Symbolism In Fences

1550 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Symbolism in fences by august wilson essay

Three Strikes You Are Out
Babe Ruth once said “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from coming up to bat” (Koprince). In the book Fences by August Wilson, Troy Maxson and his son Cory had many disagreements. They argued after Troy told Cory’s high school football coach that Cory could not play football anymore. After that Troy tells Cory that as long as he lives with him he will follow his instructions and rules (Wilson). Every time they had an argument Troy always told Cory not to strike out with him. One day Cory arrives home from school and sees Troy holding his wife, Cory’s mother, Rose by the arm and she said he was hurting her (Wilson). Cory strikes out with Troy when they fought in the front yard after that situation. Troy puts Cory out of the house because he says Cory thought he was grown now. The author uses the actions of the characters, the symbolisms, and allusions to show how the theme of baseball connects to the plot of the play.
Born and raised Frederick August Kittle, now known as August Wilson (Keeping Legacy), his mother, Daisy, gave birth to him on April 27, 1945, in Pittsburg, PA. Growing up in poverty, his mother worked by cleaning houses to support her family while his father, Frederick Kittle, worked as a baker (Keeping Legacy). He was the fourth child of six siblings living in a two bedroom apartment (Keeping Legacy). At the age of four, he starts to read books and grows fund of reading them which made him very intelligent. As smart as Wilson was, when he gets to school the white kids picked on him with harsh words of racism. As Wilson grows older, he adopts his mother maiden name, Wilson, since his relationship with his father is distant. When Wilson becomes a teenager he has in mind to play in t...

... middle of paper ...

...red to write fences, because of how he wanted to play in the major leagues. Then it gives background about discrimination and racism that was going on around that time.
Whitehead, Barbara M., Jill B. Gidmark, and Barbara M. Whitehead. "Fences." Masterplots,
Fourth Edition (2010): 1-4. Literary Reference Center. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
This book helped me get much or my information about the book. It had good straight forward information. Did not take much searching to find what I needed. It provided me with good facts about the characters I used.
Wilson, August. “Fences.” New York: Plume, 1986
The book gave me plenty information to complete my task at hand. The book had the information I needed for the characters and the themes. It helped me verify what I needed. The book helped me find majority of my information about the characters and the themes.

Show More
Related

  • Book Review Of Nixonland Sparknotes

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    This book was a good read for me, but I also read book reviews to help me keep track on what I am reading. These book reviews just made a better understanding of what I was reading.

    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

  • Troy Maxson's Use Of Fences In Baseball

    1777 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Essay On Symbolism In Fences

    516 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the play Fences, August Wilson uses symbolism throughout the story to emphasis the physical and emotional barrier between the protagonist, Troy Maxon, and everyone around him. Troy loses his career as a professional baseball player because of his race. This causes him to be a bitter man and he eventually loses his friends and family because of it. Wilson uses both literal and figurative symbolism to express the themes in this play.

    Read More

  • Understanding 'Fences' by August Wilson

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    We all lead lives filled with anxiety over certain issues, and with dread of the inevitable day of our death. In this play, Fences which was written by the well known playwright, August Wilson, we have the story of Troy Maxson and his family. Fences is about Troy Maxson, an aggressive man who has on going, imaginary battle with death. His life is based on supporting his family well and making sure they have the comforts that he did not have in his own childhood. Also, influenced by his own abusive childhood, he becomes an abusive father who rules his younger son, Cory?s life based on his own past experiences. When the issue comes up of Cory having a bright future ahead of him if he joins the football team, Troy refuses to allow him. The root of this decision lies in his own experience of not being allowed to join the baseball team due to the racial prejudices of his time. He does not realize that times have changed and because of his own past, he ruins his son?s life too. His wife, Rose, also plays a big part in the way the story develops. Troy has an affair with another woman called Alberta. When Rose finds out about the affair, she is devastated. In this situation we find out what her own hopes and dreams were. All she wanted was a happy home and family life because of her unstable past. The theme of this story is how a black family, in the late fifties to early sixties, faces the problems that many families are faced with, but in their own...

    Read More

  • August Wilson's Fences - Building Fences

    3030 Words  | 7 Pages

    August Wilson's Fences - Building Fences. The first time I read August Wilson's Fences for English class, I was angry. I was angry at Troy Maxson, angry at him for having an affair, angry at him for denying his son, Cory, the opportunity for a football scholarship. I kept waiting for Troy to redeem himself at the end of the play, to change his mind about Cory, or to make up with Ruth somehow.

    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

  • The Deceitful Fence

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many causes that molded Troy Maxson into the dishonest, cantankerous, hypocritical person that he is in August Wilson’s play, “Fences” (1985). Troy had an exceptionally unpleasant childhood. He grew up with a very abusive father that beat him on a daily basis. His mother even abandoned him when he was eight years old. In this play, Troy lies habitually and tries to cover himself up by accusing others of lying. He is a very astringent person in general. His dream of becoming a major league baseball player was crushed as a result of his time spent in jail. By the time he was released from jail, he was too old to play baseball efficiently.

    Read More

  • Fences, by August Wilson

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 of the world. His attitude is unpleasant, but not without justification.

    Read More

  • Analyzing 'Fences' by August Wilson

    773 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Fences, August Wilson introduces an African American family whose life is based around a fence. In the dirt yard of the Maxson’s house, many relationships come to blossom and wither here. The main character, Troy Maxson, prevents anyone from intruding into his life by surrounding himself around a literal and metaphorical fence that affects his relationships with his wife, son, and mortality.

    Read More

  • Fences Symbolism Essay

    616 Words  | 2 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.

    Read More

  • The Time Machine

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    you know the main characters, I will explain their purpose in the novel and their

    Read More

  • Fences Troy Maxion Character Analysis

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    In August Wilson’s play Fences, Troy Maxson has had many life experiences that lead him to act cruelly toward his children. Troy's relationship with his two sons Lyons and Cory. They have a complex relationship. Troy wasn't really in Lyons life. When he was growing up, Troy was doing time in jail. Troy then meet rose and they had Cory. But Cory and Troy also don't have the best relationship. Cory wants to play football but Troy refuses to let him play/ get recruited. Troy wants him to work at the A&P and get good grades at school. But it is more than that. In a kind of way Cory and Lyons want Troy’s approval and the sense that he is proud of him. Troy feels that it doesn't have to be that way, as long as he provides for Cory and

    Read More

  • Symbolism in Fences by August Wilson

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    August Wilson uses the symbol of a 'fence' in his play, Fences, in numerous occasions. Three of the most important occasions fences are symbolized are by protection, Rose Maxson and Troy Maxson's relationship, and Troy against Mr. Death. Throughout the play, characters create 'fences' symbolically and physically to be protected or to protect. Examples such as Rose protecting herself from Troy and Troy protecting himself form Death. This play focuses on the symbol of a fence which helps readers receive a better understanding of these events. The characters' lives mentioned change around the fence building project which serves as both a literal and a figurative symbol, representing the relationships that bond and break in the backyard.

    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 Symbolism In Fences

Open Document