Fence: Themes And Symbols In Troy Maxson's Fences

1205 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Fences relate to the theme of the play

A fence by definition is a barrier that encloses an area of ground to mark a boundary, control access, or prevent escape. What would you use a fence for? Is it used to hide something of yours and to keep it in or to avoid society and human interaction? In the play Fences, those aspects were in consideration, whether if the fence was controlling access, preventing escape, hiding a secret, or avoiding society. Furthermore, determining how a fence is used could say quite a bit about the person and from this statement; this is how the traits of the characters in the play are established. In Fences the fence is symbolic in different ways by each character such as controlling access, preventing escape, hiding a secret, and neglecting loved ones. …show more content…

The play consists of Troy Maxson, his son Lyons and Cory, Bono, Troy’s brother Gabriel, Troy’s daughter Raynell, and lastly, Troy’s wife Rose. Troy and Bono work together maneuvering items, but Troy exclaims, “ You think only white fellows got sense enough to drive a truck. That ain’t no paper job!” (1.1) Moreover, Troy has a relationship with another woman and the relationship will soon bite him in the butt. Juggling between work, kids, the constant fight with life and death, his stubborn attitude, and his life ruled by baseball, Troy puts himself in a position where he always has to be in trouble, but he does not realize that it was him putting himself in these situations. Furthermore, at the end of the play, the one thing that he loves the most ends up killing him. One aspect that I would like to comment on is how Troy would not let his son Cory go to college for football. Being a parent and wanting the best for children is understandable; however, if their child has a passion for something, the parent should not stand in the …show more content…

The fence keeps people away, protects the house, prevents escape, and could even hide a secret. What is the reason why you have a fence? In the play Fences, each character has a different meaning for the fence for example, Rose uses the fence to keep people in, Troy uses the fence to control access and to also use the fence as an excuse to neglect his family and hide a secret. Bono sees the fence as a way to keep people in and to also shine a new hope for the Maxson family by giving a reason why troy should build the fence. The title of the play is Fences; notice that the title is plural and not singular. Symbolically, this could mean that even though the play only refers to one fence, each character uses the fence in a different way; therefore, the title is

Show More
Related

  • August Wilson's Fences

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    August Wilson’s Fences was centered on the life of Troy Maxson, an African American man full of bitterness towards the world because of the cards he was dealt in life amidst the 1950’s. In the play Troy was raised by an unloving and abusive father, when he wanted to become a Major League Baseball player he was rejected because of his race. Troy even served time in prison because he was impoverished and needed money so he robbed a bank and ended up killing a man. Troy’s life was anything but easy. In the play Troy and his son Cory were told to build a fence around their home by Rose. It is common knowledge that fences are used in one of two ways: to keep things outside or to keep things inside. In the same way that fences are used to keep things inside or outside Troy used the fence he was building to keep out death, his family, and his disappointments in life while Rose used the fence to keep those she cared about inside and help them bond.

    Read More

  • Fences as Metaphor in Fences by August Wilson

    419 Words  | 1 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • August Wilson Rhetorical Devices

    1096 Words  | 3 Pages

    August Wilson’s play, Fences, follows the formal conventions of its genre, which helps convey the story to the audience because he uses stage directions, theme, symbolism, and figurative language. Theme and symbolism are an important factor in the play. These two things are the main focus of the play because it gives us a message that the author wants to give us to secretly while we read. A theme that was given in Fences is that oppression does not choose to hurt people of color, but gender as well.

    Read More

  • Troy's Jealousy In Fences

    470 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout the play, pieces of Troy’s background are exposed to the reader. It quickly becomes clear that he was a talented baseball player who could have played professionally if not for the color of his skin. Instead of going on to a successful baseball career, Troy was forced to move on with his life and settle down as a garbage man. Although this is not what he truly wants in his life, it provides stability for him and his family. Similarly to his father, Troy’s son, Cory, is a talented football player who is being scouted for college. However, instead of encouraging him, Troy constantly scolds him, telling him he has to find a ‘real job;’ Troy even tells the scout to leave. This is ultimately because of his jealousy towards Cory’s success in sports, and the fact that Cory possesses the life Troy dreamed of. Many feuds and disagreements are born between the father and son because of their different views.

    Read More

  • The Relationship Between Fences By August Wilson

    896 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin to understand Troy, we must observe the tumultuous relationship between Troy and his father. Troy's father was most likely born into slavery, or at least slavery-like conditions. This means that his father probably never had a true family of his own, as his brothers, sisters, and parents would not have lived together. Troy's father had little experience in having and maintaining a family like atmosphere in their home, and this reflects greatly upon Troy. Unfortunately this was often the case in early African-American culture as the Reconstruction failed to help them from becoming homeless and impoverished. In Act One, Scene Four Troy and Bono begin discussing their fathers “ Sometimes I wish I hadn't known my daddy. He ain't cared nothing about no kids. A kid to him wasn't nothing. All he wanted was for you to learn how to walk so he could start you working. When it come time for eating... he ate first. If there was anything left over, that's what you got. Man would sit down and eat two chickens and give you the wing.” He goes on saying that his father only cared about his job, but he did fe...

