Fences: Black People and Wilson Essay

August Wilsons Fences is a touch about life, and an extended parable Wilson uses to show the crumbling affinitys between troy and Cory and troy and Rose. troy Maxson represents the dreams of melanise the States in a major(ip)ly white world, a world where these dreams were not homogeneously because of the racism and attitudes that prevailed. troy weight Maxson is representative of many blacks and their attitudes and behavior within the favorable flux of the late fifties, in their individual and collective struggles to hew a niche for themselves in the rocky social terrown(prenominal) of postwar America (Pereria, 37). some(prenominal) of the tension in the play go downs from troy Maxson, and his inability to change, his, refusal to accept the point that social conditions are changing for the black man (Pereria, 37). troys wife, Rose, recognizes this early on, saying to him, Times defecate changed from when you was young, Troy. People change. The worlds changing or so you a nd you cant fifty-fifty see it (Wilson, 40). This inability to change diversely affects Troys relationship with his second son, Cory, who is a promising athlete. Sports provide the arena for the continuing conflict and foreshadows the characteristic that go out eventually lead to Troys downfall.There is a uninterrupted struggle between Troy and Cory because Troy will not result his son to pursue his gymnastic dreams, telling him instead to keep his after(prenominal)-school(prenominal) business concern. This comes from Troys past, when he was a promising baseball faker who was prevented from playing because he was black. Troys fears carry into the unsanded extension when he prevents his son from pursuing a football scholarship because of his past, even though the world was changing at this time, and colored pack were expanding into new areas.Troy admits to Rose that his decision regarding Corys future comes from his past when he states, I decided seventeen years ago that b oy wasnt specifyting involved in no sports. non after what they did to me in the sports (Wilson, 39). Troy, unable to change with the times, is, convinced of no professional future for black athletes, he is determined to direct his son into a more applicatory career (Pereira, 37). The title of the bunk, Fences, acts as an extended metaphor throughout the play.Troy pretends fences between himself and to the highest degree everyone in the play, isolating himself further and further as he clings to the past and refuses to adapt to a world changing almost him. He builds a fence between himself and his friend Bono when he chairs a promotion at work, and then puts a fence between he and Rose when he goes outside of the confines of their marriage with Alberta. He besides builds a fence between himself and Cory by his refusal to ack straightledge his sons dreams.As Bogumil states, By drawing a strict boundary round himself regarding familial relations, Troy loses virtually every s ense of affection and get between himself and his son, causing Cory to conclude that his father does not even desire him (48). When Cory alludes to the question of his father liking him, Troy responds, . cause I like you? You about the biggest fool I ever saw. He continues with, You my flesh and blood. Not cause I like you Cause its my duty to take care of you. I owe a responsibility to you (Wilson, 38).Later in the play, in the end of Act Two, opinion Four, Troy and Cory fight physically, and after Troy tells Cory to leave his house, and Cory says he will return for his things, Troy tells him, Theyll be on the another(prenominal) side of that fence (Wilson, 89). Troy has not however put Cory out physically, but has metaphorically put his son on the other side of the fence, a delegacy from him. Troy Maxson builds a fence so strong he thought he could keep death himself out. In the end of Act Two, Scene Two he tells Death, See now. Im gonna tell you what Im gonna do. Im gonna t ake and build me a fence roughly this yard.See? Im gonna build me a fence around what belongs to me. And then I essential you to stay on the other side You stay on the other side of that fence until you ready for me (Wilson, 77). There is also the unfeigned fence in the play, which Rose wants Troy to build around their yard. Troy wonders why Rose would want a fence when they have virtually nothing of value to steal. Bogumil believes that, A fence to Rose has spiritual significance, quilt to comfort her during the times she must intervene in the dysfunctional relationship between her son Cory and husband Troy(48). The beginning of Act One, Scene Two begins with Rose singing to herself, Jesus, be a fence around me every day. (Wilson, 21). While Troy is building fences to keep people out, Rose builds a fence to keep them in, as she, dearly desires to carry the family she has neer had (Bogumil, 48). Rose herself says to Troy, you know I aint never wanted no fractional nothing i n my family. My whole family is half.. Cant hardly tell whos who (Wilson, 68). Alan Nadel believes that Wilson is making a political statement with the metaphor of a fence.He sets up his aim with the assertion that. the idea of a fence is inextricable from the idea of space (86). He continues in this vein, linking property to humans, linking humans as a spring of property to the days of slaveholding. He then says that one of the human ideals of granting immunity was in ownership ownership of property. He states that in previous times, subspecies or skin color was just such a fence. It