Fences Exam Study Guide

How much money does Troy pay the furniture salesman every month?

$10

What are some reasons that prohibit the Maxson family from achieving the American Dream?

-Troy's inability to allow Cory to make it as a professional football player -Civil Rights conflict -Wage and Occupation Inequality between whites and blacks

When was Brown v. the Board of Education Supreme Court Case? What was its significance?

A landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.

What do the devil and death symbolize?

Anyone or anything that stands in the way of Troy

When was Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated?

April 4th, 1968

How many plays are in Wilson's cycle?

August Wilson's crowning achievement is The Pittsburgh Cycle, his series of 10 plays that charts the African American experience throughout the twentieth century.

Lucille

Bono's wife and friend of rose.

Where and when did August Wilson grow up?

Born in Pittsburgh in 1954. Grew up in the impoverished Bedford Avenue of the city.

Why does Cory decide to attend Troy's funeral?

Cory refuses to attend the funeral because he wants to rebel against Troy. Rose teaches Cory that not attending Troy's funeral does not make Cory a man. Cory attempts to explain why he has mixed feelings for Troy. Cory says to Rose, "Papa was like a shadow that followed you everywhere." Cory and Raynell compare their memories of Troy as a father. Raynell and Cory sing Troy's blues song about the old dog named Blue which Troy's father taught him originally.

What does the song of "Old Blue" symbolize?

Despite his bitterness and unfaithfulness, the song symbolizes Troy's ability to bequeath something of his own life and himself to his children. This scene is also an example of the role of the blues in the play. The blues is a uniquely African American musical form. It is music of sin and redemption; the blues chronicles the emotions of a neglected race in America.

Where does Cory go when he goes out in the second scene of Act One?

Football Practice

What does the fence symbolize? How does its meaning differ for each character?

For Rose, the fence represents an opportunity to define and defend her family. Rose thinks the partially built fence around the house will keep her loved ones safe inside. For Troy, the fence has a more symbolic set of meanings. Unable to open up to those that he loves, Troy keeps much of his emotion inside, building imaginary fences between himself and his family and friends. Additionally, the fence symbolizes a separation between blacks and racial oppression from whites.

Wilson's project of rewriting history suggests what about history?

He hopes to get people much more interested in art as well as come to the realization that there is still inequality in regards to the creation of art theaters for blacks vs. whites. He hopes to prevent the recreation of history by providing more equal opportunity for artists of all races.

What's the significance when Troy stands in the yard holding Raynell?

He is holding what symbolizes the coming of the next generation.

What's Wilson's objective regarding Troy's character?

He rebels against racist practices of his employers by protesting the limitation of black workers as lifters not drivers on the trash trucks. Troy refuses to see life in any way presented to him but the way he perceives events in his own head. Troy Maxson is a classically drawn tragic-hero. He begins the play loved, admired and getting away with his secret affair. But eventually, Troy's death leaves many negative attributes as an inheritance for his family to sort out and accept.

How does Cory undergo a passage into manhood?

He steps up to Troy and becomes his own person by joining the military.

In her song, who does Rose ask "to protect me as I travel on my way?"

Jesus

Know the significant Civil Rights issues of the 1950's

Jim Crow laws struck down, and "separate but equal" doctrine was also struck down that formed the basis for state-wide discrimination.

In what year did Jackie Robinson break the color barrier?

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson becomes the first African-American in the major leagues when he plays his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Troy almost died from what disease?

Pneumonia

Where is Alberta from?

Tallahassee, Florida

What was the name and purpose of the movement of African-Americans from the South to the North

The Great Migration. The movement of 6 million African-Americans out of the rural Southern United States to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West that occurred between 1910 and 1970.

