nooooo....ITS NOT JUST A FENCE! SILLY! Now. A deeper meaning. The fence-building project serves as both a literal and a figurative device, representing the relationships that bond and break in the arena of the backyard. Rose wants the fence built because she sees the fence as something positive and necessary. Bono observes that Rose wants the fence built to hold in her loved ones. Troy and Cory on the other hand think the fence is a drag and reluctantly work on finishing Rose's project. Bono also observes that to some people, fences keep people out and push people away. Bono indicates that Troy pushes Rose away from him by cheating on her. Troy's lack of commitment to finishing the fence parallels his lack of commitment in his marriage. The fence appears finished only in the final scene of the play, when Troy dies and the family reunites. The wholeness of the fence comes to mean 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. |
August Wilson used both the history and mythology of baseball to challenge the authenticity of the American dream : Set in 1957, just before the start of the civil rights movement, Fences takes place at a time when organized baseball has finally become integrated, but when racial discrimination remains widespread. Troy Maxon, the main character was consumed with bitterness, convinced that if you are a black man in America, "you born with two strikes on you before you come to the plate" (69). Fences examines Troy's feelings of actual black ballplayers who were denied a chance to compete at the major-league level. Now enjoy this clip....or else =) |
