fences test

What year does the play mostly take place in?

1950´s

You should be able to provide examples for how Troy personifies death from the text.

An example is: When Troy was talking to Rose and tell her that death aint nothing but a fastball on the outside corner.

Describe the symbolic meaning of fences in the story. Provide two interpretations of why fences are important to the story and how the characters use fences to protect themselves and each other.

August Wilson did not name his play, Fences, simply because the dramatic action depends strongly on the building of a fence in the Maxson's backyard. Rather, the characters lives change around the fence-building project which serves as both a literal and a figurative device, representing the relationships that bond and break in the arena of the backyard. The fact that Rose wants the fence built adds meaning to her character because she sees the fence as something positive and necessary. Bono observes that Rose wants the fence built to hold in her loved ones. To Rose, a fence is a symbol of her love and her desire for a fence indicates that Rose represents love and nurturing. Troy and Cory on the other hand think the fence is a drag and reluctantly work on finishing Rose's project.

Alberta

Black female from Florida, she is Troy's mistress and with whom she fathers a child. She dies giving birth to Raynell and Rose assumes the responsibility of raising her.

Rose

Black female who is a housewife. She is ten years younger than Troy and the mother to his youngest son Cory. At the beginning of the play she is loving towards Troy; however, after his infidelity is revealed she becomes cold and hostile.

Troy

Black male who works as a garbage collector. He used to be a professional baseball player in the Negro Leagues; however, he was never able to prosper as a professional athlete. He believes that he was discriminated because of the color of his skin. His wife Rose thinks that he didn't become a professional athlete because he was too old.

Bono

Black male, Bono is Troy's best friend and coworker. He is a follower and much less assertive than Troy. Even though he follows Troy's lead he does give Troy advice when it comes to Troy's affair with Alberta and the effects it will have on his marriage.

Lyons

Black male, he is Troy's oldest son from a previous relationship. Lyons is a musician; but, he cannot financially support himself. He goes to his father on Fridays to ask for money. However, Lyons does pay his father back. Troy is unsupportive of Lyons occupation.

Gabriel

Black male, he is Troy's younger brother. Gabriel is a really nice man who suffered a tragic injury while fighting in WWII. He has a metal plate in his head and receives financial compensation from the government for his services. Troy uses Gabriel's money to pay for his house because Gabe is unable to manage money on his own. Before the play begins Gabriel has moves out of Troy's house and is living in a rented room. Halfway through the play Gabriel is arrested for disrupting the peace and is later institutionalized.

Cory

Black young male who is Troy and Rose's youngest son. He is a high school senior throughout the majority of the play. Cory has goals of being a professional football player; however, his father does not believe that Cory will ever be able to attain fame as an athlete because of Cory's race. Cory starts off as a very timid young man who is intimidated by his father. By the end of the play we see him mature into a confident man who steps to his father.

What was it like for African Americans during the late 1950s?

By the 1950s, African Americans began to mobilize in earnest against discrimination. Black people used to get discriminated a lot by white race and they didn't have the rights that white people had.

Troy - Cory:

Cory dreams of playing college football but Troy has him taken off the high school team and refuses to talk to a college recruiter. Troy constantly needs to assert his authority over Cory. Cory believes that the reason why Troy would not let him play football is because Troy is afraid that Cory will be a better athlete than Troy. Troy and Cory get into a very heated altercation in Act Two in which they threaten each other with a baseball bat.

Is Rose a strong or weak character? You must choose a side! Explain your answer by using support from the text and referencing at least two specific moments from the play that prove your point.

I think that Rose is a weak character. I think that she's a weak character because she always do what Troy says, and if she was a strong character she wouldn't let Troy to stop Cory from playing football. ¨I thought we had an understanding about this football stuff. Your suppose to keep up with your chores and hold that job at the A&P.....¨ Rose don´t do nothing, she don´t tell nothing to Troy. Is like she scared of Troy.

How does The Devil function as a character in the play? Why do you think August Wilson included Troy's stories about him? Explain your answer by using support from the text and referencing at least two specific moments from the play that prove your point.

I think that the author included the devil in the story because Troy is a negative person. One moment from the play was when Troy tells Lyons that ¨I´ll die and go to hell and play blackjack with the devil before I give you the ten dollars.(ACT 1,SCENE 1 page 14). Another moment from the play is when Troy tell the story to Bono when he first met the devil. ¨It was a while ago, when I needed some furniture, he went to the furniture store and tried to get some credit, but they wouldn't help him. The next thing that happened was a white man showed up at the door out of nowhere.¨The man told Troy he'd give him three rooms worth of furniture as long as he paid ten dollars a month.If Troy didn't pay, then the man would come back and take the furniture.Troy says that this man must've been the devil.

Be able to identify the theme(s)

One of the theme is race. Most of Fences is set in the 1950s. There had been some progress made on race relations by this time, such as the integration of pro sports teams. Another theme is men and masculinity. Fences is often thought of as a father-son play. The main conflict centers around the tension between Troy Maxson and his son Cory. The play shows how Troy in many ways repeats the mistakes of his own father while raising Cory. By the end, we're left with the hope that Cory will be able to break the cycle.

Identify a theme present in Fences and explain how that theme is conveyed in the text with at least one specific example from the play.. What is another story that has a similar theme and how is the theme conveyed in that story? How can this theme be applied in real life?

One of the themes of Fences is the way in which racism interferes with the characters' dreams. At the beginning of the play, Troy wants to be the first African-American person to drive a garbage truck rather than just lift cans, and his son, Cory, wants to go to college on a football scholarship. Troy has seen his own dream of becoming a professional baseball player shattered because of racism, and he thinks the same thing will happen to his son. He says, "the white man ain't gonna to let him get nowhere with that football." When Cory tells Troy that he is being recruited to play college football, Troy insists that Cory instead learn a trade so that he can have a job to rely on. Troy doesn't want his son to be hurt and barred from sports the same way he was, and he says, "I don't want him to be like me!"

What is personification?

The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.

Compare and contrast the relationship between Troy and his father with the relationship between Troy and Cory. How are they similar? How are they different? Use support from the text to support your answer.

The relationship between Troy and his father is not good. Troy´s father wanted troy's girlfriend. Troy´s father beat Troy just to have the girl for himself. Troy left the house when he was 14 years old. The relationship between Troy and Cory is not good either. Troy treats Cory bad and don't want Cory to follow his dreams.

What are the symbols present in Fences? What do they symbolize

The symbols in the play fences represented protection. Throughout the play, Rose want Troy to do a fence and that way the can keep people out and for Rose the fence mean that they love each other.

Raynell

Troy and Alberta's daughter.

Troy-Rose:

Troy is an unfaithful husband who fathers a baby with another woman. In addition, he asks Rose to help him raise his daughter. He shows little to know remorse for emotionally hurting Rose and continues to defend his reason for cheating on her.

How is Troy's access to opportunities limited by his race?

Troy thinks that he couldn't play baseball because he was black and because of his skin color he couldn't become famous. Troy thinks that black people still have no rights but things were changing, black people were more involved in stuff. But Troy had an old mind where he always thought that black people were still getting discriminated by the white race.

Troy - his job:

he complains that only White men get to drive the truck while the Black men do all the heavy lifting. He complains to the Union and wins.