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Fences
In August Wilson's play Fences, the names Rose, Lyons, and Gabriel are symbolic, or at least ironic. Rose, Troy's wife, is named for a flower that symbolizes love and loyalty. Indeed, Rose loves...
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Fences
August Wilson’s Fences features several examples of names and objects endowed with symbolic meaning and significance. Not surprisingly, there are repeated references to “fences,” both actual and...
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Fences
Troy's strict approach is due to the fact that he doesn't want his son to repeat his own mistakes and suffer his own disappointments. When Troy was young, it looked like he was to have a promising...
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Fences
In the second act of August Wilson's play Fences, Troy Maxson finally admits to his wife, Rose, that he has been having an affair with Alberta. For a long time before that, however, he has been...
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Fences
Troy faces a distinct challenge at work. When he simply asks why only Caucasians are allowed to drive the garbage trucks, he is made to live with the threat of being fired. Though Troy is given a...
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Fences
Fences by August Wilson is a story about how racial discrimination affects the people who experience it. The play's juxtaposition of past and present comes in the form of a conflict between father...
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Fences
August Wilson portrays education and learning as a vehicle for social advancement and change. The protagonist of the play, Troy Maxson, is a fifty-three-year-old garbage man who struggles to make...
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Fences
In a nutshell, the quote is simply an explanation that Troy was far from a perfect person, even though a son is supposed to expect at least an illusion of goodness from his father. This quote is...
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Fences
Troy grew up when it was very difficult for a black man to make a living, and he has had to fight for every opportunity he has gotten. He works on a sanitation truck—first, he lifts garbage bins,...
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Fences
August Wilson, like most playwrights, wrote Fences with a vision of how the characters who inhabit his play will look and act. In his prologue and initial character descriptions, Wilson provided...
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Fences
This question is a matter of opinion, but the funniest part in August Wilson’s Fences might be the opening scene between Troy and Bono. It is fairly usual for the funniest part of any tragic play...
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Fences
Troy Maxson's primary conflict is internal as he struggles to overcome his bitterness and accept the fact that his son, Cory, will surpass him in terms of success. As a young man, Troy was an...
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Fences
The setting in Fences is relevant in more than one way. First, the larger setting of Pittsburgh, PA. This is important from a background or "authorial intent" perspective, as August Wilson was from...
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Fences
In August Wilson's celebrated play Fences, Troy Maxson is depicted as a resentful, bitter man who lacks perspective and has a cynical outlook on life. In his youth, Troy was an excellent baseball...
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Fences
As with any play, there are a number of literary devices throughout the course of the narrative, both major and minor. The most prominent of these in this play, however, is the extended metaphor...
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Fences
Rose Maxson represents black women of her time in that while she has high hopes for her son’s future, she is aware of the difficulties that lie ahead for the whole family. These high hopes are...
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Fences
Let's focus our attention on Rose's character. Wilson presents Rose as a strong, wise, and loyal woman. First, she is strong. Nearly every time we see Rose, she is working at something, hanging...
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Fences
Gabriel is either one of the most confusing characters in August Wilson's Fences, or one of the most endearing—or perhaps a bit of both. Gabriel is endearing because of his innocence. After being...
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Fences
Throughout August Wilson's Fences, Troy struggles with this complex question: What does a man owe to his family, and how much can he permit himself to ignore duty in order to pursue more...
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Fences
The elements of fiction are plot, setting, character, conflict, symbolism, and point of view. These are the broad pieces with which a work of fiction is crafted. In the overwhelming majority of...
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Fences
Gabriel serves as a highly symbolic and surreal character in the events of Fences. After sustaining a severe head injury, he begins to believe that he is literally his namesake, referring to the...
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Fences
This is a question based entirely on opinion. The two, however, are historically intertwined. A person cannot have a sincere and effective devotion to their family without a genuine feeling of...
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Fences
When Gabriel is introduced, Wilson states that Gabriel was “injured in World War II,” and “he has a metal plate in his head.” He also "carries an old trumpet tied around his waist and believes with...
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Fences
Troy does not want Cory to play football because Troy fears that Cory will be disappointed, as racism will interfere with Cory's ability to play. Troy says to Rose, his wife, "The white man ain't...
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Fences
Two of Troy's tendencies play into his decision to cheat on Rose with Alberta. First, Troy has a strong tendency to excuse himself. We see this tendency in his fixation on how he was wronged in...
