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Symbolism And Metaphors In Fences, By August Wilson

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“Some people build fences to keep people out… and other people build them to keep people in.” This quote comes from the playwright called “Fences,” written by August Wilson. Throughout this drama the audience sees a great deal of symbolism and metaphors. One symbol that occurs throughout the whole play is the fence. This fence was so prominent that it is inspired the title. This fence can represent many things to many different people. For example the fence represents the barrier between the father Troy and his son Cory, it is a representation of Troy and his wife Rose’s relationship, and it symbolizes the obstacles that Troy has faced. Troy Maxson and his son Cory have a very difficult relationship. Their relationship is very tense. The fence represents the barrier that is preventing them from having a happy father-son relationship. Troy cannot get past the barrier that he has built up from the past, which is preventing him from giving Cory a fair chance to live his own life. Cory cannot get past the barrier of bitterness and anger that he feels towards his father. In the end of the play the fence goes from a metaphorical barrier to a literal barrier. Troy kicks Cory out and tells him not to cross the fence that they have built. …show more content…

Rose is constantly trying to get Troy to build the fence but Troy is not committed to building it. This represents how Troy does not have a strong commitment to his wife. He is not faithful to Rose and cheats on her with somebody else. He is very lazy with trying to build the fence just like he is lazy when it comes to keeping up with his relationship with Rose. He is not willing to give up the other woman for her. He does not fully dedicate his time and energy to Rose just like he does not fully dedicate his time and energy to the

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The title of the play, “Fences" , symbolizes the function of a fence literally, which is to keep people in and out. Troy & Cory are in the same bubble, because they are father and son. This bubble is guarded by a fence. In that bubble, they experience things together, including the conflicts they have about Cory wanting to play football. Cory understands in order for him to be able to move on with his life, he needs to come at peace with the resentment and anger he has towards his father.

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Although Rose disagrees with Troy from time to time she shows unconditional love and tries to be understanding. However, later in the play Troy betrays her by being unfaithful and this makes rose put up her own fence. She tries to communicate with troy but is also very cautious because she knows how much he hurt her and would most likely not hesitate to do it again. Rose wants to keep the marriage between them because they have been together for so long and it is her only source of shelter.

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