The Importance of the Characters in Fences by August Wilson

Fences is a 1983-published play by American Playwright, August Wilson. In

Fences, we are introduced to several characters that serve multiple purposes to the

protagonist and main character of the play, Troy Maxson. Troy is a 53 year old man who

works as a garbage man, and lives with his wife, Rose and their teenage son, Cory. Along

with Rose and Cory, Fences introduces us to three more members of the Maxson family:

Lyons, the first born son to Troy, the step-son to Rose, and the half-brother to Cory. Gabriel,

the mentally-disabled brother of Troy, brother-in-law to Rose, and uncle to Cory and Lyons,

and then there is Raynell. She appears at the end of the play, and is the daughter of Troy

and his lover Alberta, who Rose was well aware of. Prominently featured in the play is also

Troy’s best-friend Jim Bono (just referred to as Bono throughout the play). Bono and Troy

have been friends ever since Troy’s prison days, thirty years prior to the play, and they’ve

remained best friends ever since then. While all these characters are important to the play,

and serve their purposes, both to the storyline and to the protagonist, Troy, there is one

character in particular who serves as the antagonist of the play, and to Troy. That character

is Troy and Rose’s son, Cory Maxson.

Now Troy himself may come off as the antagonist of Fences, due to his rude nature

of how he raised both of his sons, barely even being there in Lyon’s life as a father figure.

He also admittingly tells Rose and his family about his relationship with another woman,

Alberta, and that he is bearing her daughter. He’s also had a criminal past to further the

notion that he could very well be the an...

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God had a special spot for him. By the end of the play, we truly see Gabriel communicating

to the heavens, the same way he told Troy that the gates of heaven would open for him.

Lyons seemed like the forgiving son who was trying to get close to the man he called his

father, and he seemed well aware of the condition his father was in. Bono himself seemed

very soft spoken of Troy, as if he knew the man Troy was, and knew that if Troy didn’t get

his act together, he would soon be gone. And as for Rose, throughout the play, she was

Troy’s biggest supporter. She was still there for him even after Troy announced he would

be fathering Raynell. But after trying to get Troy to be a true father figure to Cory, he still

wouldn’t listen. Even Rose knew, in a matter of time, Troy just wouldn’t be able to take

anymore pain and suffering.