In the short play Fences, August Wilson introduces an African American family whose life is based around a fence. The play takes place from the 1950s through 1965. The Maxson household has many strained relationships needed to grow here. The central character, Troy Maxson, prevents anyone from interfering in his life by surrounding himself around a physical and symbolic fence that affects his relationships with his family and himself. Throughout the play, readers can see Troy’s life is falling apart because his marriage isn’t working out, his son wants to pursue a career in football, and he puts his only source of income at risk by talking back to the boss. The last scene takes place in 1965, on the day of the funeral of Troy Maxson. On that day, the other characters in the play come to terms with the flawed human being who has been the most powerful force in their lives. “Fences” provides a sympathetic, yet the unsentimental portrayal of its unforgettable main character.
The central characters in this play are Troy, Cory, Rose, and Bono. Troy is the play's protagonist. He had a rough childhood and left home at a very young age. “Fourteen’s kinda young to be out on your own. I don’t even think I was ready to be out on my own at fourteen. I don’t know what I would have done.” (Wilson 52) He was an excellent baseball player and might have had the chance to play in the major leagues if he hadn't spent most of his years in prison. Troy is angry about the choices he made and about what he has lost in his life and accepts his fate. In response to the deprivation he experienced, Troy makes sure to work hard, and does the most he can to care for his family. He is responsible and a hard worker, supporting his family the best he can. To protect his son from heartbreak, Troy refuses to help Cory achieve his dream of playing college football, which only made Cory and Troy’s relationship even worse. Cory does not understand his father, but he does try to please him. He has the dream of one-day playing college football and making his family proud of his success. Cory needs to leave the house in order to make his own way in the world and escape his father's shadow. Rose is the mother of Cory and Troy’s wife who is very loving and supportive. She goes out of her way to please Troy and gives him wise advice on dealing with other people. Rose is loved by the other characters, who see her as kind and sensible. After Troy cheats on her, Rose is heartbroken because she has given all her love and made sacrifices as his wife. When Troy brings home Raynell, his child with Alberta, Rose agrees to care for her; but she will no longer be a wife to Troy. Jim Bono is Troy's friend, coworker, and drinking partner. The two men, who met in prison, gather each Friday night after work to drink, share stories, and commiserate. While Bono looks up to Troy, he is ultimately disappointed in him for cheating on Rose, whom he admires. These characters all come together as this one hopeful yet broken family surviving the world of discrimination and hatred by this fence.
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The setting of this play is inside and outside the Maxson house. We're told that it's a two-story brick house, set off a back alley. “The setting is the yard which fronts the only entrance to the MAXSON household, an ancient two-story brick house set back off a small alley in a big city neighborhood,” (Wilson). This shows that the Masons aren't exactly rich and might be struggling with income. The set reminds us that money is a big factor for Troy and his family. They're barely getting by on Troy's garbage collector salary living paycheck to paycheck. Even tho we never actually hear the word 'Pittsburgh,' the play is definitely set there. Pittsburgh was August Wilson's hometown, and almost all of the plays in his ten-play cycle take place there. The play also mentions many Pittsburgh landmarks, such as the Strip District, a popular market area. “He carries a chip basket with an assortment of discarded fruits and vegetables he has picked up in the strip district and which he attempts to sell,” (Wilson). The setting of Pittsburgh seems to be particularly important because of what it represented for many black people. In the decades after the Civil War, many African Americans migrated north to escape the poverty and racial discrimination of the South. They hoped to find work and equality but were often disappointed. Troy discusses not being able to find a job when he first came to Pittsburgh. He ended up living in a shack and resorted to crime to survive. “Living in shacks made of sticks and arid tarpaper. Messed around there and went from bad to worse. Started stealing. First, it was food. Then I figured, hell, if I steal money, I can buy myself some food. Buy me some shoes, too. One thing led to another,” (Wilson). The time period of this play is around 1950 to 1965. As the readers read through the play, they feel the racial tension between whites and blacks. There was a lot of racial discrimination ever since Troy was younger. Troy had to deal with this discrimination as a baseball player at a young age because they did not want an African American man playing baseball, which was full of white men. Years later once he gets a job as a garbage collector, he stands up against the boss about this. He states, “I ain’t worried about them firing me. ‘They gonna fire me 'cause I asked a question? That’s all I did. I went to Mr. Rand and asked him, “Why.” Why have you got the white men driving and the colored lifting? Told him, What’s the matter, don’t count? You think only white fellows got sense enough to drive a truck. ‘That ain’t no paper job! Hell, anybody can drive a truck. How come you got all whites driving and the colored lifting?” (Wilson 39). It is so unfair that the whites always get to be the garbage drivers while the colored are doing the hard work.
The pursuit of the American Dream is difficult for Troy because of the racial discrimination going on around this time period. Troy combats racism in his everyday life because he will never be happy until everyone will be treated equally. “But . . . you born with two strikes on you before you come to the plate. You got to guard it closely . . . always looking for the curve-ball on the inside corner. You can’t afford to let any get past you. You can’t afford a called strike. If you going down . . . you going down swinging,” (Wilson). Troy uses baseball to explain concepts that are important to him, like for example, life. Due to his race, poverty, and lack of education, he thinks he was born with “two strikes.” He believes he has only the slightest chance of succeeding. If not for these circumstances or “strikes”, he could have taken bigger opportunities, and possibly missed or possibly hit. Or he could have waited for a better chance, a better ball to hit. For someone to not have the same chances of success as another person is extremely unfair and discriminatory. This made life a lot harder for African Americans due to the fact they know they can’t do anything about it. The language of the play, or its tone, is very serious. There are hardly any times when the main characters are actually expressing happy emotions. There is no reason to actually be happy living in a world where life is unfair and racist.
[bookmark: _gjdgxs]August Wilson did not name his play, Fences, due to the dramatic actions that take place in the Maxson household, but rather the relationships that build and break because of the “fence”. The fence acts as a physical device because the characters' lives are constantly changing during the creation of the fence. Fences represent the figurative fence that the main characters are creating around themselves in order to keep people in or out. The fence represents something different to everyone in the play. Completing the fence will give the family a sense of hope that things will get better. The title may seem straightforward, but in reality, it is a powerful symbol that can either have a positive or negative impact on who is let past the fence. The fence appears to be finished only in the final scene of the play when Troy dies and the family comes together. The completion of the fence comes to the end means the strength of the Maxson family and ironically the strength of the man who tore them apart, who also brings them together one more time, in death.
Works Cited Page
- Robinson, David. “August Wilson's 'Pittsburgh Cycle' Plays.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 17 June 2019, www.biography.com/news/august-Wilson-Pittsburgh-cycle-century-cycle-plays-summary.
- Wilson, August, and Lloyd Richards. Fences: A Play. New York: New American Library, 1987. Print.
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