Full Answer
The title “Fences” represents the symbolic fences the main characters are building around themselves in order to keep people in or to prevent people from interfering. “Fence” may appear to be a simple title, but after reading the play it becomes obvious that it is a complex symbol which sums up the whole play.
The fence appears finished only in the final scene of the play, when Troy dies and the family reunites. The wholeness of the fence comes to mean the strength of the Maxson family and ironically the strength of the man who tore them apart, who also brings them together one more time, in death.
Troy's last name, Maxson, is an amalgamation of Mason and Dixon, after the Mason-Dixon line, the name for the imaginary line that separated the slave states from the free states. Troy's name symbolically demonstrates Troy's character as one who lives on a line between two opposing ideas.
When Troy kicks Cory out and tells him that his things will be on the outside of the fence: The fence can also be seen as symbolic of the things Troy wants to keep out, the things he separates himself from. The fence acts as a married between Troy and Death.
The fence now marks the boundaries of Troy's territory; he is still the king of the castle, and his son is no longer welcome within its walls. While the fence is now a literal barrier between the two, you can also see it as representing the emotional barrier that Troy places between them.
The prime teaching of the story is the importance of forgiveness. Forgiveness offers a chance to reconcile our differences. The lesson highlighted is that our actions have consequences and it is unhealthy to carry grudges when those consequences are adverse.
He works for the Sanitation Department as a trash collector. He is devoted to providing for his family and guaranteeing that his sons have better lives than he did. Having been a great player baseball play in the Negro leagues, Troy was too old to join the Major leagues when they were finally integrated.
Troy Buys Furniture from the Devil does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy." In the furniture story, by holding him in debt, Troy sees the white man as trying to steal his money and destroy his life, therefore killing him. Gabriel in Fences represents the archangel Gabriel, God's angelic messenger.
Bono sees the fence as a defining symbol of her qualities as a wife and mother; she fears that her family's relationships are falling apart, and she hopes the fence will keep her loved ones close to her. Bono observes that the fence is symbolic of both the negative and positive aspects of the Maxson family.
How is the fence, which is on stage the entire time, a symbol? The fence is a symbol of what Rose wanted to kept out and what she wanted to keep in. Characterize Troy. Include the family in the description and their relationships.
Gabe's story about seeing Troy's name and Rose's name in different places in St. Peter's book signifies that Troy is a sinner and Rose is going to heaven.
The title Fences refers to the structures, both literal and figurative, that the characters build to keep others in or out of their lives.
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In addition, Rose uses the fence, symbolically, to keep Troy in because she wants to keep him close and unknowingly to keep him away from his mistress, Alberta, whom she, (Rose), doesn’t find about until Act 2, Scene 1 of the play.
Within Act 2, Scene 1 of the play, when discussing the reason as to why Rose wanted the fence up, with Cory and Troy, Bono says “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.
Fences is a play that was written by August Wilson, it follows the life of Tony Maxson, a garbage man, who throughout the play is building a fence around his home. The title, Fences, has more significance than one may have thought at first glance.
In act 2, scene 1, fences are described as barriers that serve to either keep something out or keep something in. Tony believes in the former while Rose believes in the latter—thus, the construction of a fence for their home serves to emphasize the contrast between their...
The title of the play, Fences, symbolizes its central themes and the relationships of the characters to one another. Its literal presence in the play is Troy and Cory ’s long-standing construction of a fence for their home.