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Fences | Study Guide

August Wilson

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Course Hero. "Fences Study Guide." November 28, 2016. Accessed May 30, 2023. https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Fences/.

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Course Hero, "Fences Study Guide," November 28, 2016, accessed May 30, 2023, https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Fences/.

Fences | Infographic

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Check out this Infographic to learn more about August Wilson's Fences. Study visually with character maps, plot summaries, helpful context, and more.

fences-austin-wilson_TESTTroy, Act I, Scene Iife don’t owe you nothing.You owe it to yourself.Fair PlayEverything lines up against Troy’s family as fairness sidesteps them.ResponsibilityTo Troy, fulfilling basic duties of life comes first.SuppressionTroy sees his dreams blocked but fails to recognize how he impedes others’ goals. Beginning in Pittsburgh in 1957, Fences involves Troy—a dogged and volatile man—and Cory, his son. When Cory has the chance at a football scholarship, Troy’s preconceived ideas about life are challenged. Troy and those closest to him must all confront questions of love, freedom, and most of all, responsibility.Steal Second and Go Down SwingingTHEMESFencesby the NumbersPlays in Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle, in which each play is set in a different decadeAge Wilson quit school after a teacher accused him of plagiarismBest Play awards Wilson received from the New York Drama Critics’ CircleYear Wilson won a Pulitzer Prize for Fences198710157Wilson was born in Pittsburgh to a hardworking black mother and an absent white father. His Pittsburgh Cycle of plays chronicles the black experience in 20th-century America. Fences is an award-winning narrative of the 1950s, where Wilson examines a time before the civil rights and women’s movements were in full swing.AUGUST WILSON1945–2005AuthorSymbolsBaseballSymbolizes life and its mistakes, freedoms, and safety FencesRepresent a way for Rose tohold on to those she lovesMr. DeathEmbodies the forces attemptingto take us down, against whichwe must struggleMain CharactersTroy MaxsonProud, hardworking manCoryTroy and Rose’s talented, ambitious son GabrielTroy’s eager, music-loving brother; has a head injury RaynellTroy’s hopeful daughter from an affairLyons Troy’s son by a previous marriage; struggling musicianRoseActive churchgoer; compassionate, realistic parentJim BonoLongtime friend and admirer of Troy; committed husbandMarriageFamilyFriendshipAugust Wilson1985EnglishPlayAuthorFirst PerformedOriginal LanguageFencesDramaSources: August Wilson Theatre, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Merriam-Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature, The Seattle TimesCopyright © 2016 Course Hero, Inc.
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