Fences Symbolism

In the play Fences, August Wilson divides this play into two acts, One and Two, with four and five scenes respectively. It raises issues that the African-Americans faced mostly on racism. The main character is a man named Troy who has a rough time providing for his family. When he was younger, he was arrested for accidentally killing someone else during a robbery gone wrong. In his time in prison, he practiced baseball and became very good at it. He then plays baseball with the hope of earning good money but at the time, blacks were not entirely accepted in major sports. Thus he got a little money that could not help him save for his future. He then works as a trash collector and is married to his wife, Rose, with whom he has one son called Cory and another called Lyon from his previous marriage. He has a younger brother called Gabriel who was in the military but due to injuries, he is unable to continue serving. Troy has a best friend named Bono with whom he drinks and talks to about his problems. The writer is an African American, who just like his character in the play, has faced unfair discrimination due to his color, he uses the setting of the play, symbolism, metaphors to enhance the plot, and the characters involved. Wilson starts …show more content…
Troy is a pessimist who only sees the worst in how his life will turn out. He sees death as a character throughout the play where he personifies and even sees and talks to it. ‘‘What you want, Mr. Death?’’ (Fences, Act I, Scene I). In the opening of the play, he narrates his encounter with death to his friend Bono he talks of death as a mister who had been after him with an army of soldiers. His wife, Rose dismisses his story as lies and explains to Bono that at the moment his husband must be delirious considering he was suffering from pneumonia. Troy insists that death wants to finish him and is after him, and he has to fight for