On Fences by August Wilson - Research Paper Example

Research paper on 'Fences' by August Wilson 'Fences' by August Wilson is a prominent example of African-American drama. It brought Pulitzer price to the author in 1987. In his play, Wilson creates the character of Troy Marxon, a person with weird ideas and individual qualities, whose life can be defined as a disappointment. As Robert Brustein writes, "August Wilson larger purpose depends on his conviction that Troy's potential was stunted by centuries of racist oppression. "Fences" takes place during a period of time when the fights against segregation are barely blossoming results" (Brustein, 1986, p.205). This situation is obviously described in 'Fences' by Troy's frustration and dissatisfaction with his existence. To reach clarity of description. Wilson builds his play in a way that allows problems emerge gradually and logically, so that the reader perceives the problems as close-knit with the thoughts and emotions of the characters. The present paper discusses plot structure of the drama, outlining key elements allowing the reader to dove into the world of small fractions separated by fences. The play is divided into two acts. Act one consists of four scenes, and Act two contains five. The play begins on Friday, which is a payday for Troy and Bono, Troy's bosom pal. Troy works as a garbage collector, but he is not allowed to drive a garbage lorry, because he is an African-American (Wilson, 2000). The first scene is probably the longest scene in the play, since the author uses this scene to foreshadow the vital elements of the plot and to outline those elements which will be repeated or contrasted later in the drama, allowing Wilson to create a sense that time and the characters have altered. The same scene introduces the mane racial issue, racial intolerance and discrimination and related inferiority complex. Brownie's discomfiture over having a watermelon points to racist prejudicial perception of African Americans, who, in turn, begin to see themselves as a 'second-rate social group'. With regard to the whole structure of the play, the first scene sets up basic patterns. Troy and Bono's friendship is close, since they borrow words from each other's language in their conversation. "This is a technique playwrights have used for centuries to create the feeling that the characters are harmonious" (Bertin, 1986, p.176). The two men frequently use the word 'nigger' as an appealing term in order to "reverse an originally derogatory word used by a majority to denigrate a group into a word that the oppressed group uses for themselves with a positive connotation, lessening the power of its insult" (ibid, p.177). Furthermore, the conversation sets up plot elements - for instance, Bono asks Troy about his relationship with a woman named Alberta, and Troy, in turn, inevitably confesses to this relationship. The scene also portrays Troy's bad temper and his personal problems, associated with his hard life and the job he has to perform, because there are no other professions available for a 'nigger' (Sanders, 1997). The second scene introduces Troy's family: his wife, Rose, and sons -Cory and Lyons. Cory is a good football player, so he begs his father to let him play in the League, in which he has been recently recruited, but Troy, recollecting his own failure to become a sportsman due to the racial issues, requires of Cory to leave the League. Furthermore, the scene introduces one more character - Troy's brother Gabriel, who is brain damaged from a war injury and perceives himself as angel Gabriel. The scene allows the reader a short glimpse into Troy's inner world: his sharp criticism of hopes, dreams and interests. Troy criticizes Rose for her interest in playing numbers (Wilson, 2000), a game that resembles a lottery for its expensiveness, even though he is completely aware of the fact that his affair with Alberta takes much more finances (Sanders, 1997). Thus, he displays his egoistic treatment of his family: Troy is insensitive to the needs of his children and wife, and the first impression about his behavior as a 'household leader' is rather negative than positive, which was probably intended by the author. Rose has invested her life in Troy who had lost a considerable amount of energy and potential comparing the time they first met. On the other hand, Rose's liveliness and her interest in lottery connote that she hasn't already lost her hope for well-being in future, while Troy in fact prefers to view himself as miserable and critical. Gabriel plays an important role in 'Fences' - he embodies absurdity in of African Americans' lives. "A common theme in African American literature has been the concept that to be African American in the United States is to live in a state of absurdity because the government that supposedly represents you (a citizen) has a history of denying you the rights it promises to insure. Gabriel exemplifies this duality" (Shannon, 1999, p.206). He participated the war and returned from it disabled, whereas his brother was refused to take part in football games of the Major League, due to his skin color. Whereas the first scene is a prologue and introduction into the life of African Americans, the second scene specifies some aspects their being - such as discrimination, lower wages and ridiculousness of governmental policies. Act One Scene Three illustrates the relationship between Troy and Cory. Even though, the scene starts with friendly conversation between the father and the son, but their diametrical opposition is apparent: the generation gap. This scene introduces some new problems: Troy, remembering his own youth, when he was treated inappropriately. Tray and Cory's relationship surrenders to its first major attack, which is not necessarily a physical affront, but incompatible difference which was intended to demonstrate when they are working on Rose's fence. Troy doesn't recognize Cory's actions as responsible, even though he is going to graduate from school with good marks and has prospects concerning the football League. Their action itself is symbolic: they are building fence, and the higher it becomes the colder they speak to each other. This scene is important, because building fences - both material (and visible) and inner (or invisible, but perceptible) signifies broadening of generation gap between the father and the son (Sanders, 1997). Their conversation plays an important role in the play, because it clarifies Troy's attitude towards family relationships: when Cory asks his father why he doesn't love him (Wilson, 2000), Cory, troy responds with typically biblical phrase that parents are not necessarily obliged to love their children, and that their only duty is to bring up their children properly. This talk between the representatives of two different generations solidifies their positions, even though the two men subconsciously share the common