Fences is a Pulitzer Prize-winning play written by August Wilson. Fences takes place in the 1950s, in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Fences not only earned August Wilson acclaim as an amazing writer but it also earned him two Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Actor. Fence’s protagonist Troy Maxson is vividly portrayed through Wilson’s use of symbolism and imagery, which helps the audience to gain a better understanding of Troy’s past and current life. Fences is most likely August Wilson’s best known work and this is in large part due to its dramatic structure and language, as well as its powerful symbolism.
The most obvious symbol in Fences would be the title itself: Fences. A fence can signify many things, but it is usually used to create boundaries or divide one thing from another. Fences are used to keep people out or in; they are an obstruction that can protect or harm depending on who sits behind them. The fact that Fence was set in the 1950s makes racial segregation even more prevalent because African Americans were not allowed to do certain things, such as sit on a bus or drink from the same water fountain as a white person.
Fences is a metaphor for racial segregation and oppression because Troy’s life is strongly affected by it. Troy Maxson is the protagonist in Fences. His nickname “Troy” implies strong masculinity and invulnerability. In Fences, Troy’s physical strength and mental stability are tested many times throughout the play. For example, he takes care of several children while their mother goes out to work at night, yet his paychecks go toward expensive luxuries instead of being used for food or rent money.
He also watches his young son Cory get beat up by neighborhood bullies but does nothing to help him during the fight except pick up a bat and threaten to hit the bullies with it. Troy’s character is described by Wilson in Fences as a man who works hard and expects everyone else to do so too, but he does not exhibit the same work ethic when it comes to his own life. He spends his money on expensive things while also spending time hanging out at pool halls wasting away yet another day that could have been spent more productively.
In Fences, Troy begins to realize how much of an impact racial segregation has had on him throughout his life when stacks of old newspaper clippings detailing the death of a young black boy begin piling up around him. At one point in Fences, Troy says “I can remember everything” which emphasizes how many memories are tied up in those newspaper clippings as well as Troy’s unresolved feelings about the Jim Crow era. As a result of his past, Troy cannot rest until he knows exactly what happened to that young black boy and whether or not it was an accident or intentional.
Fences is not just a play about issues with segregation; Fences also speaks about male relationships and how they change over time. The most prominent example in Fences would be between Cory and Troy: old friends who used to reenact their favorite baseball games together after school now barely speak at all because of politics and one bad decision made by Cory. Another important symbol in Fences is the older son Lyons’ bicycle which gets so much use from him that it often falls apart beneath him.
Lyons desperately wants a bicycle which is one of the first signs that Fences is set in the 1950s because transportation was not as easy to come by as it is today. Many times throughout Fences, Lyons makes it clear how much he envies Cory’s bicycle and his own embarrassment sometimes gets in the way of his words. However, the bicycle clearly represents the opportunity for freedom and equality that Lyons desires so badly but can never have on account of being a black man living during a time when segregation was still a very prominent issue.
The bicycle also represents Troy’s relationship with Lyons: Troy made great sacrifices for him to be able to ride that bicycle around their neighborhood freely, yet he can’t enjoy any of those hard-earned freedoms himself. Fences is Troy’s story, but the symbolism of Lyons’ bicycle makes Fences much more than just Troy’s story. Fences is a play about life under segregation for people like Troy and Lyons, two men whose lives are both deeply affected by this time period in American history yet they can do very little to change it.
The ideas that August Wilson makes pass throughout Fences are very well symbolized, making the reader think deeper as they keep reading. The symbolism in Fences can be seen as Troy’s world view from the past to now portrays his life and how he views it.
In Fences’ first scene, Troy’s friend Bono is debating with his son Cory about going off to fight in a war for a country that has yet given them anything but grief. Cory wants to go, because Bono went and that was what got him killed. We see this idea being used again when Cory passes away at the end of Fences. This shows how one man dying might have been able to save so many others without experiencing such a loss himself. Fences also has a lot of other symbolism in it, such as:
– The den and actual fence that Troy and Bono built and Cory tore down represent their thoughts on the world. Bono believes we should work with others to create our own world together while Troy believe we need to work for ourselves so we don’t get left behind like his father did.
– Bishop’s shirt is meant to symbolize purity and innocence because he wears white (the color of purity) throughout Fences, but after the end scene when Rose tells him what happened before she died, he says “I think I’ve been very impure” showing how he was not even close to innocent like people once him.
– Troy’s obsession with the past that he keeps bringing up represents his lack of trust in others. It’s like Fences is a prison to him, where he spends all his time dwelling on what he could have done different instead of actually living life.
What Fences shows us about August Wilson is that Fences was more than just a play to him. Fences is August Wilson’s memory on Troy Maxson and how Troy viewed the world throughout his years. Fences itself doesn’t show you how Troy feels so much as it tells you through dialogue–just like most plays work out.
People who don’t quite “get” or enjoy Fences usually say they feel bored because they don’t understand the deeper meaning, but if Fences just told them the meaning of the play, they wouldn’t be Fences. Fences is August Wilson’s legacy and Troy Maxson is his memorial to who he was.