served to wear out blacks from humans, denying blacks the properties of humans and giving to humans property rights over blacks (87).He claims that in the North, The boundaries were less clear, the fences less sturdy (87). Nadel believes that legally, the Dred Scott decision and the Fugitive Slave law of nature decided that property rights were universal while human rights were local. The Mason Dixon phone cablegram resulted from the Missouri Compromise and was in violation of the fifth amendment. Because of this, Nadel states that, these laws and decisions mandated that the humanity of blacks be set as a metaphor, while their non-humanity-their condition as property-be treated as literal (87).The fence then, in August Wilsons Fences, fit in to Nadel, was the opposing attitudes held towards blacks during these times, that their freedom was, not literal but figurative and that. The Mason-Dixon line became the universal metaphoric fence that marked the properties of race as criteria for cruel treatment (88). Nadel relates this to Fences by saying that Troy Maxsons struggle to build a fence around his property, making it human, is really Wilsons way of showing the internalization of the metaphoric Mason-Dixon line.He also believes the name Maxson, suggests a shortened Mason-Dixon and that Troys character similarly embodies the personal divisions that come from living in a world where the Mason-Dixon line exists as the omnipresent circumscription of black American claims to civil rights. (89). The vital element to keep in mind while reading Fences is that while Troy Maxson is a tragic character who ultimately alienates himself from family and friends because of his inability to adapt with the changing world, he has inviolable intentions and actually believes he is doing the right thing for his family. Peter Wolfe categorizes Troys character perfectly when he claims that, his greatest enemy remains himself (65). right plays a large role in Troys beliefs. This is reflected when Cory asks Troy if he likes him. Troys response is violent, and heartfelt, when he exclaims, Its my job. Its my responsibility You understand that? A man got to take care of his family (Wilson,38). It is important to Troy to instill this sense of responsibility in his sons. When he is speech to Rose about this outburst he explains, Hes got to stupefy his own way. I made m ine(Wilson, 39). Troy also wants his sons to have opportunities he did not. He does not want Cory to get his hopes up, and then scud down as he did when he tried to enter the gymnastic arena.Again, he tells this to Rose when he says,I dont want him to be like me I want him to get as outlying(prenominal) away from my life as he can get (Wilson, 39). When Bono confronts Troy about his increasing interest in Alberta, Troy defends himself with the words, I aint ducking the responsibility of it (Wilson, 63). And when he tells Rose of his infidelity he says, Rose, you aint the blame. Im responsible for it (Wilson, 69). Although Troy does not always do what is right, as Elkins states, With both his sons, Troy tries to provoke responsibility to family over responsibility to personal pursuits (Elkins, 167).This is his reasoning for not allowing Cory to gauge for the football scholarship, for wanting him to keep working at the A& international ampereP, as this is his reasoning for offeri ng Lyons a job working with him at the dribble company. Wolfe claims that, Duty for him always outranks love (Wolfe, 66). Troy values work more than personal pursuits because his own dream of being a major league baseball player was denied him. He is looking out for the beat out interests of his children, hoping they do not choose the wrong path as he did, out of genuine care, and a sense of responsibility and duty to his family.Wilson himself defends Troys resolution regarding his decision of not allowing Cory to play football, stating, that, When blacks went to universities on athletic scholarships, they were in fact exploited. Very few got an education. Troy is correct when he tells the kid that the white man aint gon let you get nowhere with that football. As a man born in 1904 and preliterate hes telling his son to get a job so he wont have to carry garbage (Elkins, interview with Wilson, 168). Fences is a masterpiece An extended metaphor about a black family.A black family trying to find a repose for themselves in the late fifties and early sixties It is a play about Troy Maxson, who builds so many fences around himself that he succeeds in alienating himself from everyone he cares about and from the world that is rapidly changing around him. Wilson shows this more specifically by Troys disintegrating relationship with his son, Cory, and his wife, Rose. As Bono said, Some people build fences to keep people out and other people build fences to keep people in (Wilson, 61). Troy Maxson strengthened them to isolate himself and to keep out the people he loved the most. whole shebang Cited Bogumil, Mary L. Understanding August Wilson. University of South Carolina Press, Colombia1999. Elkins, Marilyn. August Wilson A Casebook. wreath Publishing Inc. , late York 2000. Nadel, Alan. May All Your Fences Have Gates Essays on the Drama of August Wilson. University of Iowa Press, U. S. 1994. Pereira, Kim. August Wilson and the African American Odyssey. Univers ity Of Illinois Press, Chicago1995. Wilson, August. Fences. Penguin Books U. S. A. Inc. , New York1986. Wolfe, Peter. August Wilson Twaynes United States Authors Series. Ed. Frank Day. Twayne Publishers, New York1999.