a fence differently, they all see it as some form of protection.

    Read More

  • Fences as Metaphor in Fences by August Wilson

    419 Words  | 1 Pages

    As with most works of literature, the title Fences is more than just a title. It could be initially noted that there is only one physical fence being built by the characters onstage, but what are more important are the ideas that are being kept inside and outside of the fences that are being built by Troy and some of the other characters in Fences. The fence building becomes quite figurative, as Troy tries to fence in his own desires and infidelities. Through this act of trying to contain his desires and hypocrisies one might say, Troy finds himself fenced in, caught between his pragmatic and illusory ideals. On the one side of the fence, Troy creates illusions and embellishments on the truth, talking about how he wrestled with death, his encounters with the devil, later confronting the d...

    Read More

More about Fences Symbolism Essay

Open Document