The Symbolism Of A Fence In August Wilson's Fences

Troy's lack of commitment to finishing the fence that Rose wants put up represents his lack of commitment in his marriage. He doesn't understand that Rose wants to keep the family close because he never truly had a close family. He becomes a womanless man. “From right now… this child got a mother. But you a womanless man” (79). Troy pushes Lyons away by refusing to hear him play his "Chinese music" (48). He also damages his relationship with his other son, Cory, by preventing him from playing football and rejecting his only chance to get recruited by a college football team. The “fence” also depicts that Troy is disowning Cory when they get into an argument and Troy kicks him out on to the streets. Troy states that Cory’s things will be on “the other side of that fence” (89). As a result, Troy ends up driving everybody away just like his father. The “fence” acts like a physical divider between the Maxson’s household and the outside world because Troy doesn’t bring anything others would normally have into his house and Rose does not want any outsider intruding her family.

It is obvious to the audience that Troy and Cory simply do not get along. The two are constantly bickering, mostly about Cory's dream to play football at the college level. Since playing baseball did not get Troy anywhere, he feels that football will not benefit Cory and that Cory should "get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living" (8). Troy constantly denounces Cory's dream and pressures his son to quit the highschool football team so that he can work at the local grocery store. The verbal abuse of Cory by Troy is enough to make Cory question whether or not his own father even likes him, but it is not until after Troy's affair with Alberta is out in the open that Troy and Cory's unhealthy relationship reaches a whole new level.

Throughout his childhood, Troy feared his father. Until one day, he grew up and learned how to stand up for himself. In Act One, scene four, he tells the story of how his daddy stole his girl from him. When Troy was fooling around with Joe Canewell’s daughter, his daddy walked in on them and started beating Troy with leather straps. “I was scared

Troy is the son of an abusive father. His father was hardly around to raise him. When he was around, he made him do chores and if he didn’t do them he would beat him. One time, after Troy tied up the mule, just as his father told him to, he went off to the creek with a girl to “enjoy himself.” The mule got loose, and his father found out. His

This argument between Cory and Troy makes their relationship start to crumble because Troy does not allow Cory to do what makes him happy. In my own opinion, parents and their teenage children have very difficult relationships because teenagers seem to think they are the adult and are capable of making their own decisions. When Cory wants to be an adult and make his

Troy is entirely stubborn in his ways that he cannot see that times has changed. Since Troy was fenced out from playing professional baseball, he fences Cory out of playing college football. Troy and Cory’s relationship resembles the fence by its purpose and physical attribution. When it comes to sports, they are separated by the different generations, but they come together because of their love of sports. Like a fence that is meant to separate outsiders, but connected to bring together the fence. Troy and Cory’s relationship continues to get pushed apart throughout the play. In Act 2, Scene 4 Troy and Cory get into a fight which leads Troy to state to Cory that his things will “be on the other side of that fence.” When Troy kicks Cory out onto the streets, the fence becomes an actual division between both of them. The two spend a lot of time building the fence, only for it to create a literal and emotional barrier.

Almost everyone Troy encounters in the play, he betrays, for example taking away his son's dreams, and locking away his brother. One person Troy betrays is his son, Cory, out of spite and jealousy. Since Troy is Cory’s father he feels he can control his life even if it means hurting Cory, one way he does this is by taking away his dream, “Papa done went up to the school and told Coach Zellman I can’t play football no more.” (Act 1 Scene 4) Troy knows that this is what Cory wants to do, he wants to play professional football. Due to the fact that Troy’s baseball dream did not come true, he pulled Cory out of football, claiming that it was for his own good when in reality it was out of jealousy. Troy also betrays his brother by locking him in a mental hospital. In the beginning of the play, Troy claims he wants his brother to be free and explains that nobody should be locked up. Then towards the end of the play Rose tells Troy, “I said send him to the hospital, you said let him be free… now you done went down there and signed him to the hospital for half of his money.” Troy claims he wants his brother to be happy but truthfully he wanted half of Gabriel's money, and just did not want to admit it. In order to receive half of the money Troy took away Gabriel's happiness and betrayed

Troy and Cory is all Rose has, she is afraid of losing them and although she does not say anything, she believes the fence will keep them close to her and the bad will stay on the other side of the fence. Rose is a strong black woman who loves and cares for her family and will do whatever it takes to keep them safe and close to her. Troy does not care for the fence, he believes it’s pointless to build the fence therefore, he slowly works on it.

In the play, Fences, Troy seems to have a complicated relationship with every other character in the play. This applies especially to his relationship with his son, Cory. Troy and Cory have many similarities and differences that complicate their relationship. There are many outside factors that also make matters worse.

In the play when Cory and Troy fight, Troy kicks Cory out of the house saying, “Cory: Tell Mama I'll be back for my things. Troy: They'll be on the other side of that fence." (Henderson) It is in this particular passage that Troy uses the fence physically to represent the dividing line between Cory and him, but more specifically the emotional barrier he’s put between him and his family. Troy grew up with an abusive father which makes his complete emotional disregard towards his family logical. If the man that raised you taught you keep your emotional guard up even with your family, you would probably treat your family the same way that Troy treated his; with complete emotional neglect and disregard. The fence working as barrier could also symbolize Troy trying to protect himself from feeling too deeply towards things which could end up disappointing him or already have. For instance, when Troy became passionate about becoming a Major League Baseball player he suffered extreme disappointment when he was rejected because of his race. It was this life lesson that reinforced Troy’s upbringing of emotional disregard towards things he could grow to either want, love, or feel passionate about like his family and friends. Troy’s philosophy in building the fence was that if you don’t grow an emotional attachment to something then it cannot hurt you, and he stayed by philosophy till his death. The fence also became symbolic of the barrier Troy wanted to

home because of his cruel father. W. P. Kenny details how Troy had to ―harden himself‖ from

became a father that Cory never wanted, ultimately leading to Troy’s own demise. While it

Troy becomes so wrapped up in his own misfortunes and bitterness that he fails to realize what strength his family really has (Zirin). They are trying and willing to help him but he is unable to fathom the possibility of that because he is so far gone. Troy says “…Come on! It’s between you and me now!

However, it is seen as something meant to unify and this perception extends even to the beginning of the symbol’s existence. Bono explains to Troy that “some people build fences to keep people out… and other people build fences to keep people in”. Here, the fence represents familial bonds and loyalty. Not only that, but it is a defense mechanism, as it keeps people in, implying that they are safe. However, The fence’s true nature is revealed by Troy. After he and his son, Cory, have a falling out, Cory says he’ll leave but will be back for his stuff. Troy responds that “they’ll be on the other side of that fence”. Here, the fence quite literally divides Cory and Troy. Instead of keeping Troy and his children close together, the fence is a barrier between

Have you ever built a "fence" to keep things in? How about to actually build a fence to keep things out? August Wilson's play "Fences" uses the name as both a metaphorical and physical reference. There are four of these metaphorical fences that are referred to as well as the physical hardwood fence that Troy is actually building.