Destiny In Fences And The Piano Lesson

Fate and destiny seem to be intertwined and many people wonder if it is in their control; the answer to that question is yes. You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct, and control your environment. You can make your life what you want it to be. The destinies of blacks living in America, however, took a long time and a lot of effort in order to change. Towards the end of the twentieth century, the civil rights movement – a struggle for African Americans to achieve rights equal to those of whites including equal opportunity in employment, housing, and education, as well as rights to vote- helped change their destinies. August Wilson, a well-known playwright during this time period, was famous for his plays such as Fences and The Piano Lesson. His plays are based off of his own experiences and explore a century’s worth of African American struggle and triumph. One of his plays, Fences, is about four generations of black Americans and how they have passed on a legacy of morals, mores, attitude, responsibility, and patterns. He also talks about racial segregation that creates social and economic gaps in society and explores the idea of whether or not you can be the master of your own destiny. According to August Wilson, blacks living

Their history had been filled with hardships and it was during the Civil Rights Movement that they finally got the results that they have worked hard towards. Fences is an example of how the African Americans were living in during that time period and although the story is not exactly the same for everyone, it gives a sense of what their life was like. If you grew up with two strikes against you, it is harder for you to change your fate. However, to the extent that someone works hard, it is possible to change your fate. Your destiny then becomes the legacy that you leave