Thesis of fences - Jessica Tietjen PDF

Preview

Summary

thesis of fences the movie ...

Description

Tietjen 1 Jessica Tietjen English 102 Professor Brandi So 13 November 2017

The symbolism in “fences” by August Wilson

The purpose of this paper is to explain the hardships a family can face while living in the 1950s and the play “Fences” tells that story. The writer August Wilson tells us that many families face problems and it makes you think times have not changed much. The plot takes place in the 1950’s while times were hard for African Americans, and progression had to be made. One of the main characters is Troy who thinks times cannot change. He feels insecure about the future and has a lot of conflicts with his son while he plays baseball. Troy played baseball during the 1940’s during a time when African American’s couldn’t play and once he could play the game because blacks were accepted he no longer could play because of his age. He believes his son cannot play the game because of the color of his skin. Troy wants to protect his son and thinks he should get a job instead. The story tells family conflicts as well as cheating and trust issues. The Play “Fences” by August Wilson portrays themes of family issues and family disagreements, for example in Scene 2 act 1 in “Fences” the writer August Wilson explains, “bono: Some people build fences to keep people out...and other people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She loves you. troy: Hell, nigger, I don’t need nobody to tell me my wife loves me, Cory...go on in the house and see if you can find that other saw. cory: Where’s it at? troy: I said find it! Look for it till you find it! Cory exits into the house. What’s that supposed to mean? Wanna keep us in? bono: Troy...I done known you seem like damn near my whole life.

Tietjen 2 You and Rose both. I done know both of you all for a long time. I remember when you met Rose. When you was hitting them baseball out the park. A lot of them old gals was after you then. You had the pick of the litter. When you picked Rose, I was happy for you. That was the first time I knew you had any sense. I said... My man Troy knows what he’s doing...I’m gonna follow this nigger...he might take me somewhere. I been following you too. I done learned a whole heap of things about life watching you. I done learned how to tell where the shit lies. How to tell it from the alfalfa. You done learned me a lot of things. You showed me how to not make the same mistakes...to take life as it comes along and keep putting one foot in front of the other. (Pause.) Rose a good woman, Troy.” (Wilson; 2 Act 1) This quote represents how people are trying to keep their families together and how they want people to stay close to home. The author states bono describing how Rose wants to hold onto her family. Troy knows that Rose loves him, but he is taking her for granted. Bono talks about Troy’s past with Rose. Bono believed he had made the best decision by picking Rose. He believed that Rose was the best thing that ever happened to Troy. Bono is learning from Troy’s relationship with Rose. By seeing this relationship between Rose and Troy, Bono learns to take one step at a time in order to not make mistakes in life. Bono talks about how Rose is the best thing that ever happened to him. He wants them to stay together. Rose wants to hold onto her family. She suspects that Troy is having an affair with another woman. Rose loves her family and wants to keep everyone together. By building a fence it symbolizes trying to keep their family together. The word fence is being used as a metaphor which is relating the fence to Rose’s and Troy’s relationship. This metaphor refers to family and trying to keep their family together. When the author talks to the audience about fences keeping people in or keeping people out, he is talking about holding the family together or the family falling apart.

Tietjen 3 The genre of the play is a drama concentrating on an African American family. Since “Fences” has symbolism and imagery, it falls under the category of a dramatic piece of literature with specific conflicts among the characters. Events and characters represent and symbolize a belief, image or idea. There is definite symbolism and imagery in the play. There are many conflicts which add to this drama. The conflicts between the characters attack their individual identities. Troy’s affair is one conflict in the play, but the major conflict that the author is trying to convey to the audience is the conflict between Cory and his father Troy. Cory wants to be a professional athlete and Troy wants Cory to seek a regular job mostly because of his own experiences with discrimination when he was a young man. Ultimately, Cory will try to make a new life for himself. Cory and his father see different futures for themselves. Troy is living in the past and cannot vision Cory as a professional athlete because of his own history. Cory gives Troy examples of African Americans who have become professional athletes, but Troy does not believe that the world has changed enough to accept the African American. Racism is one of the themes portrayed in the play. Troy’s dream of being a baseball player is shattered by racism and discrimination. Troy does not want this to happen to his son, Cory. Death is a significant theme in the play. The symbolism of the fence represents the barriers Troy is putting up and what he is trying to separate from his life. Putting up a fence symbolizes Troy avoiding death. Baseball plays a key role in the imagery of the play. Troy did not achieve a career in baseball due to prejudices. This played an important role in the story. The symbolism of baseball relates to death. Troy connects baseball to the coming of death. Baseball torments death and is provoking the arrival of death. The building of a fence shows symbolism

