The title “Fences”
represents the story very well. Fences are both used symbolically and literally
in the story, from the fences he builds between the relationships with people
and the actual fence that is built in the main character Troy’s yard. The
author August Wilson symbolically uses fences to represent the walls between
the characters in the story. Troy has a fence up which is like his guard in
every relationship he has with a person. Troy wants to keep out the things that he separates himself from but it
does him more harm than good.
The reason why Rose wants a fence and the reason why it is symbolic is
because, Rose loves her family and she wants to keep everyone together. “Some
people build fences to keep people out...and other people build fences to keep
people in.” (Act 2 Scene 1 Line 26) she
builds it to keep everyone together as a family. She attempts to keep her
family inside the home. Troy, on the other hand, builds different symbolic fences
of responsibility, and expects his sons to do so much and his expectations are
so high that all these fences do is push people away.
Troy clearly builds the fence as a dividing line between him and his son an
actual, physical barrier that separates them when in the story Cory says "Tell Mama I'll be back for my things”
and then Troy says “They’ll be on the other side of the fence”. (Act 2 Scene 4
Lines 110-111) By winning the fight with Cory, Troy in my
opinion is trying to show him that he's still the and always will be the alpha
male. While the fence is now a literal barrier between the two, it also is representing
the emotional strain that Troy places between them.
Hi Amanda,I also agree with the reasons you gave about Troy building a fence. He is putting up an actual physical barrier to close people off and not let them in. I also agree that Rose and Troy had different reasons for building the fence. Rose saw it as an opportunity for her family to come together, she fears that they are falling apart. Troy on the other hand sees it as an opportunity for him to close himself off to the rest of the world. He is determined to build both a physical and an emotional barrier towards his son. In the end by alienating himself he ends up harming himself. Great post.
ReplyDeleteI agree the some your views on what the fences represent. August Wilson did an amazing job using the positive and negative purposes for fences. You had Rose who wanted a fence built to trying and protect her family and keep them together. While pretty much every other use of "fences" is for separate people. I didnt feel that Troy was building the physical fence to separate himself from his son. I don't think he even wanted to build the fence because he already felt restricted or caged in. He didn't want to be caged anymore then he already was, which lead him to cheating on his wife because it made him feel free.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the fences are used symbolically and literally. i like how you pointed out how they have pretty much personal walls. barriers that blocked many of the characters from connecting a certain way with others. i like how you showed the difference between the characters' reasons for the fences. To keep people in or to keep people out.
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda! I like your analisis about fences's symbolic meaning.They mean Troy's barriers with his family relationship. His frustration separate his family from him. He could not be a Mayor Base Ball League player because of his color, so it makes him a resentful person with socity and its rules. Because of that, he believes that no black person can do better thing that white people just because they do not have the same opportunities. It makes around him a fence of no acceptance becuse he does not accept changes in the modern life. I did not agree with you in that Troy has great expectation with his children, I believe that he only want them have a useful life, and he does not support their goals because he can be a winner, so his children either. Because of that he destroys Cory football career. Troy destroys all around him because of his resentment about life. Also, they mean protection, because Rose want that fence close to keep his family together and safe.
ReplyDelete