Eng-200 Peresie Theme Essay 18 February 2013 Family Problems It’s the late 1950s in the United States and the population is separated between black and white. Segregation made it near impossible for the African American community to make advances in the labor force, which affected other aspects of life. Often times, because men could not get sufficient job it was very difficult to provide for their family. When funds for living are low conflicts often arose between family members or even within a person. Because of the time period many African Americans experienced conflicts with the white populations they lived with. In August Wilson’s play, Fences, these conflicts can be seen through the main protagonist, Troy. A brother, husband, and father in the play, Troy’s character goes through a handful of conflicts. One of the first conflicts we see Troy struggling against when the play opens up is the situation at work. Because of how the white community saw the blacks, most of the men, like Troy, loaded the trash into the trucks while the white’s drove the trucks. The segregation of the time forced the African Americans to work the harder jobs, “ ‘Why you got the white mens driving and the colored lifting?’ Told him, ‘what’s the matter, don’t I count? You think only white fellows got sense enough to drive a truck” (Wilson 1107). Troy did not see why the white men were the only ones who were allowed to have the less labor-intensive jobs. So Troy took this up with his boss. Troy did1
2[Type text][Type text][Type text] what he could in order to try to combat the conflicts segregation brought upon him, and eventually he won the fight when Mr. Rand allowed him to drive one of the trucks.
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