Troy

The protagonist of Fences, a fifty-three year-old, African American man who works for the sanitation department, lifting garbage into trucks. Troy is also a former baseball star in the Negro Leagues. Troy's athletic ability diminished before the Major Leagues accepted blacks. Hard-working, strong and prone to telling compelling, fanciful stories and twisting the truth, Troy is the family breadwinner and plays the dominant role in his over thirty-year friendship with fellow sanitation worker, Jim Bono. Troy's character is the centerpiece that all of the other relationships in Fences gather around. Troy is husband to Rose, father to Lyons, Cory, and Raynell, and brother to Gabriel.

Cory

The teenage son of Troy and Rose Maxson. A senior in high school, Cory gets good grades and college recruiters are coming to see him play football. Cory is a respectful son, compassionate nephew to his disabled Uncle Gabriel, and generally, a giving and enthusiastic person. An ambitious young man who has the talent and determination to realize his dreams, Cory comes of age during the course of the play when he challenges and confronts Troy and leaves home.

What is the setting for Fences?

Time: 1957, later, 1965 Date: The dirt-yard and porch of the Maxson family's house in Pittsburgh, PA

What does Troy expect from his family?

Troy demands that his loved ones live practical, responsible lives while he has the freedom to have an affair

How does Troy rationalize his relationship with Alberta?

Troy expresses to Rose that he spent time with Alberta to escape. Rose believes she has been a good wife and mother and so Troy should have stayed with her. Troy selfishly conveys to Rose that he used Alberta to get away from the pain of his stagnant career and life goals.

Bono

Troy's best friend of over thirty years. Jim Bono is usually called "Bono" or "Mr. Bono" by the characters in Fences. Bono and Troy met in jail, where Troy learned to play baseball. Troy is a role model to Bono. Bono is the only character in Fences who remembers, first-hand, Troy's glory days of hitting homeruns in the Negro Leagues. Less controversial than Troy, Bono admires Troy's leadership and responsibility at work.

Gabriel

Troy's brother. Gabriel was a soldier in the Second World War, during which he received a head injury that required a metal plate to be surgically implanted into his head. Because of the physical damage and his service, Gabriel receives checks from the government that Troy used in part to buy the Maxson's home where the play takes place.

Alberta

Troy's buxom lover from Tallahassee and Raynell's mother. Alberta dies while giving birth. She symbolizes the exotic dream of Troy's to escape his real life problems and live in an illusion with no time.

Raynell

Troy's illegitimate child, mothered by Alberta, his lover. August Wilson introduces Raynell to the play as an infant. Her innocent need for care and support convinces Rose to take Troy back into the house. Later, Raynell plants seeds in the once barren dirt yard. Raynell is the only Maxson child that will live with few scars from Troy and is emblematic of new hope for the future and the positive values parents and older generations pass on to their young.

Lyons

Troy's son, fathered before Troy's time in jail with a woman Troy met before Troy became a baseball player and before he met Rose. Lyons is an ambitious and talented jazz musician. He grew up without Troy for much of his childhood because Troy was in prison. Lyons, like most musicians, has a hard time making a living.

What's the significance of baseball as a metaphor throughout the play?

Troy's use of baseball as a comparison to real life shows that he lives in his own reality where the consequences of his actions are virtually non-existent, as he compares his actions to those taken in a game.

Rose

Troy's wife and mother of his second child, Cory. Rose is a forty-three year-old African American housewife who volunteers at her church regularly and loves her family. Rose's request that Troy and Cory build a fence in their small, dirt backyard comes to represent her desire to keep her loved-ones close to her love. Unlike Troy, Rose is a realist, not a romantic longing for the by- gone days of yore. She has high hopes for her son, Cory and sides with him in his wish to play football. Rose's acceptance of Troy's illegitimate daughter, Raynell, as her own child, exemplifies her compassion.

When was Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court Case? What was its significance?

U.S. Supreme Court case from 1896 that upheld the rights of states to pass laws allowing or even requiring racial segregation in public and private institutions such as schools, public transportation, restrooms, and restaurants.

In which war did Gabriel fight in?

WWII

How does Wilson represent black masculinity?

Wilson's different male characters are meant to portray masculinity.

What remedy does Rose prescribe for Troy's grumblings in the second scene of Act One.

coffee