Symbolism In Fences By August Wilson

In the play Fences, by August Wilson, the symbol of the fence is used to characterize the internal conflicts of the central character, Troy Maxson, in his relationships and stature in society. More than just a backdrop into the setting, this unfinished fence holds greater symbolic significance into the lives of Troy and his family. After Troy and his wife, Rose, had just finished arguing about Troy’s brother Gabriel, and as he began to leave Rose questioned him, “You been running out of here every Saturday for weeks. I thought you was gonna work on this fence?” where Troy responds with “I’m gonna walk down to Taylor’s. Listen to the ball game. I’ll be back in a bit. I’ll work on it when I get back” (28). Early in the play, we see this lack

However, individuals build psychological fences as well for the same reasons. The lack of commitment that Troy shows in building the fence is coupled with his lack of commitment to his marriage. As Cory, Troy’s son, begins to leave, after being kicked out, for disrespecting and fighting Troy, Cory says to him “Tell Mama I’ll be back for my things,” with Troy responding, “They’ll be in the other side of that fence” (89). Throughout the plot both Troy and Cory displayed a lack of desire to build the fence, always having something more important to do, and this exemplified the emotional divide in their relationship. The fence in this moment is representative of Troy’s own fences, with him keeping his relationships inside. Troy’s fence was to protect the relationship inside, however, like the physical fence, Troy’s fence is tattered and incomplete, which has allowed vulnerabilities in his relationships. Since Troy had been promoted, he and Bono had not talked in a long period of time, but after stopping by Bono reports to Troy, “Yeah, Rose told Lucille you had finally build your fence … so I figured we’d call it even”