Examples Of Conflict In Fences

August Wilson did not name his play, Fences, simply due to the melodramatic actions that take place in the Maxson household, but rather the relationships that bond and break because of the “fence”. The “fence” serves as a structural device because the character's lives are constantly changing during the construction of the fence. The dramatic actions in the play strongly depend on the building of the fence in the Maxson’s backyard. Fences represents the metaphorical walls or fences that the main characters are creating around themselves in order to keep people in or vice versa. The title may seem straightforward, but in actuality it is a powerful symbol which can either have positive or

August Wilson’s Fences is a play about Troy Maxson, and how his values influence his family’s. The play takes place in 1950’s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Troy Maxson is a black, middle aged man working for a garbage company. Each member of the Maxson family has a special relationship with Troy, that affects their behavior throughout the play. In life you learn the most from your parents. They teach you how to walk, speak, and respect one another. Your parents also give you a set of values for life. As you grow up as your own individual, your values will change from your parents. There will be things that are much more important to you, and not as important to them. In the play Fences Troy Maxson has a very strong set of values that he believes are true in how you should live life. Troy imposes these values on everyone in his family to the best of his ability. Each character in Fences is at a different stage in their life, so Troy can’t push his values onto characters that already have their own beliefs. The character that Troy has the most influence on in the play is Cory. Troy is in Cory’s life throughout his childhood, and as his father Cory must respect Troy. Troy is very firm with Cory, because he wants Cory to be successful. Cory has a dream of becoming a football player, and this does not follow Troy’s values. Troy influences Cory so much that Cory will always be like Troy whether he realizes it or not. “Your daddy wanted you to be everything he wasn’t … and at

Throughout time there have always been conflicts of morality and injustice. August Wilson wrote this play about issues that were prevalent in the 1950’s but also still are sadly present today. In Fences, there is an abundance of evidence of cultural clashes. In this play these clashes span over racial, generational, and even gender lines and its effects on the characters.

The theme of August Wilson’s play “Fences” is the coming of age in the life of a broken black man. Wilson wrote about the black experience in different decades and the struggle that many blacks faced, and that is seen in “Fences” because there are two different generations portrayed in Troy and Cory. Troy plays the part of the protagonist who has been disillusioned throughout his life by everyone he has been close to. He was forced to leave home at an early age because his father beat him so dramatically. Troy never learned how to treat people close to him and he never gave any one a chance to prove themselves because he was selfish. This makes Troy the antagonist in the story because he is not only hitting up against everyone in the play,

Lives are lead with anxiety over certain issues and with apprehension towards certain events. This play, Fences written by the playwright August Wilson deals with the progression of a family through the struggles of oppression and the inability to obtain the American Dream. The characters in the play develop throughout the story and can be viewed or interpreted in many different ways, but one man remains constant during the play and that is Troy. Due to certain events that transpired as he was growing up, Troy is shaped into a very stubborn yet proud man. To be a man who was black and proud ran the risk of getting destroyed, both physically and mentally. The world of the 1950s and 60s was rapidly changing and

In Fences, August Wilson introduces an African American family whose life is based around a fence. In the dirt yard of the Maxson’s house, many relationships come to blossom and wither here. The main character, Troy Maxson, prevents anyone from intruding into his life by surrounding himself around a literal and metaphorical fence that affects his relationships with his wife, son, and mortality.

     We all lead lives filled with anxiety over certain issues, and with dread of the inevitable day of our death. In this play, Fences which was written by the well known playwright, August Wilson, we have the story of Troy Maxson and his family. Fences is about Troy Maxson, an aggressive man who has on going, imaginary battle with death. His life is based on supporting his family well and making sure they have the comforts that he did not have in his own childhood. Also, influenced by his own abusive childhood, he becomes an abusive father who rules his younger son, Cory?s life based on his own past experiences. When the issue comes up of Cory having a bright future ahead of him if he joins the football team,

In the play, Fences by August Wilson, Troy Maxson was a man with many good intentions but wrong choices. Troy was simply trying to do whatever he thought was right. He was stubborn, persistent and in some ways selfish. Most of all Troy was very domineering. Despite everyone’s warnings and advice he still continued to follow his own choice of action, regarding the consequences. Throughout the story, Troy’s actions portrays his need to control everyone’s life.

