Symbolism In Act 2 Scene 2 Of August Wilson's Fences

For my image, I drew a piece of land separated into two sides representing life and death which are divided by a fence made out of coffins representing death. These particular images came to mind as I came across descriptive diction and repetition while reading Act 2 Scene 2 of August Wilson’s Fences. This then led me to question the contrast between the ideas of life and death as concepts rather than physical places or states and I began to think about the metaphor of the garden and planting seeds that were used repetitively by Rose throughout the play. This idea of growth and life is closed off from the barren landscape representing death by a fence of coffins illustrating how close the lines of life and death lay and how easy it can be to

This reference ties in with the allusions to the Bible that are made throughout the play as Maxon’s attempt to follow the word of the lord and constantly make religious remarks. Within the bible, John 15:1 states “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” meaning that Jesus claims to be a tree of life or a vine that offers God's life to the world. The scene as well as this biblical reference inspired the idea of contrasting flourishing, healthy, land with the barren, unfruitful land as well as the placement of the tree of life and fence of coffins. I want the viewer to recognize that the number of branches on the tree of life represents the number of troy’s family members who are alive while the number of branches on the bare tree within the side of death represents those that have passed. Troy, however, is standing at the fence between life and death because his battle with death is ongoing for the majority of the play until he loses this battle towards the end. This strong divide between life and death led to this image through the use of a variety of colors and markers, pens, colored pencils, and inspiration from online