August Wilson’s Fences, written in 1985, is based on complex family relations, and the treatment of African Americans, during the 20th century. Wilson wrote a cycle of plays during his career, each about a different decade, to shine a light on the African American Man’s experience in the mid 1900s (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica); Fences may be one of the most well-known. Set in the 1950’s, Fences tells the story of garbage man, Troy Maxson, and his rocky relationship with his sons and wife. August Wilson uses literary devices and symbolism in Fences to effectively convey themes of racial discrimination and masculinity roles, among the play’s main characters.
Race is a major theme in Fences. While the play is set in the 1950’s, and slavery had been abolished many years prior, there was still much racial discrimination and tension in America at this time, as the Civil Rights movement had not yet taken place. All of the characters in the play are African American; Wilson did this to enhance his purpose and theme of race. The main character of the story, Troy Maxson is a garbage man, who experiences a racist system in his workplace. For example, early in the play, Troy is talking to his best friend Boo, about a frustrating experience (39).
Troy explains that he asked one of the other garbage men, who was white, “Why you got white mens driving and colored mens doing the lifting?…You think only white mens got sense enough to drive a truck?… Hell anybody can drive a truck,” (Wilson 39). This system of hiring white men to drive the trucks, while the African Americans, like Troy, do all of the dirty, heavy lifting, gives privilege to the white men.
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As a young man, Troy was a great baseball player. He was reputable and had the ability to play professionally. He was not, however, able to do so, due to segregated sports that forbid African Americans from participating. In the present day of the play, Troy’s wife, Rose, informs him that their son, Cory, is being recruited to play football (Wilson 41). Troy immediately shuts down the idea, and fires back with “I told that boy white men ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that football,” (Wilson 41).
Troy resents the idea of either of his sons making a career out of sports because when he tried to do so, he was rejected. But since he was young, times have changed, and sports teams are integrating during this time. This exchange of dialogue is used by Wilson to illustrate the bitterness that Troy has towards white people, due to the way he was treated. This conflict is a parallel to the generational difference between those who were discriminated against, and those who are living through change and progression.
One of the main conflicts in the play is central to Troy and Cory’s relationship. Fences brings light to some questions regarding a theme of masculinity- what does it mean to be a man/ what makes a good man? The man’s role in a home is an important part of this theme and can be seen within the play. For example, Rose walks outside while Troy and Bono are talking and asks what they are speaking about. Troy replies, “What you worried about what we gettin’ into for? This is men talk woman… go back in the house and let us finish what we was talking about” (Wilson 40). While Troy may appear to be jokingly calling her nosey, there seems to be some seriousness behind his comment. He calls Rose ‘woman’, before telling her to get back in the house. By telling her what to do, he is exercising his authority as head of the household, to display his masculinity.
In addition to Troy’s interactions with his wife, Wilson further develops the theme of gender and masculinity in the play, between Troy and his son. In Troy’s mind, he believes the ultimate definition of being a man, is responsibility. He tells Cory that the reason he is able to eat everyday, has clothes, and a roof over his head, is because of Troy’s work. Troy goes on to say that those things are not provided to Cory because he “likes him”, but because “It’s my job. It’s my responsibility. A man got to take care of his family.” (Wilson 48).
Troy’s parenting ways stem from his own relationship with his father,which was troubled and broken. The play shows that Troy makes some of the same mistakes that his own father made with him, with Cory. By creating this pattern in the story, Wilson addresses the significance of history repeating itself within the line of family. The way that Troy was raised greatly impacted the kind of parent he became, thus showing the effects that an upbringing can have on someone; Wilson offers the idea here that Troy’s ideas about manhood and masculinity were flawed, as a result of his own previous circumstances.
The title uses the plural word of ‘fence’ to symbolize the many different divides within the play. Throughout the play, Troy is building a fence around the home. This fence is used by August Wilson as a symbol for a couple of things in the play. Rose wanted the fence to be built to “hold on” to and protect her family (Wilson 54). This way, the fence represents a form of safety for the Maxson family.
The racial divide in America, and the growing divide between Troy and his family are symbolized by the fence. The color of Troy’s skin has inhibited him from doing many of the things he has wanted to do in his life; the fence here, is a metaphor for his skin, and his race. In the same way that a fence puts a wedge between two things, Troy’s resentment towards the world has placed a divide between him and his sons. Wilson’s use of multiple metaphorical fences in this work, enhance the divides in all aspects of the story.
The literary devices and symbolic title of this play are used by Wilson to develop themes of race and masculinity in Fences. The discrimination against African Americans in the story, mirror the discrimination faced during the centuries before the Civil Rights Movement. The lack of a role model father figure for both Troy and Cory, demonstrates just how much one’s upbringing will affect their future. Overall, Wilson’s effective demonstration of the treatment of African Americans, and the father-son conflicted relationship of these characters, speaks of the experience of the African American man through his collection of plays, “The Pittsburgh Cycle” (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica).
