The Dead and the Dying

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Recommended: Analyse the themes of Fences by August Wilson

Death is what we all soon to face. It is the most inevitable event of a person’s life yet it can also be a new beginning. Death is the end of two plays, Fences by August Wilson and The Sandbox by Edward Albee. These plays differ on how other characters feel about the deaths of the main characters before and after death. We always reconcile and reminisce about the life of a dead person. The main character of Fences, Troy, had a complicated relationship with his son and had an affair with another woman. Cory is having a hard time with his father but eventually receives ten dollars despite his father’s misfortune. Upon Troy’s death, Cory refuses to go to his father’s funeral suggesting he still did not forgive his father but his mother convinces him to pay his respects. In The Sandbox, Grandma is very old and is dying from old age. She is very old that her daughter and son-in-law eagerly awaits her death. Although Grandma’s daughter is quite inconsiderate, she genuinely mourns to her mother after all the entire burden that her mother caused. When a person dies, we humans don’t think of the bad things he had done but we think about what he had achieved. During a person’s life, the characters of the plays display hate to the main characters but upon their deaths that hate transforms into forgiveness. Troy Maxson is the main protagonist in the play, Fences. He is an African-American father and husband struggling to support his family. He used to be a great baseball player when he was young but now, he works as a garbage man. His mishaps greatly affect his relationship towards his family especially toward his sons, Lyons and Cory. According to Molly Wilson O’Reilly, Troy brags himself as the breadwinner in his household (O’Reilly). He ... ... middle of paper ... ...d as a hero to their families. Their death is defined on how they lived and they will be always remembered through the legacy they have left in the world. Works Cited Kearl, Michael C. “Dying well: the unspoken dimension of aging well. (Aging in Contemporary Society, Part 2: Choices and Processes).” American Behavioral scientist 39.3 (1996): 336+. Academic Onefile. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. O’Reilly, Mollie Wilson. “Fertile Ground: August Wilson’s ‘Fences’.” Commonweal 137.11 (2010): 20+. Academic OneFile. Web. 30 Mar 2011. Sinclair, Shane. “Impact of death and dying on the personal lives and practices of palliative and hospiceCare professionals.” CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal 183.2 (2011): 180+.Academic OneFile.Web. 27 Mar. 2011. Wessling, Joseph H. “Wilson’s Fences.’.” The Explicator 57.2 (1999): 123+. Academic OneFile. Web. 27 Mar. 2011.

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