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A few years earlier, Jackie Robinson breaks through the segregation of major-league baseball, but the new opportunity for black ballplayers arrives too late for Troy Maxson. This situation causes a frustration in Troy’s life pushing him to live in an ordinary way as a dissatisfied employee. He is a former convict and once a baseball player, who is now a sanitation worker due to the lack of opportunities for his race. He is not being treated equal at his job. He wants everybody to have the same opportunity to drive a truck: “All I want them to do it change the job description. Give everybody a chance to drive the truck…” (822). In Fences, racist is the evident antagonist since Troy’s unhappiness or frustration is mainly influenced by the unfortunate situation of many African-American citizens of his time. This neglect towards the reality of the situation enhances how profound Troy's situation
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Troy even describes death as "a fastball on the outside corner." He becomes upset about this and personifies death using: “fences of his yard” (856) as a metaphor that will create an imaginary barrier between death and him. During the play Troy builds a fence around his backyard. The fences also have a blockade between racism, between past and present, between life and death, and between Troy and his family. Rose asked Troy to put up the fence for a reason. She wanted to keep her family close and to keep their marriage together. This barrier didn’t protect him in 1965 when death decides to cross the fences and win the final encounter against Troy. Troy was defeated by time and death on most battles making him impotent to their will. In this situation, Wilson puts time and death as other part of the “Fences” theme that focuses on life.
Robert Brustein, theater critic and artistic director is right in his assumption of” Fences”. He states that Wilson main theme in “Fences” was based on the racist oppressions of the time. This is part of the theme that August Wilson wanted to emphasize in the play. The reader can interpret that the other part of “Fences” theme deals with ideals of family values exposed with the Maxson’s and the inferiority of Troy with magnificent forces such as life and
Troy even describes death as "a fastball on the outside corner." He becomes upset about this and personifies death using: “fences of his yard” (856) as a metaphor that will create an imaginary barrier between death and him. During the play Troy builds a fence around his backyard. The fences also have a blockade between racism, between past and present, between life and death, and between Troy and his family. Rose asked Troy to put up the fence for a reason. She wanted to keep her family close and to keep their marriage together. This barrier didn’t protect him in 1965 when death decides to cross the fences and win the final encounter against Troy. Troy was defeated by time and death on most battles making him impotent to their will. In this situation, Wilson puts time and death as other part of the “Fences” theme that focuses on life.
Robert Brustein, theater critic and artistic director is right in his assumption of” Fences”. He states that Wilson main theme in “Fences” was based on the racist oppressions of the time. This is part of the theme that August Wilson wanted to emphasize in the play. The reader can interpret that the other part of “Fences” theme deals with ideals of family values exposed with the Maxson’s and the inferiority of Troy with magnificent forces such as life and