Fences by August Wilson

It would be easy to say that Troy destroyed his family, and, eventually himself. Wilson searches far deeper for the reasons Troy does and says what he does. It is the 1950s, and slowly things are changing for American's blacks. Yet, the change comes too late for Troy. Yet, he makes every attempt to stand up for racial justice in his own way. It would be simplistic to say that the reason Troy won't sign those papers for his son to be recruited, and perhaps, go on to college, is -- as he explains it -- "The white man ain't gonna let you get nowhere with that football no way. You go on and get your book learning so you can work yourself up in the A & P, or learn how to fix cars or build houses or something, get you a trade. That way you have something nobody can take away from you" (Wilson, 1986, p.35).

To the casual reader or viewer of the play, this is the point at which it might appear that Troy doesn

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t so fraught with danger and hardship and slavery. But, his voice seems to be imploring his black peers that it is time to stop worshiping the past at the expense of the future. Remembering that this play is set in the mid-Thirties, it is still a time of danger, an unemployment and prejudice. But, Wilson peoples some of his plays with characters that seem to expect that things would get better. Avery is no Martin Luther King, Jr. In fact, one might think that he is playing the "Jesus Card" more for acceptance (and some eventual profit) than a real release from his current status. Making the three Wise Men parable into his "dream" of three hoboes makes these Messengers more like the poor Blacks than the whites of Biblical times. Berneice is locked in another struggle. As much as she delves into the past, and worries about her child, what about another man in her life? At the same time, Berneice's vision keeps her from moving on with her life without Crawley. As much as Avery wants to marry her, she is determined not to give in. "You tryin' to tell me a woman can't be nothing without a man?" (p. 67). Yet, she realizes somewhere down deep that she needs a man and romance and love. Yet, much as people want children, to leav
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Approximate Word count = 7383
Approximate Pages = 30 (250 words per page)

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