Fences - a Play by August Wilson

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Fences

Fences is a play by August Wilson set in the 1950's, about a begrudged former baseball player and his family, the Maxsons. The play portrays the lives of Troy, Rose and their child Cory, who are the main characters, as they go about life fighting their own demons. Troy fights death, Rose fights the loss of those she loves, while Cory fights his father's harsh nature towards him and his mother. The "fence" is symbolic of these struggles within the characters, thus the title, Fences. In her struggle to keep her family together, Rose has to endure harsh treatments from her husband, and the mediocrity that has become their existence, and still be encouraging to both her husband and her son. All through the play, Rose is a practical woman who unlike her husband, chooses to be realistic about life in order to face it. She is resilient through all hardship and shortcomings of Troy, proving to be a strong woman especially when Troy confesses his unfaithfulness, by willingly raise a child begotten from this unfaithfulness, and eventually convincing her son to attend his father's burial despite their strained relationship when he was alive.

Rose proves her strength when Troy confesses his unfaithfulness with Alberta to her, and Rose though angry and hurt by his betrayal, chooses to keep her family together. Troy's unfaithfulness is evident from the beginning, when his friend Bono probes into his interaction with Alberta (Wilson 32). Though Troy denies it, he later discloses the truth to his friend, and later on, to his wife Rose. On hearing this, Rose comments with disappointment "You should have stayed in my bed, Troy." (Wilson, Act 2). She feels betrayed by her husband, but chooses to stay true to her vows and continues being a supportive wife to Troy as she had been before. However, being a practical woman, Rose stops fulfilling her wifely duties to him. This shows that Rose's decision to stay with her husband was not a foolish one blinded by love, but rather a well thought decision, putting her own interest into consideration as well. Staying with her family is the best decision for her son and her husband, and so she remains loyal to Troy. Her loyalty and love is also recognised by Bono when he tells Troy and Cory, "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 Act 2: Scene 1). Through out the play, Rose is represented as a strong character despite the numerous challenges she faces from her husband (Shannon 4). However, a sense of irony is identified from this phrase, because instead of Troy assisting in uniting the family, he disunites it through his disloyalty towards his wife, in his unfaithfulness and unkindness to her, yet he confesses of his wife's love (Shannon 34). Apart from his unfaithfulness, Troy already has a child out of wedlock, Lyon, who Rose cared for as one of her own, raising him with love and care just as she did with Cory (Act 1 Scene 4, 48). Through all these disappointments, Rose continues to be a caring wife to Troy, ever loyal.

The hardships of being Troy's wife continue as Alberta delivers a child they share with Troy, and being a caring and loving strong woman, Rose agrees to take care of the child after Alberta dies while giving birth. She does so out of her love for her husband, also because of her kind nature. For any woman, taking care of a child borne out of wedlock by one's husband is a hard task that requires a lot of self-sacrifice. However, she willingly offers to do so out of concern for the child she considers innocent of her father's sins. She says, "Okay, Troy you're right. I will take care of your baby for you because like you say, she is innocent and you cannot visit the sins of the father upon the child. A motherless child has a hard time. From right now, this child got a Mother But you are a womanless man" (Wilson Act 2 Scene 1, 52). This reinforces Rose's character as a practical woman who faces her problems, and looks for a solution that is considerate of all parties. This is her way of dealing with the problems that Troy continues to put her way. The writer portrays her as a woman who mends the messes created by her husband. Troy unlike Rose, lives in a world of illusion, and this causes him to fall