Tietjen 4 which represents things that Troy desires to separate from himself and symbolizes what Rose desires to keep together, her family. Responsibility is another theme introduced in the play “Fences.” Troy wants to provide for his family. He struggles with being a husband and a father. Troy believes his duty is to provide a home and to provide food for his family. He does not include love or fidelity in that plan of duty. Troy does feel a sense of responsibility toward his infant daughter by asking Rose to take care of the child with him. This theme of responsibility is also portrayed by Cory who at the end of the play is responsible enough to come home and meet his half-sister and attend his father’s funeral. Cory and Raynell (his half-sister ) sing a song to honor their father. This makes the audience believe that Cory is becoming responsible enough to forgive his father. The article” August Wilson’s Fences-an African American family in mid-20th century Pittsburgh” by Fred Mazeles sums up the drama as portraying Troy as an African American who is angry and facing the white society. “ Fences” is a story about a family with conflicts and problems that affect their relationships. In the article “August Wilson’s Fences-an African American family in mid-20th century Pittsburgh” by Mazeles he states the following:“Despite this Wilson gave us in Fences the story of a family whose problems and trials are for the most part universal in character.” ( https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/01/14/fenc-j14.html ) The article” Generational Dissension in August Wilson’s Fences” by Dr. Soumya Jose and Dr. Sony Jalarajan Raj explains how Wilson explores the conflicts between a father and his son and how it relates to the prevention of mainstreaming a young African American into our society. As stated by Dr. Soumya Jose And Dr. Jalarajan Raj from the article “Generational Dissension in August Wilson’s Fences”, “Wilson, through the play, establishes the unattainable

Tietjen 5 nature of the American Dream as far as the African Americans are concerned. It is the lack of proper communication between Troy and Cory which causes the conflict between them” (p.570, http://www.academia.edu/7926129/Generational_Dissension_in_August_Wilson_s_Fences_Dr_Soumya_Jose-_VIT_University_India ) This play is an example of how African American families struggled during the 1950’s and shows us how many families broke apart because of infidelity and insecurity amongst the families. Many families existed without fathers during this time and many African American mothers raised their children on their own. The fact that Troy experienced prejudices affected his future and because of these prejudices he believed his son should seek a more practical route,: obtaining a regular job. If the color of his skin would have been different, his career may have been more successful and he would not have been an insecure adult seeking pleasure and seeking an affair. The play examines the African American experience and deals with such issues such as racism, infidelity, emotional relationships, conflicts and broken dreams. August Wilson wrote about the experiences of the black Americans and their struggles in our society. “Fences” won a Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1987 for the portrayal of a family dealing with specific conflicts which stemmed from racial discriminations. He portrayed his characters during the 1950’s before the civil rights movement and before the Vietnam War. It was a time of prejudices and a time when black families faced real issues concerning equality in our society. The symbolism of the fence is an important aspect to the play and relays to the audience how Rose wants to keep the family together. The fence also symbolizes Roses’ love and her sense of nurturing. To Troy the fence only represents a way of separating the world from him. It

Tietjen 6 represents a wall to alienate everyone and everything from him. One could look at it as keeping people out, but one could also look at it as a definite way of keeping people in.

Tietjen 7 Work Cited Mazelis, Fred. “August Wilson's.” August Wilson's Fences-an African-American Family in Mid20th Century Pittsburgh, World Socialist Web Site Wsws.org Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), 14 Jan. 2017, www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/01/14/fenc-j14.html.

Jose, Dr Soumya. “Generational Dissension in August Wilson's Fences- Dr Soumya Jose- VIT University, India.” Academia.edu, Jan. 2014, www.academia.edu/7926129/Generational_Dissension_in_August_Wilson_s_Fences_Dr_Soumya_Jose-_VIT_University_India....