    Read More

  • Living Inside The Fence You Create

    1169 Words  | 3 Pages

    The wire fencing with which Elisa surrounds her garden is designed to “protect her flower garden from cattle and dogs and chickens.” (Steinbeck 460) What the fence truly does is keep Elisa in. Her energy is isolated to that which the fence encompasses: the house and the garden. In The Chrysanthemums the word ‘fence’ is repeated six times throughout the story with ‘chicken wire’, meaning the fence, said once. This repetition alludes to the fact that the fence is more than a mere object, but a symbol of Elisa's containment in her domestic role. The fence represents boundaries that Elisa will not allow herself to cross.

    Read More

  • The Life of August Wilson

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    issues of civil rights he struggled with in his life. The ―fences‖ in the play are a representation of

    Read More

  • An Overview of 'Fences' by August Wilson

    367 Words  | 1 Pages

    This makes Troy the antagonist in the story because he is not only hitting up against everyone in the play, but he is also hitting up against himself and ultimately making his life more complicated. The discrimination that Troy faced while playing baseball and the torment he endures as a child shaped him into one of the most dynamic characters in literary history. The central conflict is the relationship between Troy and Cory. The two of them have conflicting views about Cory’s future and, as the play goes on, this rocky relationship crumbles because Troy will not let Cory play collegiate football. The relationship becomes even more destructive when Troy admits to his relationship with Alberta and he admits Gabriel to a mental institution by accident.

    Read More

  • Wilson's "Fences"

    872 Words  | 2 Pages

    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)

    Read More

  • Essay On Symbolism In Fences

    516 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wilson uses many symbols in the play to depict oppression. The primary symbol used is racism. Troy files a complaint to the Commissioner’s office against the Sanitation Department in reference to white men are the only men driving trucks. This complaint gets Troy promoted and he also becomes the first African American to drive a sanitation truck. Racism and segregation also play a major factor in Troy’s dream to be a professional baseball player in the Major Leagues. Since he is African American, he could only play in Negro League baseball. This defeat in his life now affects Troy’s son, Cory. Cory has an opportunity for a college education by be...

    Read More

  • Symbolism In The Delirium

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    One way the Fence is able to represent the plot of the novel, is because it is the physical barrier that is supposed to keep all safe, has many flaws. The Fence is a wall that is electrified, separating the cured from uncureds. The cureds believe that the wall will always keep them safe from the disease, but as Lena finds out in the first novel, Delirium, it has flaws. The flaws of the Fence, represent the flaws of society that Lena is put into after she escapes into the Wilds. The indomitable-never-giving-up movement of eradicating the cure, love finding it’s way into the cured the cities, and how weak the Government is becoming, are a few of the flaws that the flaws in the fence represent. One other way that the fence is able to represent the plot of Pandemonium, is how it separates one’s life from their past and their present. Once the fence is crossed, there is no coming back to live normally. Raven told Lena over and over after she crossed: “There is no before. There is only now, and what comes next” (Oliver 21). This quote shows that the fence may instil fear on the inside, but on the outside it’s a symbol of letting go. Letting go of the past they left behind and beginning a new life as a new person who is allowed to love. Throughout the whole novel of Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver, the Fence is a symbol of flaws and the symbol of separation between the

    Read More

  • Conflict in August Wilson's Fences and How it Affects the Work

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    life in the mid to late twentieth century and the strains of society on African Americans. Set in a small neighborhood of a big city, this play holds much conflict between a father, Troy Maxson, and his two sons, Lyons and Cory. By analyzing the sources of this conflict, one can better appreciate and understand the way the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in Fences by August Wilson

    1095 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Symbolical Meaning Behind the Title of Fences by August Wilson

    553 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Excerpt Essay by Mark Twain Themes, Change, and Symbolism

    597 Words  | 2 Pages

    The fence represents discrimination in the The Adventures of Tom Sawyer excerpt by Mark Twain. When Jim is tried to be persuaded by Tom, he fails. Jim refuses to give in and paint the fence that was once black white. He knows that all colors have equal representation. He can only defend the outliers in his group, but their mentality disallows them to attack. Jim attacks Tom knowing that even his race can be smart. This is the attack that Mark Twain experienced, the Missouri Compromise. The way how a black defends to avoid humiliation is the way Jim stood up. Tom wanted to balance things out between the white and the black with Ben. He knows Ben and seeks him to paint the fence.. Tom is the one who realizes the miseries and reflects off of Mark Twain. Many other white boys start to paint the fence flawlessly severely overlapping. The people of the black can only try to defend and persist against discrimination. Even though, Jim made a breakthrough, the white still over populated the black. People have to do work fairly without slavery. Tom believed he did his fair...

    Read More

More about Fence: Themes And Symbols In Troy Maxson's Fences

Open Document