August Wilson’s Fences was centered on the life of Troy Maxson, an African American man full of bitterness towards the world because of the cards he was dealt in life amidst the 1950’s. In the play Troy was raised by an unloving and abusive father, when he wanted to become a Major League Baseball player he was rejected because of his race. Troy even served time in prison because he was impoverished and needed money so he robbed a bank and ended up killing a man. Troy’s life was anything but easy. In the play Troy and his son Cory were told to build a fence around their home by Rose. It is common knowledge that fences are used in one of two ways: to keep things outside or to keep things inside. In the same way that fences are used to keep
The play, Fences, in conclusion acquires many interpretations of the “fence” that is mentioned variously. Despite there only being one physical fence, it represents many figurative fences throughout the play. The “fence” is signified as having both positive and negative
Fences, written by August Wilson, is a play about a man, named Troy, struggling to support his family during the late 1950’s. In this play, we see that Troy hurts the people closest to him. He has been uncaring towards his wife, Rose, his brother Gabriel and his son, Cory. This is because Troy had nothing to go on but the harsh example set by his father. In Fences, Troy has felt like he has been fenced in all of his life, which causes him to fence others in.
In so many ways Fences is such an ordinary story that its power comes from the ways in which ordinary people hear and view it. There is no doubt but that the metaphor of the fence prevails, working its way across work, family, friendship and the emotional pain of living a life literally dependent on garbage for survival. This is what Wilson wrote about in his Fences of the 1950s. In retrospect, however, it doesn't take a lot to put some of these pieces together yet again to create a difference story of its own kinds of fences, wooden, social, economic. But then or now, this story is still about the ordinary failing of a person who cannot figure out how to get out of the box that surrounds him and who thus finds himself pulling others inside his own fenced in troubles and pains. Being a black man wasn't easy then and it isn't easy today.
People associate fences with separation, barrier, and division. Dreams involving fences hints everything a person is restricted to do. But what do fences really represent? The play Fences was written by August William. It is centered on Troy Maxson and his family struggles. Troy was once a man who has a dream and gave it up to support his family. His family consists of Cory, Raynell, Rose, Gabriel, and Lyons. Everyone in the family has its needs such as Lyons need money, Rose hoped to build a fence around the house, and Cory wants to pursue his dreams. Towards the end, Troy finally finished constructing the fence as Rose wished. In the play, the fence was used as a symbol to reveal characters’ personalities, desires, and their relationships
In today 's society people have to deal with several issues that we can 't explain. For some of us we built fences to isolate ourselves from others or in some cases to protect ourselves. No matter what the issue is we, all have to struggle to be able to provide for our families. As a child I built fences when it came to my feelings. For example, growing up I was in the chunky side. Since I wasnt so skinny like the pretty girls in my class. I kinda isolated my self from the other students. That way my feelings wouldn 't get hurt. My fence was to protect me from what I thought was going to hurt me. Well the same thing happened to Troy Maxson. In the play, "Fences" written by the well-known playwright, August Wilson, is the story of Troy Maxson and his beloved family. Throughout the whole entire play, a fence is being built around the Maxson household. As the story unfolds to the viewers, the word fences may look like a simple title, but the truth is it has different symbolic meaning. The real definition of the word fence is revealed along with the personalities of the characters in the play. In "Fences", August Wilson uses different types of fences as a metaphor to explain how these people live.
