The Theme Of Racism In Fences, By August Wilson

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Fences August Wilson was an award- winning playwright who documented the African-American experience through a series of ten plays. He was born on April 27, 1945 in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, PA. Wilson had wrote a number of plays and received many awards for these them. In 1985, he wrote Fence. The play opens in 1957, when Troy is fifty-three years old. It revolves around the character Troy Maxson and the racism, dreams, and physiological walls put up all throughout his life. Racism made a huge impact on Troy Maxson from when he was young through his life until he past away. He always seemed to believe that the white man was out to get him, which was a strong belief among the black community in the 1950s. Early in his life, Troy It is an indirect poem that talks about a caged bird. The actual meaning of this caged bird is translated to symbolize a slave. In the last 7 lines of the poem, it is made clear by the author that the caged bird is a slave when Dunbar applies personification to the bird. He talks about how the bird wants freedom just as blacks in slavery longed to be free . “I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,— When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart 's deep core, But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings — I know why the caged bird sings!” (Dubar 15-21) This poem relates to Troy Maxson in many ways. He wants to be free and treated equal, just as the caged bird Lyons ' dream was not to play sports, but to be a musician. Troy thought this was foolishness because Lyons was a 35 year old man who lived his life depending on his girlfriend. Troy believed he should also get a job and stop chasing his foolish dream. He believed that Lyons was too old to still be chasing a young boys dream. In a poem by Langston Hughes called As I Grew Older, he talks about losing dreams because of a wall that was built. A wall influenced by racism. And then the wall rose, Rose slowly, Slowly, Between me and my dream. Rose until it touched the sky-- The wall. Shadow. I am black. I lie down in the shadow. No longer the light of my dream before me, Above me. Only the thick wall. Only the shadow. (Hughes 7-18) This poem shows how racism can stop people from doing what they truly dream and desired. The same way Troy no longer gets to reach his goal to play baseball. Which caused him to build up a wall, a wall that now affects his relationship with him and his

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