Eng 124 Fences Analysis

Fences is a play that deals with boundaries that hold people back and the trials and tribulations of those who try or wish to cross them. The characters are African-Americans in a time before the civil rights movement, living in an industrial city. The main character, Troy Maxson, is a talented baseball player who never had the chance to let his talent shine, with restrictions on race and his time in jail as the main obstacles that held him back. He is now hard working and loves his family. However, he tends to exaggerate and has his faults, most prevalent a wandering eye when it comes to women. His wife, Rose, is younger than him and loyal, but she may not have known about all of his faults when she married him. At the beginning of the play, Troy has a son from a previous marriage, Lyons, and a son with Rose, Cory. Also appearing are Bono who is Troy’s drinking partner, and Gabriel his brother.

All of the characters are “ fenced in” by various barriers. Troy is working in a job where African Americans can get the lowest and most difficult tasks. On the home front, he has responsibilities to his family. Rose has chosen life with Troy as an alternative to “ a succession of abusive men and their babies, a life of partying or the church.” Troy’s son Lyons, is supposedly a musician but is going nowhere. Cory has potential but has his dream of playing college football extinguished by both protective and jealous Troy. The characters must deal with hardships of daily life, racial discrimination, straining relationships with each other, and the feeling that this is all their lives are: somewhat of a confined space with no escape; fenced in.

Troy’s brother Gabriel, although a minor, is important to the play for many reasons. The most important is that while Gabriel perhaps has highest and most impassable fence around him, he is the only one who ignores it; he is not bounded, at least not in his own mind. Gabriel is seven years younger than Troy. They were both in a large family with a frustrated and abusive father. Gabe is the only family Troy speaks with now. Injured in World War II, Gabriel had part of his head blown away. He now has a metal plate and is confused and somewhat delusional. Troy and Rose debate whether he should be put in a home; Rose for, Troy against. He truly believes to be the Archangel Gabriel. He seems to be happy, even if he is not fully functional mentally.

Gabriel’s compensation check from the government is used by Troy to fund the family house. However, Gabriel affects the others in the play for less obvious reasons as well. He talks about how he is on a speaking basis with St. Peter and sings about getting ready for the judgment day. Although at the time it seems like just confused ramblings, it holds deeper meanings of characters. They all have their demons. Perhaps the most prevalent is Troy’s affair with a woman named Alberta. The whole situation is more complicated than it appears because Troy really