Spirituality & Religion in August Wilson's 'Fences'

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.

The play, “Fences” by August Wilson describes the life of an African-American family that is por. Troy Maxson, the father of the family, was a baseball player in the

In past times, racism and economic injustice headline the many problems that present themselves to society. Some people accept the horrors that appear with the issues while others take actions to change the issues for the better. August Wilson reveals that in his play Fences.” Written in 1957, Wilson’s play portrays an African American family during the time of the civil rights movement who struggle to reach the self-proclaimed American Dream in the United States (Wilson 963-1018). The protagonist, Troy Maxson, is influenced by Wilson’s stepfather, David Bedford (Martin and Downing). During the civil rights movement, African Americans carried few to no rights as an American citizen, presenting controversy to the world of political science and economic power. Wilson also contributes to the theory of Marxism in Fences. Introduced by Karl Marx, Marxist Criticism paints an identical picture of the way society reveals itself in the twentieth century. “Marx’s main interest was in economic power and the ways in which it disguised and manipulated.” (Schakel and Ridl 1455). Wilson incorporates those views into his play Fences. Wilson also reveals his intake on the views of Marxism. “Today I would say that the conflict in black America is between the middle class and the so-called underclass, and that conflict goes back to those who deny themselves and those who aren’t willing to (Lyons 1024).” The author believes that African American struggle contributes to the theory of Marxism.

The utility of the epigraph is two-fold. First, it can be applied to the father in the sense of the family as in the three generations represented in the play, but it can also be read as commentary on the father as in the historical meaning. When Troy is discussing Cory’s desire to play football, he says “The white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that football” (8) and when he responds to Bono’s comment that Troy was just too early, with the remark “There ought not never been no time called too early!” (9), he is referring to the sins of “our fathers.” Instead of heeding Wilson’s advice to forgive and erase the power of racism, Troy decides to perpetuate the sins of our fathers by boxing Cory in with his own experience with racism. While Wilson uses Troy’s dialogue about baseball to showcase the racism of the past and its effect on the present, he also imbeds key moments in the play as a way to make the audience identify with the characters.

August Wilson’s play Fences gives a glimpse back in time into the life of Troy Maxson during the 1950s. Troy Maxson is an African-American living in Pittsburgh working as a garbage collector. However, he is bitter and feels as if he has been cheated out of a good life because of his past, race, and age. This behavior drives a wedge between him and the people who care about him. Wilson uses the theatre life themes of generation and love to tell how Troy Maxson displays self-destructive characteristics.

Fences can be viewed as a family play, it can also be viewed as a work specifically of the black man's place, or plight, in a predominantly white world. Either way, it has a very valuable message. It is a true art to be able to touch on so many aspects of life in a work, aspects that may be viewed differently by different people.. Wilson's work, and the character of Troy Maxson, makes me question many things, among them myself, as well as his intended message. This is why I am so in awe of Fences, and of Wilson's talent. This is why I am writing my paper on Fences.

One narrative element that August Wilson uses in his play “Fences” to create tension, is that of conflict which he uses to show the tension that exists between Troy and his oldest son, Lyons. Lyons was raised by Troy’s ex-wife but now frequently stops by Troy’s house to borrow money which he seldom repays. One day, after Lyons has stopped by asking for ten dollars, Troy makes a comment to his best friend, Bono, saying, “What I tell you, Bono? The only time I see this nigger is when he wants something.” (16) This shows a conflict over money that is present between Troy and Lyons which is caused by and adds to the tension that exists in the play between these characters and others. August Wilson’s addition of conflict with Troy and Lyons’ story is able to show the immense tension that Troy

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

As the roles of an African American men begin to evolve during the post-slavery time period, women’s roles remained unchanged. In this case, in August Wilson’s play Fences, Wilson’s perspective on gender roles explains the traditions of both men and women, the oppression and objectification of women, and the social roles. For instance, “Indeed, Wilson’s perspective on responsibility might appear dubious to those unfamiliar with his decidedly male ethos, which he links to the history of black male-female relations in America” (Shannon 199). Conflict arises between Troy and his family because of his representation in gender roles that were traditionally meant to play. This is the view on how Troy communicates with his wife, Rose throughout the play. Furthermore, because of the strict gender roles, Troy has a narrow view as how African Americans are being treated in the society and a tunnel view on what he believes on how the world operates.

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.

Alan Nadel argues that the object of the fence in August Wilson’s play, “Fences” symbolizes a great struggle between the literal and figurative definitions of humanity and blackness. The author summarizes the play and uses the character Troy to explain the characterization of black abilities, such as Troy’s baseball talents, as “metaphoric,” which does not enable Troy to play in the white leagues as the period is set during segregation (Nadel 92). The author is trying to use the characters from the play as examples of black people during the segregation years to show how people of that time considered black people not as literal entities and more like figurative caricatures. Stating that these individuals were considered to be in a

Fences by August Wilson shows the evolving African-American experience during the 1950’s to the 1960’s. The main character Troy Maxson makes his living as a sanitation worker to provide for his family. Throughout Fences the audience can see how Troy’s past played a strong role in his relation with his sons and wife. Troy would eventually meet his ultimate demise after an altercation with his second son, Cory Maxson. Through Troy’s actions and relationships with his family, Wilson shows that as the determination of individuals clash it can lead to the decline of family relationships.

Troy attempts to disguise this feeling as concern for his son, but cannot accept the fact that “[he] was too old to play baseball” (Wilson 39). However, he continues to deny this privilege to Cory because of the selfishness he feels as a result of double consciousness. The same double consciousness that serves the black community so well in their attempts to fight the “whites’ resistance to blacks’ true inclusion in the American fabric” (McWhorter 13) can also have negative effects as well. For instance, when Troy begins to blame the white establishment for the majority of his problems, it further weakens his legitimate claims. The “two warring souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings” (Dubois 1) that are present in Troy appear to be his justification for the mistreatment of his family. Surprisingly, Wilson Pickett had a similar dilemma that he faced while living in the 1960’s. Pickett was a rare breed of person who rejected double consciousness, instead preferring to “not [back] down” (Kot 1). However, Pickett’s main demons were caused by the fact that he was never able to reconcile his public persona of largeness with his constant feeling of weakness in a world dominated by white men. Double consciousness is also the cause of the entitlement that Troy feels as a result of his constant subjugation by the white race. When Troy senses that he and his follow African-Americans are being discriminated against on the job, he embraces the “discourse in

A life spent making mistakes is not only human, but expected when the life itself is seen as a mistake. While the main character, Troy, in Wilson’s play “Fences” elicits exclamations of disapproval from the readers, Troy’s background gives meaning to his poor decision making as a man, husband, and father in the 1950s. Troy’s thought process, loss of sense of self, and actions prove him to be a pure example of a black everyman. The black everyman bends under the pressure of having to be highly masculine while also living under the thumb of the white race. It is clear in every interaction Troy is in that he oozes sadness, while inwardly seething at the slightest implications of anyone around him reaching new heights. Thus making Troy’s character not only believable due to his hypocrisy, but also sympathetic as a result of the disadvantages he has lived through. I see a part of Troy in every black man I know, always wanting more, but never losing the awareness that it may be out of their grasp.