Many individuals have found themselves putting up fences in their lives metaphorically and physically throughout their time being. In the play titled fences by August Wilson , some of its key characters put up fences within their lives figuratively speaking. August wilson uses the symbol of a fence in various occasions within the play. Characters lives mentioned change around the fence building project which serves as both a figurative symbol,representing the relationships that bond and break in the backyard. The fact that the character Rose Maxson wants the fence built adds significance to her character because she views the fence as something necessary and rather positive since she wants to keep her loved ones in. To her a fence is a symbol of her love and furthermore her motive for a fence signifies that she represents concepts such as nurturing and love within a safe environment.For troy the fence has a more symbolic definition since he keeps much of
The character from Fences, Troy Maxson, builds a fence, this symbolizes himself. He is the fence that keeps all of the characters together. This is shown in the novel where he is the one person keeping all the other characters together “inside” the fence. When Troy falls apart, all of the characters go their separate way. When Troy cheats on Rose, this is when he himself falls apart as a fence. “From now… This child got a mother. But you a womanless man.” (wilson 79) This shows when Rose leaves Troy after he cheats on her and crumbles apart as the “fence” holding everyone together. Another example of this is when it is discovered that Bono stopped being Troy’s friend soon after the incident with Rose. “You aint stopped by in a month of Sundays” (Wilson 82). This is where Troy talks to Bono about him not coming to visit. This shows the symbolism of Troy as a fence keeping everyone together, but he
Throughout history, civilizations have built fences to keep enemies out and keep those they want to protect inside. In society today, people create metaphorical fences in order to fence in their feelings, while others create literal fences in order to keep the unwanted away. In the play Fences, the Maxon family lives in 1950’s America whose love for sports and one another are questioned at times when they need to be together the most. In the play Fences by August Wilson, two main characters Troy and Cory Maxon build a fence, literally and metaphorically, which as the book progresses, becomes a symbol that allows each character to truly understand each other.
In August Wilson's play, Fences, Bono says, “Some people build fences to keep people out… and other people build fences to keep people in”(Wilson 61). Due to past experiences, many people keep their anger inside and alienate the people they are close to. For example, Troy, in Fences, experiences a rough childhood while growing up. This is brought about due to neglect by his father. Because of this, Troy makes the decision to isolate the people who are close to him. Troy has an affair with Alberta; therefore, he alienates Rose, his wife. Similarly, in the film Antwone Fisher, the main character, Antwone is sexually abused in his foster home. Antwone is afraid to be in a relationship with Cheryl because he feels he cannot allow anyone into his inner sanctum. The young, male protagonists in both the film Antwone Fisher and the play Fences share a connection in that they suffer from abuse during their childhoods, and now isolate themselves from others as
The portion of Fences that I will be discussing is act one scene three, a plethora of emotions along with life lessons are displayed in this
In August Wilson's novel, Fences, Bono says, “Some people build fences to keep people out… and other people build fences to keep people in.” Due to past experiences, many people keep their anger inside and alienate the people they are close with. For example, Troy, in Fences, experiences a rough childhood while growing up. This is brought about due to neglect by his father. Because of this, Troy makes the decision to isolate the people who are close to him. Troy has an affair with Alberta; therefore, he alienates Rose, his wife. Similarly, in the film Antowne Fisher, the main character, Antowne is sexually abused in his foster home. Antowne is afraid to be in a relationship with Cheryl because he feels he cannot allow anyone into his inner
Throughout their lives, humans tend to build fences around the things they care for both literally and metaphorically. A fence is designed for the purpose of either keeping the unwanted out or protecting loved ones. In August Wilson's 1983 play entitled Fences, fences are formed both literally and figuratively. In the opening of act I, scene 2 Rose, the wife of the play's protagonist Troy Maxson sings a song asking Jesus to “be a fence all around me every day”. Through her song, Rose is asking Jesus to conceal and protect her from the troubles of her present day society. However, Rose is not the only character hoping to build up a fence, throughout the play, many of Wilson's characters seek to build fences around themselves and the ones they love. Wilson's play is based around the theme of building up fences in order to both keep out and enclose certain things, ideas, and people.
August Wilson takes us back to the 1950's in his play Fences, where he demonstrates the relationship between a black family that battles with love, segregation, and regular hardships. A major portion of the play that Wilson wanted us to comprehend was the significance of the fence that Rose wanted Troy to build around the house, hence the name of the play. This fence was not only a boundary around the house but used for protection in numerous ways for certain individuals. Rose wanted to keep her family together inside the fence in view of her love for them, Troy needed protection from Death, and it was used as an obstacle between Rose and Troy when a certain circumstance happened. Despite the fact that it is only a fence, it has appeared all through the play that, for this family, it is more than that.