Gender and poverty is a problem that still arises today. “Fences” by August Wilson provides explanations on gender and poverty in this play. He write how it affects people and the people around them. This play is based around the 1950’s. August Wilson shows the struggles of racial accusations, poverty and gender through a family and a fifty three year old man named Troy who struggles with how to show affection and support to his own family. Troy is unable to break down barriers in order to let other people into his life and his struggles, even his own children. We see that he broke down a barrier once but it was for all the wrong reasons. August Wilson uses narrative elements to build tension between the characters in the text by using the
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Each character has a strong take on manhood. Troy’s take is a very harsh and strict, which does make him up to what he his. Troy: "What you worried about what we getting into for? This is men talk, woman." (Wilson 41-42) Troy’s true personality, shines through in this quote on how he thinks men and women should be treated. Bono has a distinct character of copying Troy. Troy’s sons have a bit more “feminine” take on manhood. “Fences” is told to be a father-son play. The main conflict circles around the tension between Troy Maxson and his son Cory. The play begins to shows how Troy in many ways repeats the mistakes of his own father while learning to raise Cory. By the end of the play, we're left with the hope that Cory will be able to break this cycle. “Fences” also questions what it exactly is to be a man. The origins of Troy’s hardness are found in his personal life history. His early model of manhood was his father which lead to troy being on his own at fourteen, Troy had to harden himself against a world at best indifferent, at worst hostile, to his desires. He was released from prison to a world that defined itself in the limits it places on his aspirations, he made his bargain. He married, fathered a child, and he worked hard. Prison drove him to stop committing robberies. To a painful degree, however, life has driven him to stop hoping. His family knows why he is
Each character has a strong take on manhood. Troy’s take is a very harsh and strict, which does make him up to what he his. Troy: "What you worried about what we getting into for? This is men talk, woman." (Wilson 41-42) Troy’s true personality, shines through in this quote on how he thinks men and women should be treated. Bono has a distinct character of copying Troy. Troy’s sons have a bit more “feminine” take on manhood. “Fences” is told to be a father-son play. The main conflict circles around the tension between Troy Maxson and his son Cory. The play begins to shows how Troy in many ways repeats the mistakes of his own father while learning to raise Cory. By the end of the play, we're left with the hope that Cory will be able to break this cycle. “Fences” also questions what it exactly is to be a man. The origins of Troy’s hardness are found in his personal life history. His early model of manhood was his father which lead to troy being on his own at fourteen, Troy had to harden himself against a world at best indifferent, at worst hostile, to his desires. He was released from prison to a world that defined itself in the limits it places on his aspirations, he made his bargain. He married, fathered a child, and he worked hard. Prison drove him to stop committing robberies. To a painful degree, however, life has driven him to stop hoping. His family knows why he is