How Does Fences Affect August Wilson

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

Troy’s family also can be represented by the yard and fence. The Troy’s family can signify by three parts opened fence, fenced and cornerstone of fence. Troy’s has five dependent as a member of family, including himself: Lyon’s, Corry, Rose, and Raynell. Lyon’s and Troy represented in the play as decomposed part of a fence. “Though he fancies himself a musician, he is more caught up in the rituals and “idea” of being a musician than in the actual practice of the music” (Wilson 9). Lyon’s was Thirty-four years old, but he does not want to work another kinds of job expect music. He did not practice music and does not work another job, so he decomposes

Fences written by August Wilson is an award winning drama that depicts an African-America family who lives in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania during the 1950’s. During this time, the Mason’s reveal the struggles working as a garbage man, providing for his family and excepting life as is. The end of segregation began, more opportunities for African American people were accessible. Troy, who’s the father the Cory and husband of Rose has shoes fill as a working African America man. He is the family breadwinner and plays the dominant role in the play. Troy’s childhood was pretty rough growing up on a farm of 11 children. Overtime, he realizes the change of society. He builds a friendship fellow sanitation worker, Jim Bono while in the penitentiary. Troy planned to build a fence around his house to control the number of people on his property. The fence also plays a symbolic role throughout the drama. These motives and characteristics control is what makes Troy the friend, father, worker, and husband he is today.

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.

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.

Conflicts and tensions between family members and friends are key elements in August Wilson's play, Fences. The main character, Troy Maxon, has struggled his whole life to be a responsible person and fulfill his duties in any role that he is meant to play. In turn, however, he has created conflict through his forbidding manner. The author illustrates how the effects of Troy's stern upbringing cause him to pass along a legacy of bitterness and anger which creates tension and conflict in his relationships with his family.

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

Family is not always the easiest thing to deal with as families always seem to get into disagreements. This is shown in the play “Fences” by August Wilson which is full of tension between the main character, Troy, and his various family members. Troy’s many bad decisions and mistakes cause a lot of hate to be directed at him and a lot of arguments ensue throughout the play. August Wilson uses many narrative elements in the play to make it more interesting and show the tension more clearly. Overall, in the play “Fences” August Wilson uses narrative elements such as father-son conflict, contrasting motifs, and characterization to show characters’ problems to create tension between characters.

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

Wilson uses the character of Troy, his family, and his friends in Fences to pour out his life, his

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.

The story “Fences” written by August wilson talks about the issues and conflict that an African American face. The story dated back in 1957 which focuses on African American family in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. The conflict that is hovering the family seems to revolve round the head of the family , Troy Maxon; which in this case is the main character . Troy Maxon being the center of the conflicts had a way to affect the other part of the family which is Rose his wife and Cory his son. Being the main character of the story troy Maxon values, attitude, and personality and the way it affects his household cannot be overemphasized.

According to Wilson, his play provides Caucasians with a view into an African Americans life to find similarities to their own (Kennedy and Gioia 1883). Not only did Wilson accomplish this, but also provided a representation of interfamily relationships that occurs in many cultures. For instance, Katz maintains that the father son relationship contains “… inherent seeds of conflict” (Katz). The relationship between Cory and Troy mirrors the conflict between many young men and their fathers as they attempt to create their identity and independence while the fathers are still attempting to shape their future based on their experiences, creating conflict that transcends differences in race and culture. Similarly, the issue of infidelity in a marriage is another issue that is common in a multitude of cultures (Hartnett), and addressed in this play through Bono’s accusations toward Troy, and Troy’s subsequent admission to Rose that he had an affair resulting in a child.

August Wilson found that it was important to keep “Black plays” alive. According to Sandra Shannon “Wilson is widely known for his celebrated causes, first in 1990 for his high published demand for a black director for the play Fences.” (Shannon 604). This leads into the beginning of the play and how the reader is supposed to view Troy as a person. Wilson believed in the rights of blacks and he shows this by having his main character Troy fight for his right to be a driver instead of a hard labor worker at his job at the land fill. Because of the way blacks were treated and viewed on the job site Troy was afraid to speak up about his feelings. Eventually, Troy built up the courage to go and speak to his boss, after the conversation Troy finds