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August Wilson's Fences Analysis

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"Fences" by August Wilson took place in 1957, before the Civil Rights Movement in 1960s. During this time period, racism and discrimination was still highly around which made it harder for African Americans to pursue their American Dream. Wilson, an African American male who dreams to be a major league in baseball, was denied the opportunity to reach his American Dream because of his skin color. This causes him to perpetual internalized oppression. Although some characters such as Rose, Cory and other sense the changes of racism in the present, there are others like Troy who stilled stuck to the American past. Throughout the play, Wilson uses setting, characterization, language, and dialogue to show racism and how it has affected Troy he did not able to let go of his past of believing inequality for the American Dream, although things are changing in the present compare to the past. …show more content…

Pittsburg is located on the northern of United States and in 1957, after the Civil War many African Americans moved from the south to the north to overcome poverty and racial discrimination. For they hope to find job in factories but however were disappointed. Pittsburg is use as the setting because it represents promises for African Americans for a better life but also broken promises. For this reason, Troy chooses to come live in Pittsburg for a better future when he ran away and escape from his father. However, because of his race he was denied the opportunity to reach his American Dream. Moreover, the setting of the Wilson play is located in the yard in fronts of the entrance to Troy house, an ancient two-story brick house. Troy house was describe as “a wooden porch badly in need of paint”, “porch lacks congruence”, “a sturdy porch”, and “dubious value.” This seems to suggest that he is not the richest person but barely seem to make a living. Also, it

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The dynamic between a father and son is never a simple journey, but instead, comes with curveballs thrown left and right. In Fences, by August Wilson, he writes of the hardships between a father and son relationship and the difficulties a father has over trying to shield his son from life’s cruelties, to the salvation found between being fenced in and finally being placed outside of the fence—both literally and metaphorically. Through out the play, there are numerous confrontations between Troy and Cory—whether it be when Cory asks Troy whether or not he loves him or when Cory throws his football helmet towards the direction of Troy—which show the difficult and complicated relationship between father and son. Also prevalent in the play, was the lack of a father and male figure in Troy’s own life, during his most influential and important years. Troy recognizes that and the way he was/is treated by society in general and wanted to “help” his son by showing Cory the difficult lessons Troy learned during his youth, as a way to lessen the pain that would be inflicted on his son later on.

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This play was set in the 1950’s, an era when racism was indeed an issue. August Wilson used this play to show the struggles a black man had to endure while trying to make it in a white man’s world during this time. Troy Maxson was an African American who believes his

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Troy chose to escape his reality by having an affair that gives him some laughs and good time every now and then. However, despite the flaws in Troy’s character, he was a providing family man who wants to insure a better life of his sons than the one he had. Based on the play’s time period, which took place at the 50’s, apparently the main problem of Troy Maxson’s character was racism against African Americans at the time that had prevented him from achieving his dreams. Throughout the play, Troy expresses his dissatisfaction in several scenes with the other characters.

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1516 Words | 7 Pages

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.

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Similarly, Wilson in Fences was also conscious that such a mixture, where money and race are put together, is poisonous since it leads characters to destructive conflicts like the ones between the father Troy and his son Corry or also between black and white minorities. However, these conflicts are still of paramount importance because of the historical and human significance they give to the play. Starting from the

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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.  

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This story also portrays real life issues that people had face and currently face in their life. Some of the social issues are culture, race, family, poverty, sports, and responsibility. At the end all of the issues end up being connected to race, the race caused poverty, it made the father felt more responsible and overbearing, and it prevented blacks from participating in sports, just to name a few. The two themes I chose from the story was race and poverty. Race like I stated was throughout the whole story, it holds Troy back in his job and it showed that because of race people were treated badly in public places.

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Troy has a singular perspective on the world. He has a strict demeanor because of how society viewed African Americans back in the 1950s. Troy cares a lot about his family even if he doesn't show it. Throughout his life, Racism has been a barrier for him. He was once young and he chased his own dreams but because of his skin color, several "ideals" got in his way.

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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. In the fences, August describe how Troy is a villain because of the unfair to his wife.

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Another metaphorical fence that Troy faces is built strong with racial stigmas. His childhood dream was to become a professional baseball player, but he could not make it to the big leagues due to his race and

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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.

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The play “Fences” by August Wilson shows the dynamics in relationships and the multiple dramatic means by which they are established by using one pinnacle point. Wilson uses his main character Troy to stem of four other types of relationships. He shows the complexities of marriage and love in the relationship between Troy and Troy’s wife, Rose. He shows the commitment and betrayal of in the relationship between Troy and Troy’s

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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

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"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.

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In August Wilson’s playwright Fences, the narrator portrays racism in a social system, in the workplace, and in sports, which ultimately affects Troy’s aspirations. Troy Maxson is constantly facing the racism that is engraved into the rules of racial hierarchy –– fair and unfair, spoken and unspoken. Troy suffers many years of racism when he plays in the Negro major Baseball League; therefore he decides to protect Cory from ever experiencing those blockades in his drive for success. In the end, although Troy is always driving to obtain agency, Troy always succumbs to the rules of racism because those racist ideologies are too hard to overcome. Throughout the play, Troy is perpetually confronting the racist social system that displays unspoken

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