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Fences
August Wilson makes notable use of metaphor in Fences. The most notable metaphor comes from the play's title itself. The action of the play revolves around a fence that Troy and his son Corey are...
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Fences
Troy's behavior is a direct cause of suffering for his wife, Rose, and his son Cory. In a less direct way, Troy also causes suffering on the part of his son Lyons and Troy's brother, Gabriel. Troy...
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Fences
An antihero is a protagonist of a work who does not possess traditional heroic qualities. Troy Maxson, the self-aggrandizing protagonist of August Wilson's play Fences, can be viewed as an antihero...
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Fences
Troy had complained to the management at the garbage company about discrimination. Troy claims that the reason he cannot get a promotion to the position of driver is the result of systematic...
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Fences
The relationship between Troy and Cory Maxson is bitter and tense. Troy's hostile attitude stems from his past. He blames racism for keeping him from attaining his dream of playing major league...
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Fences
According to Aristotle, a tragic hero must be essentially good as a person. The hero must have dignity and personal quality in order to qualify as a tragic figure and then must suffer a downfall...
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Fences
The play opens with a preface that speaks to the special/specific cultural experiences of African Americans. Also in the opening scene, Troy and Bono discuss the issue of unfair promotion practices...
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Fences
Three kinds of music exist in the play: hymns, jazz, and a folk song. Rose and Gabriel rely on religious music for strength and inspiration. Rose does so more consciously because her life with Troy...
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Fences
Troy Maxson and his stepson Cory have a number of things in common. Neither have lived a wealthy or particularly comfortable life, and both are black, which created a great disadvantage for them in...
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Fences
The significance of a fence in this play is that it serves a dual purpose -it keeps people in and it also keeps them out, both literally and figuratively. The most obvious fence is the literal...
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Fences
To answer your first question, to begin an argumentative essay, make sure that you develop a thesis statement, or a statement that outlines the essay’s main points. To check if you have a solid,...
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Fences
It is this question that strikes at the heart of Wilson's protagonist. Troy is a product of his past. He wishes not to be, presenting himself as a picture of the present. Yet, in everything he...
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Fences
In Fences, the major conflict is not between white and black, husband and wife, or old and young. Although all of these conflicts exist, the main conflict is between Troy and his internal and...
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Fences
Both of these men feel trapped by society and the rules put upon them only because they are black men. The title of Troy's play, "Fences" gives this away...Troy is trapped and blocked on all sides...
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Fences
One of the most important themes in Fences is death, \which Troy fights for much of the play. Another theme is that of responsibility. Tory is a father and a provider, who takes care of people. Yet...
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Fences
The idea of the fence has a number of meanings in the play. Fences keep things in and keep things out, both literally and figuratively for the Maxson family. For Rose, the fence represents an...
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Fences
August Wilson, in his play Fences, explores the notion of the “American Dream” from the perspective of those who have been denied their rightful place in a democratic society. Early suggestions...
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Fences
Troy Maxson is only as good as his weaknesses allow him to be. He is, for the most part, an honest man who works hard to provide for his family. Duty and obligation characterize Troy's view of his...
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Fences
Jim Bono shares a history with Troy Maxson that goes back to their time in prison together. As the men age, they take the same job and both keep to steady relationships. Bono admits to looking up...
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Fences
The fence is given a specific significance in the dialogue of the play when it is referred to as something that keeps things out and also keeps things in. Regarding Troy and his family, the fence...
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Fences
I certainly think that a case could be made for Troy not being the recipient of the reader's sympathy. Troy is a character that inflicts a great deal of pain on the people around him. His wife,...
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Fences
According to the playwright August Wilson, Fences is set in 1957, and he identifies Troy's age as 53 in the stage directions for Act 1, scene 1. Therefore, this fictional protagonist would have...
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Fences
To start answering this question, think about the way fences function as symbols in this play. First, why do different members of Troy's family want to build a fence? As Bono says in Act II, "Some...
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Fences
I would say the physical set construction or backdrop of the "fence" where Troy sits is extremely important. The opening scene where he is talking with his friend in his backyard helps to show the...
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Fences
You don't say how many paragraphs your essay is, but I'm going to assume it's five paragraphs. After your introductory paragraph, your body paragraphs (2, 3, and 4) should explain the literal and...
