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

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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 …show more content…

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

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August Wilson’s play Fences was written in 1983. Fences is the sixth play in Wilson’s Pittsburgh cycle. Pittsburgh is important because it represents a better life for blacks; it provides them with jobs and helped them to escape the poverty and racism of the south after the civil war. It represents promises and promises that were broken. I feel like Fences represents the struggles Troy and his family faced because of their complexion and their constant disappointments as black people.

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572 Words | 3 Pages

Resentment and feelings of isolation are effects of destructive family problems. Every family undergoes certain problems and have their strengths and weaknesses. Some patriarchs of families may see tough love as too tough or not tough enough. In Fences by August Wilson, the protagonist, Troy Maxson’s excessive pride created a tense and bitter relationship between him and his sons. After his promising baseball career ended, Troy settled in with Rose and started a family.

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245 Words | 1 Pages

In the play Fences the most dramatic and significant moment is Act 2 Scene 3.wWhen troy came home with the daughter he conceived by commenting adultery. This scene gave rose a power that she didn’t have threw out the play. These scene is something that remind of my past life. The scene in other people opinion may not be the moment in the play that’s most dramatic and significant to them.

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841 Words | 4 Pages

Troy feels dissatisfied with his life. He's unhappy that his pro baseball dreams were stopped by racial discrimination. He feels trapped and unfulfilled in his job as a garbage collector. Troy has so much hate and discomfort inside of him that from the past where he just let all his anger and unhappiness out on everybody else and he wants them to feel how he feels. It's like Troy drinked all the time because he thought that that would just ease the pain with what was going on but not knowing when he did drink he would get drunk and do things that would escalate.

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672 Words | 3 Pages

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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533 Words | 3 Pages

In the play Fences, the main character Troy and the side characters grow up in a poor region of Pittsburgh in the 1950s. The play follows Troy, his family, and the struggles they face living in a segregated and racist society. Literary devices such as metaphors, motifs, and setting represent why these characters act the way they do. The same situation would exist in their environment with an abusive father. Troy's behavior would be described as irritated and harsh.

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524 Words | 3 Pages

The hardships that people face, coming from racial and gender injustice, can sometimes affect not just those directly concerned, but their families as well. These injustices, such as the treatment to Troy in Fences during his younger years, change the ways he acts to his sons and the rest of the characters and is the source of much of the conflict they face. Many of the conflicts in the play arise because the characters disagree with the way they see the past and what they want to do in their respective futures. For example, Troy and Cory see Cory's future differently because of the ways they have been treated in their pasts.

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516 Words | 3 Pages

Inside the film Troy betrayed essentially his entire circle of relatives just off of one mistake and it triggered him to lose the humans near him whose circle of relatives performed a key role in growing this subject. Wilson suggests this by way of portrayal of circle of relatives lifestyles- of how its characters view their roles as personal circle of relatives participants, and how they ever define their commitment or responsibility to the circle of relatives. via the entire ebook/ film they symbolized the fence so an awful lot because it symbolized their circle of

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954 Words | 4 Pages

In August Wilson's play Fences, the fence symbol can be understood through a philosophical lens as a representation of the problems inherent to the emotional barriers within the Maxson family and, by extension, in relationships founded on and driven by duty rather than genuine love, which is a major theme in the story. The fence that Troy builds serves as a tangible manifestation of his emotional barriers, which result in him imposing control over his loved ones to protect them without fully understanding what they need from him. He believes he is doing right by his family by giving them "[his] sweat and [his] blood" (Wilson 40) so that they can have a roof over their heads and food on their plates. He neglects to realize that what Rose and Cory

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1516 Words | 7 Pages

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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838 Words | 4 Pages

“Troy: All right... Mr. Death.... I'm gonna take and build me a fence around this yard. See? I'm gonna build me a fence around what belongs to me.

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883 Words | 4 Pages

He becomes a "woman less man". In addition, the fence appears to symbolize thedifference in personalities of Troy and Rose. It takes Bono to make Troy realize that "Rose wants tohold on to [him]", for Rose gives everything she has to Troy, including her entire life andlove. Yet, in contrast, Troy's in no rush to build any type of fence. He

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985 Words | 4 Pages

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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1010 Words | 5 Pages

Fences by August Wilson is a play set in 1950s Pittsburgh which chronicles the life of an African American family. Language is a crucial component of the play, revealing the characters, conflicts, and meaning of the story. In Fences, Troy is a strong character who uses his language to assert his dominance, especially over his son, Cory. Troy treats Cory with a harsh exterior, which masks his deep hopes for a better future for his son.

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1457 Words | 6 Pages

"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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