August Wilson - Fences

I enjoyed reading the play “Fences” by August Wilson.  This play is full of comedy and drama.  The language that was used was English with African American dialects.  This play was developed between 1983 and 1987 in the Unites States.  The play was first published in June 1986.  There is not a narrator on the play but the stage directions do lend an omniscient voice at times.  The tone of the play is loosely autobiographical which emphasizes links between the aftermaths of slavery as well as legalized discrimination and African American lives during the 1950’s.  The setting of the play is the dirt-yard and porch of the Maxon family’s house in Pittsburgh, PA.  The two main characters in the play are Troy Maxson and Cory Maxson.  Troy and Cory's differing views on how Cory should spend his future declines after Troy forbids Cory from playing football and going to college. Their relationship collapses further when Troy reveals that he has been cheating on Cory's mother with another woman and gotten her pregnant and signed papers permitting Cory's Uncle Gabe to be committed to a mental hospital while Troy lives in a house paid for by Gabe's money. Troy tells his affair with Alberta to his wife, Rose. Rose lectures Troy. Troy violently grabs Rose's arm and will not let go.  Cory surprises Troy by attacking him from behind.  Cory and Troy fight.   Troy wins the fight and warns Cory that he has one more strike to spend.  Rose tells Troy that Alberta died having his baby.  In Act Two, scene four: Troy picks a fight with Cory.   Cory displays his disgust for Troy's betraying behavior towards Rose, Gabe, and Cory.  Troy and Cory fight with a baseball bat and Troy wins and kicks Cory out of their house.  A theme that is present in this play is the coming of age within the cycle of damaged black manhood.  Another theme is the interpreting and inheriting of history and the choice between pragmatism and illusions as survival mechanisms.  Some motifs in the play are death and baseball, seeds and growth, and the blues.  Some symbols that are revealed throughout the play are trains, fences, and the devil.  In Act One, scene one, Troy says without humility, "Death ain't nothing," but he eventually dies before the play ends. In Act One, scene two, Gabriel talks in songs and strange stories about his friendship with St. Peter. But sometimes his words appear to foreshadow Troy's death. Gabe sings to Troy, "Better get ready for the judgment." In Act One, scene one, Bono inquires about Troy's relationship with a woman names Alberta. Troy denies his affair with Alberta, but Bono says he has seen Troy buying her drinks and walking near her house when he says he's at the bar, Taylor's. Bono's questioning foreshadows Troy's foreseeable helplessness to hide his secret.

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Fences.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. Web. 3 May 2011.