(Here’s an Audiovisual Lecture on Analyzing Non-African Drama: Fences By August Wilson: https://youtu.be/zsmNsUOjlz0).
THE TITLE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE
August Wilson’s play, Fences, is about an African American garbage collector, Troy Maxson and his family. The fences they decide to build around their house symbolize the relationships that members of the family share with one another. When fences are built around a house, they serve as barriers to keep those inside the house safe, and to prevent intruders from invading the house from outside. As we can see, the fences mean different things to different members of the family. While Rose wants the fences as a means of protecting her family from invaders, Troy sees the fences as a means of keeping his son Cory out when the conflict between them gets to a climax.
Fences can be seen as a metaphor to represent the life and actions of Troy and the barriers he creates between him and members of his family through his betrayal. By having an affair with another woman who later dies giving birth to his child, Troy creates a barrier between him and his wife. When he brings the baby home and needs his wife’s help in nursing it, his wife (Rose) reluctantly agrees but announces that from that moment she ceases to be his woman. The barrier he creates between him and his son Cory occurs through his refusal to allow Cory pursue his dream career in football. This barrier is worsened when Troy physically sends his son packing from the family house. It’s also evident that problems facing Troy’s family are traceable to the racial discrimination in the American society which prevented Troy from achieving his career dreams.
THE SETTING OF THE PLAY
The play is set in America in the 1950s, and it portrays the effects of racism on the lives and families of African-Americans living in the American society during that sad period of American history.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE PLAY
The play is a depiction of the problems faced by a Black American family in the racially biased American. In the play, August Wilson portrays the crises facing an African American family in the aftermath of the Second World War. The play dramatizes the effects of racial prejudice on African American families and other social issues. It’s about the problems in Troy’s family: how members of the family relate with one another, how misunderstanding creates barriers, and how betrayal breaks the bond that binds them together. Having suffered the effect of racism (knowing that his pro baseball dreams were stopped by racial discrimination), Troy fears that racism will also ruin Cory’s career in football if he went ahead in it. His insistence that his son Cory should not pursue his dream career in football leads to irreparable damage to their relationship as father and son. Meanwhile, Troy’s memories of his own father’s family were those of abuse and conflict as well, which was why he (Troy) grew up mostly motherless. Troy indicts his own father of being so evil that no woman could stay with him for long but he himself ends up betraying his wife (Rose) by having an affair with Alberta.
CHARACTERIZATION
TROY MAXSON: Troy Maxson is a 53-year-old African-American man living in Pittsburgh in the 1950s. His wife is Rose, and they have a son called Cory. He has an older son, Lyons from a previous marriage. As the play opens we discover that he is fifty-three-years-old and works with his friend Jim Bono as a garbage collector. He is described as a “large man with thick, heavy hands.” His memory of his father is that of an abusive father whose abuses had compelled him to leave the family at the age of 14. Troy is an ex-convict, having spent 15 years in prison for allegedly robbing and killing a man. It was during his time in prison that he discovered himself as a talented baseball player. He joins the Negro Leagues after prison, but his hope of joining the major leagues is dashed owing to racial discrimination. Frustrated and embittered by racial injustices, Troy prevents his son Cory from pursuing his dream career in football. This causes the conflict that culminates in his sending Cory out of the family house. The fences he builds around his house ironically symbolize the very barriers or conflicts he creates between him and members of his family, especially his wife Rose whom he betrays by having an affair with Alberta. He finally dies of heart attack.
CORY MAXSON – He is the son of Troy and Rose. He plays football for colleges. His dream to pursue a career in football is shattered by his father, and this causes the conflict between them. Sent packing from home by his father, he later joins the Marines. He returns years later for his father’s funeral, which he attends hesitantly, having intended to boycott it in revenge.
ROSE MAXSON – She is Troy’s wife and mother of Cory. She wants Troy to build a fence to help protect her loved ones. When Troy’s affair with Alberta is exposed, she feels betrayed. Although she agrees to take care of Raynell (Troy’s baby from Alberta), Rose concludes that she is no longer his woman.
GABRIEL MAXSON – He is Troy’s brother. He sustained an injury while a soldier in the Second World War and needed a metal plate in his head . The mental damage makes him believe he is the Archangel Gabriel. He receives compensation money that Troy uses in part to buy the house they live in. Gab later rents a room at Miss Pearl’s house. He is later put in a mental institution. After Troy dies, Gab tries to open the gates of heaven with his trumpet.
JIM BONO – He is Troy’s closest best friend. Having met each other in the prison, they both work in the same place: the garbage truck. Bono’s wife is Lucille. He is worried that Troy is cheating on his wife, Rose.
LYONS MAXSON – He is Troy’s son and a musician. Lyons was born by a woman whom Troy came across when he was living in the streets. Lyons always visits Troy to ask for money, particularly on payday. He is married to Bonnie, who later separates from him when he is sent to prison for forging checks.
RAYNELL MAXSON – Raynell is the baby girl born for Troy by Alberta. Her mother, Alberta, dies in childbirth.
