Redemption In Shirley Ann Grau's Fences

The obsession with dominance over others is a negative trait with terrible consequences. Troy Maxson, a father of two children and a friend of few, goes through his life, compulsed to assert his superiority over the people he knows. This leads to a downward trend with negative repercussions and eventually strips him of everything he ever loved. In Fences by August Wilson, Troy Maxson’s desire to be dominant with his two sons and his friend, Bono causes his life to be arduous, pushes his family away and creates a lack of sympathy.

Troy Maxson, the hero of August Wilson's exemplary play, "Wall", is constantly battling with tolerating the progressions around him. Troy's childhood and individual disappointments have caused him to live as a skeptic whose narcissistic and narrow minded. Troy lives by his own standards and is not able to acknowledge the decisions of others that conflict with his own particular logic.

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.

"When the sins of our fathers visit us, we do not have to play host. We can banish them with forgiveness; As God, in His Largeness and Laws"(Wilson X).This epigraph by August Wilson provides an insight into the importance of the topic in the play Fences. In Fences, the play depicts the relationships of the Maxson family and their friends. Troy Maxson, a middle-aged African American man, is happily married to his wife Rose and takes care of his son Cory whilst occasionally interacting with his other son from a previous relationship. However, the complexities of Troy 's past create issues for him and his family and their relationships begin to deteriorate. Throughout the play, the characters look at faith, race, opportunities, fatherhood and

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 lot of parents will do anything for their kids except let them be themselves" -Banksy. In the play “Fences” ,Troy, Cory’s father does exactly this. He doesn’t allow his son to achieve what make him happy, which is playing college football. He thinks by doing this, he's doing what’s best for him. Because of this, Cory begins to bear a grudge towards his father. Wanting to be able to move forward with his life and not be the same person as his father, he attends Troy’s funeral, as a way to make peace with their relationship.

Around the early 1900s, racism was prominent and wasn't sugarcoated either. African Americans had to deal with many obstacles around this period because of the discrimination involed in their lives. These actions effected many African Americans because it forced some of them to hate the world and limit many of their opportunities in life. Racism is sad reality in our nation that affects all types of people and it continues to shake and alter lives. People use racism as a sort of way to detect the differences with their peers and spike bias towards a group of people. Some people go the extra mile in insulting, attacking or mentally attacking others because of racist ideals they believe in. In the play Fences by August Wilson, Troy's dreams of

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

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.

Fences by August Wilson is truly a phenomenal and well written play about the hard times for African Americans and the struggles between a family. Throughout the play Troy, the protagonist, is building a fence under the wish of his wife, Rose. Troy doesn't understand why she wants him to build the fence but his friend Bono does. The fence symbolizes many things in life like love, separation, and protection. Bono describes this as “Some people build fences to keep people out… and other people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold onto you all. She loves you”(2.1.30-2.1.32). What Bono says about the fence is what I believe to be the central theme and is the most important passage in the play. Rose loves Troy and stood by him for eighteen years and did everything she could to make him a happy man. She thinks building the fence is a good idea because she thinks it will help her family to stay connected and love one another.

A hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities (Hero). A Villain is a person who has evil actions or motives to harm people (Villain). In my opinion, a hero is usually the person in the story that everyone likes or looks to for help and the villain is the misunderstood or worst person in a situation. As humans we can be portrayed as a hero or villain when diverse situations occur. In August Wilson’s play, “Fences” Troy Maxson’s past, present and future caused significant traits of being called a hero and a villain in segments throughout the play.

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 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.

Major Conflicts in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and August Wilson’s Fences: a Comparative Study

In the play Fences, August Wilson follows the struggle of a family that deals with injustice and racial segregation that creates a hardship that leads to a personal lack of self-esteem and uncontrollable circumstances. Troy, forced his family to deal with his struggles of past life experience. Troy was a hardworking man who did his best to provide for his family. Rose explained this to Cory, "Your daddy wanted you to be everything he wasn't...and everything he was...he meant to do more good than he meant harm" (1985).