Editor's Choice
Which character in Fences undergoes the most dramatic change over the course of the play?
Quick answer:
Rose undergoes the most dramatic change in Fences. Initially devoted to her husband, she is devastated by Troy's infidelity and the birth of his child with another woman. Despite her pain, Rose agrees to raise the child, asserting her independence by declaring Troy "a womanless man." Over time, she transitions into a single mother, significantly altering her life due to Troy's actions.
Rose is the character that goes goes through the most dramatic change in August Wilson's play entitled Fences. The first change is when Rose is told by Troy, her husband of eighteen years, that he will be a father to someone else's child. Rose is appalled after being so devoted to Troy for eighteen years and cannot believe Troy has taken to another woman's bed. Rose did not think this would happen after being married so long.
The next significant change is when Troy's baby daughter is born and Troy learns that the mother, Alberta , has died in childbirth. Troy asks Rose to be a mother to his child. Rose decides that she will be a mother to the baby girl, because it is not the child's fault that his happened. However, Rose is quite clear when she tells Troy, "From right now . . ....
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this child got a mother. But you a womanless man."
Another dramatic change is when Cory leaves home because Cory and Troy have a fight. Troy is angry at Cory because Cory does not show respect when he tells Troy, "I have to get by." Troy expects Cory to say "excuse me." Cory replies, "I ain't got to say excuse me to you. You don't count around here no more." There are more words spoken between Cory and Troy. The argument escalates into a physical fight, with Troy standing over Cory and telling him, "Go on and get away from my house." Cory replies, "Tell Mama I 'll be back to get my things."
Lastly, seven years after Raynell's birth, Troy dies, and now Rose is a single mother raising another woman's child. Rose's whole world is dramatically changed by Troy's actions.
I think that Cory undergoes the greatest amount of change over the course of the play and the redemption intrinsic to this represents the greatest significance of it. Cory is able to follow his own dreams, even if they are not exactly what he originally envisions. In joining the armed services, Cory demonstrates that he is able to break free of the cycle of pain and suffering that his father embodies. At the same time, he is presented at the end of the drama as a man, himself, from the boy seen earlier in the drama. In attending his father's funeral, Cory also represents the emotional change that Troy was never able to accomplish. It is significant that he changes in this way primarily because Troy and his father were never able to move in such a direction. The change is best seen when Cory sings his father's favorite song at the funeral, as a testament to him. This brings out how Cory has changed significantly since the start of the play. With such a change, Wilson's hope of redemption is evident, as the younger generation is seen as one capable of change, possessing the capacity to embrace hope in a world of despair.