Fences Research

The Impact of Physical and Psychological Boundaries in August Wilsons Fences The early 1950s was a time of extensive importance because of the Civil Rights Movement which emphasized equal rights for total darknesss and whites. According to the book Approaching Literature, this time period became very familiar to August Wilson, the author of the take to the woods Fences. Wilson, an African American man, was raised by his mother and his ex-convict male parent. For a short period of time, before moving back to his old neighborhood, Wilson lived in a in the first place white neighborhood where he experienced the feeling of being on the outside. When he was in the ninth grade he had a teacher that believed thither was no way he could have written an intelligent, twenty page research paper on Napoleon Bonaparte, so she accused him of plagiarism. This incident pushed Wilson to pour forth out of high school and teach himself. From that point on, he began educating himself by reading th rough the section of black authors in the local library. Wilson had strong views and opinions some the rights of African Americans.So much so, that he wrote quite a few plays concerning this major part of history. (1024) In Wilsons play, Fences, how does he use psychological and physical boundaries to exhibit the emotional separations among his characters? Baseball becomes the most prominent image in Wilsons play. troy Maxson, the protagonist of the play, spent many years learning and performing this game. Sheri Metzger, the author of An Essay on Fences, believes that Baseball defines troy weight Maxsons life and provides the measure of his success. (1) As we already know, in his prime, Troy was a great baseball player and he strongly believed that he was not given the opportunity to play in the major leagues because of the color of his skin. He unalterablely compared himself to the ball players that do it to the major leagues, such as Hank Aaron, saying I can hit forty-three home runs right now (1048) This not only represents the fence that restricts the achievements of blacks and their constant struggle in a white society, but also Troys psychological boundaries between himself and mainstream America.On a first analysis of the physical saltation that exists between gravel and son, Troy and Cory, we must look at their relationship. Their bond was typical of any teenage boy and his father they generally got along. The boundary comes up in the play when Cory asks Troy to sign the papers that would allow him to go to college on a football scholarship. But when Troy refuses, claiming that the colored guy got to be twice as good as the white player before he get on the team, (1047) the boundary becomes very real.He also notes that even if they do let black players on the team, They sit on the bench and dont get used. (1047) Troy is still so angry over what he deliberates as his birth lost opportunities with baseball and the in besidesice of it all that he cant take any pleasure in the fact that his stimulate son is getting a once in a lifetime opportunity to play football in college, for free He is still stuck in the past where he was refused a chance to play professional baseball. He is bitter because deep down he is afraid that his son will go on to be more successful than he ever was.The scene where Cory comes at his father with a baseball bat illustrates quite a different image of the traditionalistic father-and-son backyard baseball game we see in movies or books. This shows the huge gap in their relationship and Troys need for control. According to Gerald Weales, the author of fall over of Fences in the Commonweal, Troy not signing the papers for Cory was a destructive act that lead to this final confrontation between the two. (1) Troy feels the need to limit Cory within his authority, but Cory hates being stuck behind the fences his father has send up so he escapes, leaving his family behind.Yet, when Cory returns, we find that in his attempt to free himself he has become bound within the confines of a far more strict institution the Marine Corps. Metzger argues that Cory finally escaped his fathers authority, just to be placed under the authority of people far more strict and controlling. (3) Another physical boundary exists between husband and wife, Troy and Rose. At the beginning of the play, Troy is building a fence for Rose although he sees absolutely no use for it.Because shes so focused on holding all the people she loves safe and inside its walls, Rose is completely oblivious(predicate) that the fence is actually pushing her loved ones away. Since spending time in prison, Troy views fences as restrictions or limitations, so he is in no hurry to build Roses fence. But as the play goes on we see that after eighteen years of marriage, Troy feels confined by the responsibility and loyalty that come with it and needs to break out of those constraints. He