He focuses mainly on Biff who he believes has what it takes to be a successful sales man telling him "...I'll show you all the towns...And they know me, boys, they know me up and down New England...I have friends. I can park my car in any street in New England, and the cops protect it like their own" (Miller 1919). Much like Willy Loman, Troy Maxson also chased after an American dream. Troy Maxson is an older Aferican-American who chased after the American dream of becoming a Major League baseball player; unfortunately before he was ever recruited he had lost his athletic abilities. Troy Maxson still holds bitterness against white people because he feels as if he was passed over because of segregation and discrimination instead of how good his ability to still play was. The emotions involved with being passed over because of discrimination left Troy Maxson angry which he often displayed towards his family. Troy Maxson’s “point of view about things drastically affects those around him” (Armstrong). Troy Maxson had reached for his dream and failed and instead of encouraging his son to reach for his dream he demeans his son’s achievements. In spite of Troy Maxson’s encouragement his son, Cory, succeeds in his own dream of being recruited by a college football team. As anticipated his father belittles the accomplishment by saying “it ain’t gonna get him nowhere”

life? These questions reside at the heart of Wilson’s play and illustrate the theme of Fences by

The first time I read August Wilson's Fences for english class, I was angry. I was angry at Troy Maxson, angry at him for having an affair, angry at him for denying his son, Cory, the opportunity for a football scholarship.I kept waiting for Troy to redeem himself in the end of the play, to change his mind about Cory, or to make up with Ruth somehow. I wanted to know why, and I didn't, couldn't understand. I had no intention of writing my research paper on this play, but as the semester continued, and I immersed myself in more literature, Fences was always in the back of my mind, and, more specifically, the character of Troy Maxson. What was Wilson trying to say with this piece? The more that

In this unit we read a play written as a book, called “Fences”. Fences is about racism written in the 1986. The play is based around the main characters Troy and Rose, and their son Cory. Troy has stated that he has felt the need to provide a life for Cory but doesn't need love him. Troy is wanting Cory to stop playing football and get a real job at the A&P so he can provide for himself. Rose has been trapped in between all of this. All in all, the play Fences written by August Wilson uses the narrative element of characterization of Troy and Rose, the metaphor of sports, and conflict that Troy creates to show tension.

The play Fences by August Wilson centers around the character of Troy, a middle-aged African-American man. Troy struggles to keep his family together, mostly as the result of mistakes he has made as a husband and parent. These mistakes reflect certain personality traits that make up Troy’s complex character, including his obsession with providing financially, his inability to love his family, and his stubborn insistence on others following the paths he decides for them. These character traits can be explained by the social, racial, and economic climate of the time. Fences takes place in late 1950’s Pennsylvania during the beginning of the Civil Rights Era, and Troy’s character is shaped by the disappointments that have come along with racism and economic difficulty, along with not being up to date on the changes happening in the Civil Rights movement. Although Troy and his character traits are responsible for the tragic decisions he has made, it is possible that the social context of the time has shaped him into the person he is.

August Wilson’s play Fences brings an introspective view of the world and of Troy Maxson’s family and friends. The title Fences displays many revelations on what the meaning and significance of the impending building of the fence in the Maxson yard represents. Wilson shows how the family and friends of Troy survive in a day to day scenario through good times and bad. Wilson utilizes his main characters as the interpreters of Fences, both literally and figuratively. Racism, confinement, and protection show what Wilson was conveying when he chose the title Fences.

    In Act I and some of Act II the audience sees many disagreements  between Cory and Troy about Cory playing sports. In Troy's past after he was released from jail he went to play baseball, but as Troy claims, he was not allowed to play due to skin color. Troy is then placing this stipulation onto Cory when he wants to play football. Troy made the statement, “I told that boy about that football stuff. The white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that football. I told him when he first come to me with it. Now you come telling me he done went and got more tied up in it. He ought to go and get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living.” (Act I  scene I ). Troy makes this statement to his wife, Rose, after she tells him of Cory getting recruited college football. In this Troy is thinking of his past when he went to play baseball and he was not accepted to play. In