August Wilson's Play Fences

August Wilson’s play Fences was written in 1983. Fences is the sixth play in Wilson’s Pittsburgh cycle. Pittsburgh is important because it represents a better life for blacks; it provides them with jobs and helped them to escape the poverty and racism of the south after the civil war. It represents promises and promises that were broken. I feel like Fences represents the struggles Troy and his family faced because of their complexion and their constant disappointments as black people.

The novel Fences by August Wilson is set in the 1950s, Fences talks about the African- American experience which is evolving and examines race relations as well as other themes. In the novel Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe, the novel discusses the experiences of the Africans during the colonization of the europeans. Fences is about a man named Troy who goes through many situations and even taunts death. Troy is a garbage man, he is married to Rose who together have a son named Cory. Cory plays on the football team and is getting scouted. Troy does not want Cory to go into football because of his own experience, which would assume Troy is jealous because his son might actually get into professional, while Troy did not. Bono, Troy’s friend thinks that he is having an

Rose sees that if Cory plays football he can go to college, and tries to convince Troy that Cory can succeed in football because “They got lots of colored boys playing ball now. Baseball and football” (9). She knows that Troy is rigid and wants his children to pursue practical jobs rather than their dreams and ambitions. Rose asks, “Why don’t you let the boy go ahead and play football, Troy? Ain’t no harm in that” (39) “Everything that boy do . . . he do for you. He wants you to say ‘Good job, son.’ That’s all” (39). Rose tries to convince Troy that there is no harm in Cory continuing to play football and that all Cory wants is Troy to be proud of him and support him the same way Rose does. Similarly, Rose also supports Lyons’ decisions by lending him money. Although Troy will lend money to Lyons, he does not like to be the person who does it, and Rose has to give the money to Lyons for Troy “Let the boy have ten dollars, Troy” (19). She tries to convince Troy to lend Lyons the money to show that he supports his son’s interest in music, but he will not do it. Rose also likes seeing Lyons, and wants him to come over casually more often, “How come you ain’t brought Bonnie like I told you. You should have brought Bonnie with you she ain’t been over in a month of Sundays” (45). She wants to see Lyons more often and cares about him and his

Troy's true intentions are to show his son that nothing comes easy. The ultimate flaw however is that Troy looks at the world in his perspective. Troy is trying to prevent Cory from going through the same harsh experiences as him but he is unintentional recreating the same obstacles which are preventing Cory from becoming the full potential of himself. Throughout the play, Troy is imposing his will on Cory and he is basically preventing him from exploring the world for himself. This causes Cory to have conflicts with his dad because they don't agree completely. In the article "Baseball as History and Myth in August Wilson's Fences" by Susan Koprince, Susan says that "Troy's front yard is literally turned into a battleground during his confrontations with his younger son Cory" (Koprince 354). With each argument and conflict, Cory slowly characteristics change in the story. In the beginning of the story, he was a cheerful kid hopeful for his future. However because of the denial of pursing football and the constant back and forth between him and Tory, he becomes very bitter just like his father. This isn't a good thing because once Cory picks up his father characteristics, it forces him to see the world in a single perspective and that's not his full potential but an intentional effect from Troy's reactionary

There’s this saying that goes something like, you become the same person as the people around you. This applies to Troy and Cory’s relationship. Troy used to fear his father but this changes once he looses respect

August Wilson faces a lot of difficulties in his life. He begins writing Fences in the twentieth century, and he portrays the African American experience between the 1900s to 2000 (Wilson 11). In Fence August Wilson tells the story of a father, Troy Maxson’s lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Troy was a very talented baseball perspective with hopes to play in the major leagues. Maxson’s had the bad luck of having to grow up when racism was the biggest part of America. This meant that all professional baseball teams were still not for black people from playing. In fences, the troy character is very negative just because, he suffered in his past. In Fences, August Wilson shows that troy is a villain because he is unfair to his wife, wants to control everyone, and mean with his son.

The play Fences is a drama written by August Wilson who was one of six children and also dealt with opeesrrions and racism when he dropped out of school due the struggles of racism. The play Fences presents the character Troy Maxson a person who has faced racism and discrimanation throughout his life. The Pulitzer Prize winning play is set in 1957-1965, a time when African-Amercians where hopeful for a better life. In Fences, racism haunts Troy Maxon’s life past and present. The play brings the view of racism in the world through Tory Maxson, family and friends. The play describes the life of Troy Maxson a middle age Africa-American man who was raising his family in time of racism. Troy is married to Rose and the father of three children. Troy has two sons Lyons and Cory, and a daughter named Raynell. August Wilson describes the life of Troy as someone who feels he is being oppressed and how different the culture was when his was a child growing up compared to his children’s lives. Troy’s outlook on life is more narrow minded however, his family is more optimistic for a better future.

