Symbolism In Fences By 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

The play “Fence” by August Wilson’s has a connection with real world fence. “The yard is a small dirt yard, partially fenced, except for the last scene, with a wooden sawhorse, a pile of lumber, and other fence-building equipment set off to the side. The Opposite is a tree from which hangs a ball made of rags. A baseball bat leans against the tree. Two oil drums serve as garbage receptacles and sit near the house at right to complete the setting” (Wilson 2). He mentions that the fence has three parts open, unopened and cornerstone. The word yard and fence are symbolically represented structure and dream of country, society and Troy’s family.

In Fences we follow Troy Maxon, an ex baseball player and hard headed “family man”

Although there were a couple of mistakes he made, he made sure he did not make the same mistake his dad made which was not providing for the family. Rose was Troy’s wife who respected him as a husband and made him and her children dinner every night. According to what he says, he truly loves his wife; "I love this woman. I love this woman so much it hurts. I love her so much...I done run out of ways of loving her" (1.1.173). This quote allows the reader to realize that the Maxson family does have a foundation of love. Cory and Lyons also admired their father because in their eyes he was an excellent father figure. Bono was Troy’s best friend whom he met at a correction center and has known him for 30 years. Troy was a role model to Bono and he admired Troy's leadership and responsibility at work.

The fence becomes a representation of the barrier that Troy tries to create between him and mortality. Troy has a fixation on Death. He talks about how Death is an easy “fastball on the outside corner” (I. i). Troy always speaks about how he could easily knock a baseball out of the park. Comparing Death to a fastball shows how Troy thinks that he can continue to always keep Death on the other side of the fence because like a

As with most works of literature, the title Fences is more than just a title. It could be initially noted that there is only one physical fence being built by the characters onstage, but what are more important are the ideas that are being kept inside and outside of the fences that are being built by Troy and some of the other characters in Fences. The fence building becomes quite figurative, as Troy tries to fence in his own desires and infidelities. Through this act of trying to contain his desires and hypocrisies one might say, Troy finds himself fenced in, caught between his pragmatic and illusory ideals. On the one side of the fence, Troy creates illusions and embellishments on the truth, talking about how he wrestled with death, his

The members of the family that makes the most effort to keep the family level is Troy?s wife, Rose. The narrator tells us that Rose is a gentle woman. She cares a great deal for her family and her husband, despite the challenge of making her home a positive environment under the strains of a man with such impossible qualities. The author explains her reasons for enduring Troy by saying that ? her devotion to him stems from her recognition of the possibilities of her life without him: a succession of abusive men and their babies, a life of partying and running the streets, the Church, or aloneness with its attendant pain and frustration? (526; I, 1). In light of the fact that Troy is a good man and provides for their family in a way of his duty, Rose loves and supports him and ?either ignores or forgives his faults, only some of which she recognizes? (526; I, 1). Despite his love and respect for his wife, Troy acts extremely disrespectfully towards Rose. Due to the lack of love and respect that Troy was shown as a boy, he does not know feelings to his family. He talks down to his wife as if she were a child, while at the same time he declares his love for her to his friend, Bono. Troy?s fault, however, in declaring his love for his wife and family. He says, ?I love Rose? (555; II, 1), but when the time comes for him to show his love, he only disrespects her. When Rose asks Troy what he and Bono are talking about one

the beginning, Troy is a tough character defined by his foul mouth and healthy disposition

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

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

In the play “Fences” by August Wilson the play’s attitude toward women is biased, and if the play was written by a female I think it would have a stronger feminine influence. Issues such as racism and discrimination against blacks may be raised in the play that the author did not bring up, and the women in the story somewhat do generally typify women in the 1950s. To support my interpretation, the women in the play were homebodies, just worrying about the household because they felt like that 's what they were supposed to do and that 's all that was expected of them and etc.

Fences written by August Wilson, the setting reveals the man that Troy Maxson really is. The set of the play represents Troy Maxson’s character within the play where him and his family reside in a fenced in yard of Troy’s front porch, brick house. He is proud to provide a home for his family. However, Troy has not accomplished this achievement on his own. Which takes a toll on Troy when he realizes he has nothing to show for his life which leads Troy to feel ashamed of himself. The protagonist, Troy Maxson’s job as an African American is a trash collector where is a disappointment for Troy since his dream was to be a professional baseball player. Even though Troys stubbornness gets in the way of his relationships with his family his heart is distracted by the social issues that are occurring during the 1950’s. Troy also represents the number of individuals who ignore the downfalls of social discrimination. Set in the 1950s, Fences explores the changes that African American’s were exposed to at this time period through the character Troy and the younger generation like his son Cory. In Fences, August Wilson, relates the role of race complications through Troy by depicting race throughout Troy’s past experiences and how it effects his current life.

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

In Fences, Troy Maxon builds a fence around his property that contains metaphorical reasons as well as the literal meaning. During a conversation with Troy and Cory, Bono mentions the fence Troy is building for his wife Rose and says “Some people build fences to keep people out...and other people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She loves you” (61). Bono explains this to Troy because Cory was unable to comprehend why Rose wanted the fence up in the first place. This opens the reader up to the symbolization of the fence itself. The fence allows Rose to keep Troy with her because she has loved him for so many years and does not want to let him go or leave her for another woman. Later, in Act two, Troy, after speaking to Rose about his new baby who he had with his mistress Alberta,

With the culture bedlam dictating and often hindering his every progress, Maxson found consolation in placing the liability on the nation's social order, thus escaping the blame for his life's futility, leaving him with the soothing belief that his identity and own motivation (or lack thereof) had nothing to do with the emptiness that was his life. When Maxson's wife, Rose, attempted make him admit that the reason he was not playing in the major league was because he was too old, Maxson replied, "What do you mean too old? Don't come telling me I was too old. I just wasn't the right color. Hell, I'm fifty-three years old and can do better than Selkirk's .269 right now! (Wilson 218)" Troy Maxson persistently and constantly refuted the notion that his being himself---not as a black man or even as an old man, but as Troy Maxson, fifty-three years old---had anything to do with his life wanting for anything; he persistently and constantly blamed the rest of human existence for his providence, any human but himself. The denial of personal duty and his defiance against the government and all of civilization provided Maxson the inner calm he lacked. Maxson also struggled against familial quandaries, as was evident in his response when his best-friend Bono warned him against straying from spousal fidelity, "You saying I don't measure up. That's what you trying to say. I don't measure up cause I'm seeing this other gal. I