Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Literary Analysis of Fences
Literary device used in fences
Literary device used in fences
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Symbolic Importance of Fences In The Play Fences Fences written by August Wilson, the author showed lots of symbolism in the play all which surrounding a fence. The poem starts that when the men get home from work they hang out in the yard with no fence. The family has a few problems like every family does so they Rose tells Troy that she wants a fence built. The fence is built to have meaning, Rose sings a song when she feels trouble coming, singing “Jesus build a fence around me” she wanted to build a fence around her and her family. She wanted to keep her family and husband close so that they don't fall apart. As well as, to keep her family together because the relationship between Troy and Cory is rocky. But before the fence is built Troy already snuck off and cheated. As a result Troy got the lady pregnant. …show more content…
Troy uses the fence to keeps his son at home to do hard and long labor because he doesn’t want his son to play football. Meanwhile After the death of Alberta (The women Troy cheated with), Troy screamed into the sky, “Death! I’m the one you want, when your able to cross the fence we can fight until I can’t stand anymore,” meaning he had this great big fence which made him feel invincible but unfortunately for everyone else this was not the case. On the other hand, the fence can be used as an allusion to the game of baseball which is the way that Troy lived his life by. Every single problem Troy tried to solve he would compare it to baseball. Troy wanted to live life by a homerun, meaning he wanted to live a successful life by hitting it over the fences. Now that I have explained to you the symbolism that the fence meant in the play Fences, I would like to tell you the fences that will be put in my
Troy was met with many hardships in his life that left him feeling like he needed to protect himself from the things that have hurt him and could hurt him. The fence that Rose told Troy to build symbolized the barrier that he puts up to protect himself from the things that have hurt him and could hurt him in the future. Troy uses the fence to symbolize the emotional separation and neglect he has towards his family; Rose and Cory in particular. The main reason why the fence took the whole play to complete is because Troy neglected it and spent his time with his mistress which symbolized his neglect towards his family. Cory brings this to attention when he tells Troy that he "don't never do nothing, but go down to Taylors'", which is obviously his mistress’s home (Henderson). This was Troy’s f...
As with most works of literature, the title Fences is more than just a title. It could be initially noted that there is only one physical fence being built by the characters onstage, but what are more important are the ideas that are being kept inside and outside of the fences that are being built by Troy and some of the other characters in Fences. The fence building becomes quite figurative, as Troy tries to fence in his own desires and infidelities. Through this act of trying to contain his desires and hypocrisies one might say, Troy finds himself fenced in, caught between his pragmatic and illusory ideals. On the one side of the fence, Troy creates illusions and embellishments on the truth, talking about how he wrestled with death, his encounters with the devil, later confronting the d...
For him, fences were used to keep people out. Such an example can be found near the end of Act I, Scene IV when Cory and Troy are fighting and Cory says “Tell Mama I’ll be back for my and things” and Troy responded “They’ll be on the other side of that fence.”(905). In short, Troy built a physical fence around his house to create a border or separation from the outside world. However, in Troy’s situation, fences can be interpreted as a double entendre. For many weeks he kept putting off the building of the fence around the yard. Instead, he would wander off to “Taylor’s” to watch the game. By not building the fence it also showing his lack of commitment to Rose who was urging him to, “Where you going off to? You been running out of here every Saturday for weeks. I thought you was gonna work on this fence?”(888). Which is ironic because him not building the fence involuntarily not only broke Rose’s fences in addition to his as it let Alberta and Raynell into their lives. The lack of commitment he showed to Rose proves that as a family man, Troy was missing some key values that are entrenched in a prosperous
Fences, a low-diction play by August Wilson, expresses the complex relationship between a father and his sons. Troy Maxson, once a baseball star in the Negro League, is now envious of his son Cory, who dreams of having a successful football career. Troy also worries that Cory will be treated with the same disrespect that he once was during his baseball career. Lyons, Troy's eldest son, is completely misunderstood by Troy, mostly because of his refusal to get a “real” job and his drive to become a musician. Wilson references stories from Troy's past to convey the reason behind Troy's frustration and actions toward his children.
The theme of August Wilson’s play “Fences” is the coming of age in the life of a broken black man. Wilson wrote about the black experience in different decades and the struggle that many blacks faced, and that is seen in “Fences” because there are two different generations portrayed in Troy and Cory. Troy plays the part of the protagonist who has been disillusioned throughout his life by everyone he has been close to. He was forced to leave home at an early age because his father beat him so dramatically. Troy never learned how to treat people close to him, and he never gave anyone a chance to prove themselves because he was selfish.