passion - the interest in sport. The scene thus logically leads the reader (or spectator) to the explosion of the conflict that will take place in the next scenes. Scene Three illustrates only one side of the Troy's trouble and danger - he starts with pushing away his younger son, but the conflict is ongoing. The fourth scene takes places on another Friday (Wilson, 2000). "Wilson's choice to set the action on another Friday reestablishes the pattern of Troy and Bono's habitual behavior and offers a useful backdrop to compare how far the plot has progressed since the play started. The return of the setting to Troy and Bono's payday creates the feeling that their life has a continuous pattern, a homecoming, and a cycle" (Shannon, 1999, p.210). Bono and Troy are feeling excited especially if to compare to the first scene that took place in the same settings. The situation has changed, and Troy has got promotion: he is now allowed to drive the lorry (Wilson, 2000). The repetition of the settings highlights the exceptionality of the surprising news concerning Troy's promotion and his success in anti-racist practice. Troy's and Bono's delight temporary postpones the plot elements of the previous scenes that obviously pointed to the presence and relevance of Troy's troubles. The remembrances of Bono and Troy about their childhood experiences and about their parents (Wilson, 2000) also contribute to this suspension of tragic future. The two men recollect the stories about slavery, told by their parents and discuss the situation ,when relatives are separated from each other so that people don't have a nuclear family and do not learn the necessary behavioral patterns for an adult life. Both Bono and Troy's fathers escaped from parenthood with respect to aforementioned, so this scene also explains Troy's perception of fatherhood as a duty, illustrated in the previous scene. "But because Wilson has already exposed elements that are bound to produce conflict such as Troy's affair with Alberta, Cory's wish to go to college and play football, and Gabe's warnings, we know the good times will not last for long' (Brustein, 1986, p.238). The first scene of the second act starts with Bono's explanation of the play's title, addressed to Troy: "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." (Wilson, 2000, p.79) and thus makes Troy confess to Rose to his love affair with Alberta and to his lover's pregnancy. When Rose yells at him, Troy grabs her arm and hurts it, and Cory afterwards knocks his father on the ground. The rebellion of his both Rose and Cory indicate the rapid development of the conflict. Wilson dramatically creates a double-edge situation that makes Troy torn in two and thus forces viewers (or readers) to sympathize him, even though Troy sees his love story as a kind of sport, that has an impact only on himself and doesn't touch his family. The second scene continues the conflict, yet the time gap between the two scenes is about six months. Troy becomes a stranger in his home, and this period is mentioned by Wilson in order to show his gradual estrangement, although the viewer cannot observe this process, but only its results. His household once rebelled against him, so his whims, fanciful stories and ideas don't exist any longer. "Even though we have yet to see if Troy and Bono will come to the Maxson house to drink and talk like they always do on Fridays, it is clear from Rose's unemotional, hands-off behavior that Troy has lost so much respect and love in his family that it is unlikely that Bono and his relationship with Troy will survive" (Timpane, 1994, p.301). The climax of the play takes place when Troy receives a phone call that informs about Alberta's death and the birth of his daughter. Although Troy lives in his escapist mode, the necessity makes him re-consider his egoistic nature and begin to make self-sufficient and mature decisions. In the next scene Troy comes home with his child, Raynell, sits down on the porch and sings a blues song. The main symbol of this scene is the melody that re-informs the viewer about the sadness of African-American experience. The song also serves as request addressed to Rose, to forgive him and his sins. Rosy concludes that children shouldn't suffer from their parents' sins and takes the new-born girl as a family member, continuing to ignore Troy. This scene is rather lyrical than informative because it serves as an emotional between the last and the next ones. The fourth scene illustrates the conflict hasn't been resolved but even 'sharpened', because Troy has a quarrel with Bono and thus pushes his bosom pal away from himself. Bono, who has always adored Troy, supported his ideas and followed to Troy's lied in their relationship. Troy's promotion makes his distance from his friend, so that he has to struggle alone against his problems and sorrows. In addition, "the falling action of Fences reaches a pitch when Troy challenges his son Cory by demanding fatherly respect from a son who no longer respects his father" (Timpane, 1994, p.310). Cory thus becomes uncontrollable and leaves the father's home. The final scene of the play takes place with the presence of death as a character, because Troy died between the two scenes, and the fifth one describes his funeral. The time gap between this scene and the previous one is about seven years, so the author implies that some changes might have occurred in the characters' lives. On the other hand, the evidence suggests that Troy' nature hadn't improve and he had remained the same up to his death: Cory remembers merely his worst habits, Lyons and Raynell didn't perceive him as a father, because Rose, becoming more independent, has brought them according to her own principles. Nevertheless, the play ends with total absolution: children forgive their parent, and Gabriel finally sings a song which points to the fact that Troy, in spite of his sins, has been forgiven by Heaven (Bertin, 1986). As one might assume, the play provides the viewer with the fragments of Troy's life, yet they allow creating the picture of gradually developing conflict, resolved suddenly by the protagonist's death. Works cited 1. Bertin, M. 'Fences' by August Wilson. In 'Contemporary American dramatists'. London: Penguin books, 1986 2. Brustein, S. August Wilson's Fences. In 'Contemporary American dramatists'. London: Penguin Books, 1986 3. Sanders, L. May All Your Fences Have Gates: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson. African American Review, Spring, 1997 4. Shannon, S. August Wilson: A Research and Production Sourcebook. African American Review, Winter, 1999 5. Timpane, J. Filling the time: reading history in the drama of August Wilson. In Nadel, A. (ed.). May All Your Fences Have Gates: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson. Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, 1994 6. Wilson, A., 2000. Fences. London: Penguin Books Read More