August Wilson is a playwright who told stories about the complexities of lives of members the black community and their untold experiences (Gantt, 2009). Ten of these plays make up a body of work which is known as ‘The Pittsburgh Cycle’. Each play in this category of work exists in its own decade within the 20 th century which represented experiments from the past that have to be identified (Gantt, 2009).
Gem of the Ocean, was set in 1904, is about a young African-American who is in search of purpose when a young woman decides to assist him in his life's journey (Shannon, 2015). The second play, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, is a 1911 which is based on a white man who insisted on forcing black people to work in his plantation. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is about four black singers of the blues and how the tension between them results in a tone that ideally represents the black experience in the 1920s. In the Piano lesson, a story which is set in 1936, Wilson the significance of objects and their connection to the past. In Seven Guitars, the play portrays the life experiences of a guitarist and is set in 1948. Two trains running, which is multiple award-winning dramas is set in 1969 and tells the African American experience at the height of the civil rights movement (Shannon, 2015). For the 1970s, Wilson wrote Jitney, which is a character-driven play which tells the story of hustling co-workers. King Hedley II is a play that has its focus on the downfall of a prideful ex-con and is set in the 1980s. Radio Golf is set in the 1990s and tells the story of a successful politician who makes the consideration of tearing down some real estate. The last play is Fences, which makes an exploration of the life and relationships of Troy and their struggle for justice and fair treatment in the 1950s.
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Fence, which is one of the plays in the cycle, is a clear demonstration of this. In the play, August Wilson uses Troy to show a man that has hurt the individuals that close to him without realizing it (Shannon, 2015). Fences shows the choices that individuals make in their lives by how fairly they treat those around them. He acts insensitive and uncaring towards his wife while feeling that he has done right by them. One of the obvious facts is based on the amount of time that Troy and Cory invest a considerable amount of time constructing a fence. As the play proceeds, the audience is able to observe as the fence comes to completion, which establishes an understanding that the fence is a complicated play.
In the play, the audience observes the transformation of Troy from being the focus on his friends and family to being alone. A major factor for which the fence takes up a considerable portion of the play is because Troy clearly neglects constructing it. Cory makes the argument that all that Troy does is go to the Taylor household. The audience is aware that each time that Troy goes to the Taylor household, his aim is visiting his mistress. Hence, his avoidance of his family is a symbol of the way he neglects his family. The fence symbolizes the things that Troy tries to distance himself from, such as the discrimination that he experiences from society. Troy even tries to fight against life and death in an attempt to hold on to the life that is around him. After learning of the death of Alberta in childbirth, he cries:
“ All right… Mr. Death. See now… I’m gonna tell you what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna take and build me a fence around this yard. See? I’m gonna build me a fence around what belongs to me. And then I want you to stay on the other side.” (2.2.55) (Wilson, 2016).
Troy eventually makes the realization that he cannot win in a fight against death. At this point, the fence now symbolizes the need that Troy has to fight for what he still has. Troy makes a declaration that he will show resistance to death up until his final breath. In several ways, Troy is unable to establish control over the challenges that he faces. Troy’s problems are based on the doubts that he had of himself and the hardships that he went through while providing for his family. Troy grew up in a background characterized by poverty and abuse. Troy learned to play baseball and discovers his ability to play in Negro-leagues. However, the league closed its doors to African Americans, which affected his perception of himself. Troy then becomes a worker in the sanitation department, where he is not promoted due to the discrimination in the union's hiring procedures (Wilson, 2016).
August Wilson was a playwright who wrote ten plays called the Pittsburgh Cycle. Every play in this cycle is set in its decade within the 19 th century and expresses the experiences of the African American individuals in their own time. Fences is one of the plays set in the 1950s and is an expression of the discrimination that African Americans had to endure. Based on this discrimination, the author uses the main character- Troy- to show the way in which this discrimination can affect an individual's choices and how they treat others.
References
Gantt, P. M. (2009). Putting black culture on stage: August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle. College Literature , 1-25.
Shannon, S. G. (Ed.). (2015). August Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle: Critical Perspectives on the Plays . McFarland.
Wilson, A. (2016). Fences: a play (Vol. 6). Penguin.