wants so hard to be free from th e ties of marriage that he has an affair with another woman, Alberta.Although, in his mind he stone-broke free of those marital boundaries, realistically, he just put up yet another fence. Rose later finds out about this affair and then Troy tells her that Alberta died while giving birth to their daughter, Raynell. Troy, being the lumpish man he is, begs Rose to take care of his illegitimate daughter. And Rose, being the kind woman she is, agrees to raise the child because she knows that Raynell is an innocent child who was simply innate(p) into a bad situation. Rose tells Troy, Raynell will have a mother, but he will be a womanless man for the rest of his life. (1071) Later, after Albertas death, Troy finally completes the fence. But rather than finishing it for Rose, as originally intended, he does it for his own reasons of keeping out danger and death. Meanwhile, Rose is still detain with the responsibilities and pressures that life brings. But towards the end of the play we s ee that she escapes Troys fence, only to exchange it for one established by the church. According to Metzger, Religion provides its own fences and restraints, and for Rose, who decided to stay with Troy, the church offers a haven within its institutionalized walls. (1040) Rose willingly puts herself behind a fence that is a little more bearable, saying, Jesus builds a fence around me every day. (1040) There are also some psychological fences in this play that Troy has absolutely no control over. The mental hospital where Troy confines Gabriel offers one example of that kind of fence. Gabe, who suffered permanent brain damage as a result of injuries he received while serving in World War II, now thinks of himself as an angel. Although Troy views this fence as something thats irritating and in his way, Gabe, unaware of all of this, continues on in his childlike innocence.Troy has a guilty conscience because he institutionalized Gabe and then used his disability money to pay for the hold that he now lives in. This incident further breaks down the relationship between Troy and Cory because when he finds out what his father has done, Cory treats him with open disrespect and tells him that he no longer counts. Once again, we see that Gabe simply isnt aware of these things, therefore hes unaffected by these events that dramatically change the others lives. Gabes industry shows hope for the future. According to Joseph H.Wressling, the author of Wilsons Fences, Gabe, just like Rose, illustrates unconditional love. (3) Now that Cory and Troys relationship has no chance of any reconciliation, Cory leaves and Troy loses any hope of ever seeing his son again before he dies. Cory doesnt return again until the day of his fathers funeral when he finally meets his sister, Raynell. Cory, still remembering the broken relationship with his father, did not want to attend the funeral. But Rose convinced him to go and pay his respects to his father because he never meant any har m. Troy had always said that he had given his children everything he could.Cory didnt always agree with his father, but he overcame that and broke down a barrier and finally forgave his father. Before the funeral Troys simpleminded brother Gabe, with his trumpet, came to blow open the gates of Heaven for Troys arrival. His attempts at blowing his trumpet failed because there was no mouthpiece on it. But Gabe, in his childlike innocence improvises. He begins to dance about and sing to the Heavens for his brother. done for(p) with his dance and satisfied that the gates of Heaven are open and ready for Troy, Gabe says, Thats the way that go (1083).Wilson uses many of his characters and their relationships to show their physical and psychological separations between each other and the world. By the end of Fences, all of Wilsons characters are bound by a fence of some sort. Although Raynell stands behind the fence that her father finally finished, she is expected to go far beyond that boundary and strive for a better future than her father and everyone else. She shows that there is hope for the future. Works Cited 1. Metzger, Sheri. An hear on Fences. Drama for Students. Detroit Gale. From Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. 2. Schakel, Peter J. and Jack Ridl. August Wilsons Fences A Form in Depth. Approaching Literature Writing indicant Thinking. Boston Bedford/St. Martins, 2008. 1024-083. Print. 3. Weales, Gerald. Review of Fences in the Commonweal, Volume CXIV, no. 10, May 22, 1987, pp. 320-21. Drama for Students. Ed. David M. Galens. Vol. 3. Detroit Gale, 1998. From Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. 4. Wessling, Joseph H. Wilsons Fences. Explicator 57. 2 (Winter 1999) 123-127. Rpt. In Contemporary literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 222. Detroit Gale, 2006. From Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Nov. 2010.