THE BACKGROUND Fences is a play by August Wilson that is made in 1957, part of the sixth in August Wilson's ten-part "Pittsburgh Cycle". Fences is an American play that divided of two acts. The first act consists of four scenes, while the second act consists of five scenes. Fences is included as one of the most important American plays. This classic tragedy drama was written in 1983 and earned Pulitzer Prize. Fences is written using African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Fences made in 1957, the era when there are many talented Black athletes emerged. However, in fences story, at that time, Negro leagues players do not get adequate salaries to support their family. They still face racism at that time. August Wilson wrote this play because he wanted to show his family racial as he experienced while he was a kid. This play is categorized …show more content…
He is the protagonist of Fences. He is a former baseball star in the Negro Leagues and a breadwinner in his family. He becomes the tragic hero of this play who experience good fortune to bad. In the middle of the play, he builds fence with Cory, his son. He wants his son Cory not to sacrifice his studies and his job only to become a football player. He doesn’t want his son live his life as a sports player just like him. However Cory still insists to become a football player, therefore he kicks his son out of the house. During his tension with Cory, Troy suffers difficulty at his work. Troy works for the sanitation department. His job is lifting garbage into trucks. However, there is a racial discrimination at his work. His boss will not allow Black people to drive the garbage trucks, but after Troy’s pleading, his boss allowed him to drive the truck and he becomes the first black man to drive a truck in the entire city of Pittsburgh. Troy has 3 children, which are Lyons, Cory and Raynell. He has affair with Alberta, but Alberta dies when she was giving birth to
In the play “Fences” by August Wilson, there are numerous elements of fiction including irony, symbolism, foreshadowing, and imagery placed in the play that show how main character Troy has failed to achieve living the American dream. The irony in this play is that Troy had dreamed for a long time about becoming a driver for a trash truck but, once he finally accomplished getting the job, it fell short of his expectation. A use of symbolism throughout this play is that baseball used to be something that brought happiness into Troy’s life but, when he got older baseball was what ended his unhappy life. Another element of fiction that plays a major part in this play is foreshadowing. At the beginning of the play Troy talks about how he isn’t
“Fences,” by August Wilson is set during an era of extreme racism. In the play there are many underlying messages about certain family dynamics and the idea of true success in careers for African Americans. Growing up Troy Maxson loved baseball and definitely had the skill set to play it professionally. Due to his race he was not accepted to play professionally despite his great talent. This denial leads him to grow bitter and strains relationships in his life later on.
The play Fences by August Wilson is set in Pittsburgh during the 1950s that details the story of a black man named Troy Maxson and his relationships with each individual in his family and his friends. Due to racial discrimination, Troy was unable to accomplish his dreams of being a professional baseball player and he uses this as a basis to why he heavily values his individual freedom as a man which tends to overstep his responsibilities to his family as a father and as a husband. Due to valuing and prioritizing himself, Troy destroys his relationship with his wife, is never able
In the book Fences by August Wilson, the author chooses baseball to compare many of the struggles everyday people deal with in everyday society. August Wilson created some very relatable characters to portray the message of life and love Fences attempts to display. It is ultimately displayed in a quote by the main character Troy Maxson. Troy said “That’s all death is to me. A fastball on the outside corner” (10).
His relationship with Bono shows this clearly. For it always appears as though Bono only listens and comments in their conversations. It is rare that he brings up a new topic, and when he does Troy is sure to make it go in a direction he wants it to. Rose has to be the worst victim of Troy’s selfishness because Troy never even considers her feelings or how he might hurt her. He also ignores the responsibility he owes her in being her husband, all because he wanted to indulge himself with another women.
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.
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.
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.
Troy 's hatred of his father acts as a catalyst for many moments in Troy 's life, in negative and positive ways alike. Unlike most fathers, Troy 's father didn 't leave him with a material possession such as a house but instead left him with emotional baggage that crippled the earlier and later parts of Troy 's life. From the beginning, Troy 's father was abusive to his mother and all of his siblings. Troy and his family worked hard on their father 's farm and endured his bitterness towards being a sharecropper. Troy states that his father was greedy and would put his own personal needs above the needs of the family.
Troy not only disapproves of his son Cory playing football, but he also disagrees with his oldest son Lyons aspirations of becoming a musician. We see this when Troy states “get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living”. Instead of focusing on sports, he believes Cory should pick up a trade that can provide an income for his future. Cory is a talented athlete just like his dad, but due to Troy’s dreams being shattered by the white man, his outlook is tainted. Although Troy is predominantly aggressive, he is attempting to protect Cory from the same disappointment he once endured.
( Fences page 39). When Rose and Troy are talking about Cory, Rose says all Cory wants is for him to say “Good job, son.” Troy responds by saying that nobody is going to help Cory in the real world. Cory needs to be independent and make his own way. Troy throughout the book also used baseball to teach Cory lessons.
“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.
Fences is a play written by the playwright August Wilson, who dedicated himself to writing plays capturing what it was like to be an African American in the United States during every decade of the 20th century. Fences was a play that was specifically written to provide an outlook into the lives of African Americans in America during the 1950s, during the process of demarginalization. Each character of the novel provides a unique perspective to capture different aspects of the “African American Experience” during this time period. In Fences, it was very important to August Wilson to truly capture “The African American Experience” and he was able to do so through the portrayal of the Maxson family, with his representation of African Americans during the 1950s in Fences, and with the multiple perspectives of African Americans captured
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).
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.