Fences was published in 1983 but the setting was the 1950s in August Wilsons home town. Wilson’s main purpose of this play is to show how the separation of humans into racial groups can create social and finance instability and can have a huge effect on African Americans and whites. The 1950s was the middle of the civil rights era. The Maxsons Family is African American, In the 1950s there was not many jobs for African Americans; most people believed that this is what pushed Troy to steal things in order to provide for his family. Troy went to prison for murder and when he got out he was determined to do good deeds and to turn his life around; shortly after he got out of prison he got a job as a Garbage man. Troy is a tragic figure and a villain; he is a tragic figure because he made great effort to do good deeds for his family, but he allowed his imperfections to get in his way which led to a horrible death. Troy is a villain because of what he did to his wife Rose. (Shmoop; Editorial Team)
In the play Fences, August Wilson uses symbolism throughout the story to emphasis the physical and emotional barrier between the protagonist, Troy Maxon, and everyone around him. Troy loses his career as a professional baseball player because of his race. This causes him to be a bitter man and he eventually loses his friends and family because of it. Wilson uses both literal and figurative symbolism to express the themes in this play.
Everything in August Wilson’s play Fences, can be related to or is a fence of some sort. The main character, Troy Maxson, is a retired negro league baseball star whose whole life revolves around fences. Fences is completely driven by this idea of metaphorical and physical fences. Pride and alcohol are the fences that really cloud Troy’s views. His son, Cory, has fences in this play as well. All these fences intertwine to create a story that addresses many of society's problems.
Conflicts and tensions between family members and friends are key elements in August Wilson's play, Fences. The main character, Troy Maxon, has struggled his whole life to be a responsible person and fulfill his duties in any role that he is meant to play. In turn, however, he has created conflict through his forbidding manner. The author illustrates how the effects of Troy's stern upbringing cause him to pass along a legacy of bitterness and anger which creates tension and conflict in his relationships with his family.
struggle for survival. Troy has come to believe, from his experiences, that blacks cannot get something for nothing and that life does not owe blacks anything. Due to this, Toy ?fences in? everything that he loves to protect his possessions from the monster of society. Thus there is a symbolization of Troy building a physical fence in the yard but building an emotional fence of protection around his family and friends. He believes that blacks owe it to themselves to make an honest, hard-earned living and that is the only way to survive. Troy states sarcastically that Lyans is blowing his...
August Wilson uses the symbol of a 'fence' in his play, Fences, in numerous occasions. Three of the most important occasions fences are symbolized are by protection, Rose Maxson and Troy Maxson's relationship, and Troy against Mr. Death. Throughout the play, characters create 'fences' symbolically and physically to be protected or to protect. Examples such as Rose protecting herself from Troy and Troy protecting himself form Death. This play focuses on the symbol of a fence which helps readers receive a better understanding of these events. The characters' lives mentioned change around the fence building project which serves as both a literal and a figurative symbol, representing the relationships that bond and break in the backyard.
...in character of “Fences,” fights to be a father with nothing to go on but the harsh example set by his own father, which resembles a symbolic fence separating the relationship between father and son. There is also Troy's son, Cory, a boy becoming a man, coming of age under Troy's sovereignty. The play shows that no matter how old you are, you're constantly measuring yourself against the example set by your parents. Even if the reader’s family is nothing like the Maxsons, one may possibly connect with this basic human struggle.
The trials of Troy’s life are filled with racial discrimination which mentally scars him. His attitude and behavior towards others are governed by experiences and in most cases he uses the symbol of death in his fictional stories to represent the oppression of the white man. The play Fences, which is largely about Troy, begins with Troy entertaining Bono and Rose with an epic tale of his struggle with death or in other word...
August Wilson created many themes throughout his famous play, Fences, but the most prominent one is the relationship between fathers and sons. The three father-son relationships introduced in this play seem to be complicated or difficult to understand. However, it is clear that the relationships built between Troy Maxson and his son Cory, Troy and his other son Lyons, and Troy and his own father are not love-driven. The parallelism of actions, events, and tension amongst each of the father-son relationships in the play illustrate how the sons try to break free from the constraints the father has set, yet in the end, these attempts seem to be pointless as the father leaves an everlasting effect on the sons, ultimately creating a cycle of actions
Fences is a play that was written by August Wilson, it follows the life of Tony Maxson, a garbage man, who throughout the play is building a fence around his home. The title, Fences, has more significance than one may have thought at first glance. The title is very symbolic in the perspective of almost every character in the play. Within Act 2, Scene 1 of the play, when discussing the reason as to why Rose wanted the fence up, with Cory and Troy, Bono says “Some people build fences to keep people out… and other people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She loves you.”. In the perspective of Rose, she wants to keep people in and with Troy it is the complete opposite.