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August Wilson's Fences: Post-Modernism

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Fences is a post-modernist play where the play writer has used the characters like Troy and Cory to show post- modernism. The play discusses the struggles faced by African Americans in the postmodern society. The way that Troy and other characters in the play dealt with the situations they were put into represents the post-modern ideals in the play by August Wilson.
Troy is trapped in discrimination because he is an African American. He had lots of flaws. Some of his flaws were: Cheating on his wife, not allowing his son to play baseball to go to college, and many more. Even though he had his flaws, he did not stop to do better for himself. Troy picked up garbage to earn his paychecks because African Americans were not allowed to drive garbage trucks. Troy was not demotivated by this, rather he fought that discrimination and became the first black garbage …show more content…

This protectiveness pulled Cory from going to college by play baseball. Cory and Troy have a big fight because of this. Troy not allowing Cory to play baseball could be seen as a bad act by Troy, but it can also be seen as a good act. Not allowing his son to achieve his dream was bad, but protecting his son from the discrimination by society was good. This dilemma of not being able to decide absolute wrong or right is a perfect post-modernist thought reflected on the play.
Like Troy’s attitude towards Cory, Rose’s attitude towards Troy is also a postmodern reflection of the play. Rose found out about the affair Troy was having with Alberta. When she knows that Alberta died during giving birth to Troy’s baby, Rose decided that she would raise that baby as her own but she would not be Troy’s wife anymore. Rose’s decision cannot be stated as right or wrong. Her morals were her own and not set by the society. Unlike traditional female play characters, rose set her own morals, which is a post-modern aspect of the

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Troy’s inability to commit to building his fences despite his repetitive speaking of how he is going to finish his fence shows how his isolation from his wife stems from his inability to truly commit to his wife even though he always told her he loved her. He wanted to protect his wife from the truth that he cheated on her and has a baby on the way with her but the fence prevented true communication with his own wife. Troy's inability to see the change in civil rights during his time period because of the fence led to the isolation of his mindset towards African American rights and the straining of his relationship with his son. His struggle to be accepted into playing professional sports alongside white men lead to preventing his son from playing professional football despite the changing times in civil rights. Without isolation from change, his relationship with his son could possibly be a happy one.

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