Comments On "Fences" By August Wilson

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Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Comments on "Fences" by August Wilson ENG 113 Instructor Risch Bole Lopar April 27, 2011 Comments on “Fences” by August Wilson This play’s protagonist is Troy Maxson. His name is a combination of Mason-Dixon, the line between the north and the south. This play highlights the struggle in the fifties of black families to make their own identities in a world that refused to accept them as human beings. Troy worked as a garbage man and worked his way up to driver. This was both a good and bad thing. It was good because he was able to break through racial barriers and become more than a garbage man, but it was bad because he grew apart from his best friend, Bono. He and Bono were friends since they did time together. It was in prison that Troy learned to play baseball and was accepted into the Negro Leagues. Troy’s childhood was turbulent to say the least. His mother left when he was eight and he saw his father rape a friend of his when he was 14. He ran away at 14, and became a thief in order to survive. He was doing 15 years on a murder charge when he met Bono. As a father now, he carries this baggage with him into the marriage and mostly in matters concerning his son Cory. Cory is headed for a football scholarship. Troy can see himself in Cory. Troy believes that Cory will be heading for a lifetime of disappointment just like he was when he was placed in the Negro Leagues. His inability to see that things have changed now and that the world is different for Cory destroys his relationship with his son. Troy tells Cory to go back to the A&P and work his way up there. Troy believes that working hard is the only path available to black men and he will not stand by and watch his son lay his future in the hands of the white man. He believes Cory must work with his hands and not just play out his dream. Troy goes behind Cory’s back

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