The play, Fences, was written by August Wilson in 1985 as part six of ten in a collection titled the "Pittsburgh Cycle". The play takes place in the 1950s and the main character is a man named Troy Maxson, a strong, responsible, and hard working man who is married to a woman named Rose and they have a son together, Cory, Troy also has a brother, Gabriel, who claims to know St. Peter after an accident left him with severe brain damage. When things take a dark turn later in the play, Rose turns to Religion to guide her, but this is not the only time Religion is shown or referenced in the play. Throughout the play we are given hints and clues, Bible verses, Religious paraphernalia, and subtle hints of the underlying theme of Religion and Faith
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When this fact is revealed to Rose, she turns to the Church as a way to cope. She uses it as an escape, she can go and pray with the women of her community and feel a sense of relief in that she has a guide in these dark times. Later on, it is revealed that Alberta has died in childbirth but the baby lived, a little girl named Raynell. When Troy asks Rose to help raise the child and be her mother, Rose agrees, but makes her position clear. “Rose: I'll take care of your baby for you...cause...she innocent...and you can't visit the sins of the father upon the child. A motherless child had got a hard time....From right now this child got a mother. But you a womanless man.” (Wilson, pg 1464, 1-4) She may still be married to him by law, but no longer in spirit. The references to Troy’s sins are that of his adultery and producing a bastard child, though Rose will not blame the child. This is a reference to the Bible verse, Ezekiel 18:20 “The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.” Which shows that while Raynell was born of her father’s sin, she will not be blamed for
When this fact is revealed to Rose, she turns to the Church as a way to cope. She uses it as an escape, she can go and pray with the women of her community and feel a sense of relief in that she has a guide in these dark times. Later on, it is revealed that Alberta has died in childbirth but the baby lived, a little girl named Raynell. When Troy asks Rose to help raise the child and be her mother, Rose agrees, but makes her position clear. “Rose: I'll take care of your baby for you...cause...she innocent...and you can't visit the sins of the father upon the child. A motherless child had got a hard time....From right now this child got a mother. But you a womanless man.” (Wilson, pg 1464, 1-4) She may still be married to him by law, but no longer in spirit. The references to Troy’s sins are that of his adultery and producing a bastard child, though Rose will not blame the child. This is a reference to the Bible verse, Ezekiel 18:20 “The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.” Which shows that while Raynell was born of her father’s sin, she will not be blamed for