ALBERTA – She is the woman who has an affair with Troy, gives birth to his child (Raynell) and dies in childbirth. She is from Tallahassee.
BONNIE – She is the wife of Lyons. She is a launderer at Mercy Hospital.
MISS PEARL – She owns a house near the Maxsons. It’s in her house that Gabe rents a room.
5. THEMES
RACISM: One of the main themes of the play is racism. This is evident in Troy’s failure to achieve success in his pro basketball career owing to racial discrimination. His fear that his son might suffer a similar experience is the reason his prevents Cory from pursuing his dream career in football, which leads to the irreparable conflict between them. In his workplace, Troy also has to deal with a situation where the black employees are not allowed to drive the garbage trucks but were only allowed to lift the garbage. •
PARENTS’ ROLE IN ACHIEVING FAMILY UNITY: The play critically examines the role of parents in achieving or failing to achieve peace and harmony in the family. The conflict between Troy and his son (Cory) stems from Troy’s failure to communicate his intentions clearly to his son. Troy uses his own past experience to decide what happens in his son’s career choice. Although he means well for his son, yet he fails to communicate his love and good intention clearly enough for Cory to understand and accept. Moreover, Troy’s affair with another woman not only cause severe pain to his wife worsens his relationship with his son. On the whole, Troy’s actions portray him as a man who by his actions causes his own family to fall apart. Ironically, this is exactly the evils Troy has accused his own father of. He falls into the same trap of alienating his son and betraying his wife as well, thereby causing the disintegration of his own family. So, the play is a critical commentary of the role of parents, especially the fathers, in achieving or failing to achieve family peace and harmony.
MORTALITY AND LIFE AFTER DEATH: The theme of death is evident in Troy’s story about his struggle with death. In several monologues, Troy seems to make a mockery of death; he dares death to try and take him again. When death eventually takes him, it occurs through a heart attack. This confirms that all men are mortal and death will come when it will come. The belief in the afterlife is portrayed in the play through the impression that the gates of Heaven haven opened for Troy so he can go and in and find rest at last.
BETRAYAL: The theme of betrayal is portrayed through the character and action of Troy who seems to have betrayed virtually everyone around him. He betrays his son by preventing him from pursuing his dream career, and eventually throws him (Cory) out of his house. He betrays his wife (Rose) by cheating on her with Alberta.
SHATTERED DREAMS: Troy’s dream of making a successful career as a pro basketball player is shattered owing to racial discrimination. This bitter experience causes Troy himself to prevent his son Cory from realizing his dream of becoming a successful football player. In other words, the playwright paints a clear picture of how the shattered dreams of one generation can help to shatter the dreams of the next generation. It’s also evident that Rose has the desire to enhance the safety and harmony of her family through the building of fences. However, this dream of a secure and safe family is shattered when she realizes that her husband has been cheating on her on and has already fathered a new child from a strange woman.
6. CONFLICT/SUSPENSE
CONFLICT: Conflict is used as device in the play and it is what really moves the plot. The conflict between Troy and Cory, the conflict generated by Troy’s affair with Alberta, the psychological pain it causes Troy’s wife Rose, the pregnancy, childbirth and sudden death of Alberta: all these are aspects of conflict in the play.
SUSPENSE: Each of the conflicts in the play creates suspense. Suspense is created while the disagreements between Troy and his son continue to increase, culminating in open confrontations. Suspense is created when the affair between Troy and Alberta becomes known, and one wonders what is going to happen or how Rose is going to react to it. There is suspense when it is discovered that Alberta is pregnant and expecting a child for Troy. There is suspense when Alberta dies after giving birth to Troy’s child. Suspense is usually a product of conflict and it makes the play more interesting, as it keeps the readers or audience wondering what is going to happen next or happen a certain character is going to react to a given situation. This is evident in the tensions that build up in connection with Troy’s affair. When Alberta dies in childbirth, Rose surprisingly agrees to nurse the child but announces that she is no longer Troy’s woman. The situation causes an open fight between Troy and Cory, and culminates in Troy sending his son packing from the house. There is more suspense on the day of Troy’s funeral. Cory returns home but makes it clear to his mother that he’s not going to attend the funeral.
7. DENOUEMENT
Denouement refers to the final resolution of conflict or when a serious problem is solved. This is evident when the tensions eventually go down and Cory and Raynell join together to sing a song that their father used to sing when he was alive. Since the two are singing the song in honour of their father, their action suggests that Cory has finally forgiven his father.
For a more detailed audio-visual analysis of the play, watch the following video lecture: https://youtu.be/zsmNsUOjlz0
EBOOKS FOR YOU:
- Good Success in English: A Study Package or Good Success in English: A Study Package for Effective English Learning
- Good Success English Handbook
About the Author
Benjamin Abugu is a university graduate with a flair for content writing. He is an English teacher with over twelve years experience, a published author of many books (both paperback and eBook editions), a blogger and Youtuber.
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