In the epigraph, August Wilson states that we do not always have to act out the sins of our fathers and that it 's possible to banish them with forgiveness. While Troy may not have forgiven his father, after he marries Rose, he doesn 't act on the sins of his father. Troy 's father didn 't teach Troy any positive traits directly, instead Troy adopted them in order to differentiate himself from his father and to live a better life. Troy learned the value of hard work from his father and all the time he spent working on the farm when he was younger and he lives by that trait. He takes care of his family because he knows it 's the responsible thing to do no matter what. Troy 's father didn 't care about the children or his wife, so Troy does his best to care for Cory and Rose. However, like his father, Troy takes care of the family because he 's obligated to, not because he feels any particular affection to them, similar to the way his father didn 't abandon him because he had nowhere to go. He explains this to Cory saying " You live in my house...sleep you behind on my bedclothes...fill you belly up with my food...cause you my son. You my flesh and blood. Not 'cause I like you! Cause it 's my duty to take care of you. I owe a responsibility to you"(Wilson 38)! While this quote shows that Troy is taking steps to be a better father, he 's not without his flaws. Troy cheated on Rose and had another child out of infidelity, ruining their family and affecting Rose

August Wilson's play Fences addresses a great content of interpreting and inheriting history. Throughout Fences, much of the conflict emerge because the characters are at disparity with the way they see their foregoing and what they want to do with their forthcoming. Fences explores how the damaged aspirations of one generation can taint the dreams of the next generation on how they deal with the creation of their own identity when their role model is a full of dishonesty. Wilson illustrates his qualities primarily through his use of symbolism in the play Fences.

The play, Fences by August Wilson, is about Troy Maxson and his struggling family relationships. A recurring idea throughout the story is the construction of a fence around Troy's home. Troy's fence could symbolize two things, Troy is trying to protect his family from the outside world, or Troy is isolating himself from his own family. As the construction of the fence progresses, the more severely damaged Troy's relationships become. In this play, the underlying message is that, despite the fact that fences can both protect and isolate, Troy’s fence isolates him from his family rather than to protect his family.

A feminist look at August Wilson's play Fences will clearly show that Rose Maxson, as being the strongest, the more faithful and the more powerful of all the Maxsons. Her realization about her life makes us appreciate the epiphany process.

When his mother cajoles Cory to attend the funeral, Cory states that he doesn’t want to be Troy Maxson, and that he only wants to be himself. Cory is now part of the Navy, an organized institution where race and class no longer exist, only military merit. He attempts to escape Troy’s unloving model, but at the same time, when Cory resents his father, he is inherently becoming more like his own father, who resented his father. Perhaps this rotation of resentment underscores a deeper problem within the black society- and Wilson is attempting to create models that offer a better route to forgiveness and conflict resolution. When Cory sings Troy’s song with Raynell, he forgives Troy, as Cory realizes that Troy ultimately was simply trying to make the most out of his societal status and provide for his

When reading the play “Fences” by August Wilson, one may say that it is a tragedy, and that the protagonist, Troy Maxson, has tragic flaws that leads him through a path of false judgement. Troy is seen as a stubborn man and wants everything to go his way or the highway. However, in actuality, he is not a bad guy, Troy is just a father who wants to keep his family out of harm’s way. This led me to three journalists with similar judgments of Troy Maxson. Critics Joseph H. Wessling, Alice Mills, and Myles Weber all give their own insight on the play “Fences.” I agree with Wessling’s statement “Troy, for all his strengths, is flawed humanity in need of forgiveness,” disagrees with Mills’ claim “…Troy does not face trail of initiation until he crossed the fence and left behind the protection of his family for the world of difficult choices.”, and Weber’s claim “Troy’s cruelty constituted a clever method of challenging

Troy has always been tough with Cory which makes him think that he doesn’t like him. Troy had a dream of becoming a baseball player which he has never achieved so he is envious and keeps Cory from having the opportunity of being recruited for football. Cory comes home one night to Troy sitting down on the steps drinking and singing in the backyard and tells him to get out of his way. Troy advises Cory that if he needs to go inside then he must say excuse me because it is his house that he bought and paid for. As he tries to walk past him, Troy shoves him back and Cory yells “I live here too.” As they continue to argue, Cory admits that he has been afraid of Troy. “I used to tremble every time you called my name. Every time I heard your footsteps in the house. Wondering all the time what’s Papa gonna say if I do this? What’s he gonna say if I do that? What’s Papa gonna say if I turn on the radio? And Mama, too. She tries but she’s scared of you.” Troy became angry, began fighting Cory then kicked him out of his house (38-40). Cory’s problems with his father hinders him as he lives the next few years of his life angry at Troy and his