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August Wilson’s play Fences, the sixth of his ten-part “Pittsburgh cycle,” examines the aftermaths of slavery and discrimination of Black people in America, the cycle of damaged Black manhood, and the choice between pragmatism and illusion.
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Find summaries for every chapter, including a Fences Chapter Summary Chart to help you understand the book.
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In 1957, Troy Maxson is fifty-three years old. He has been married for eighteen years to Rose, whose devotion to him has not necessarily blinded her to the more difficult traits of his character. Their son, Cory, is a high school senior, and his accomplishments on the football field have led to his being sought by a recruiter from a college in Nort...
Troys past emerges in the course of the play. At the age of fourteen, after a showdown with a brutal father, Troy set out on his own, hitching his way north to Pittsburgh. With no job and no place to live, he stole to survive. After the birth of Lyons, it seemed he had to steal even more. After killing a man in the course of a robbery, Troy was sen...
Two weeks later, Troy is promoted to driver. Bono notices that he has stopped by Taylors on his way home to give the good news to Alberta. Troy has no drivers license, but he is not worried. He has other matters on his mind. He has learned that Cory has been lying to him; Cory has not been working at the A&P at all. As a result, Troy has ordered th...
The tension between Troy and his younger son, Cory, in the first act is one among several important elements of the play. Troy is both bitterly jealous and protective of Cory, who is being recruited by a local college for a football scholarship. Troy refuses to let Cory accept the scholarship because he is afraid that Cory will come to know the hur...
Act 2, scene 1, turns on a conflict between Troy and his wife, Rose. Troy tells Rose about his affair with a younger woman, who is about to give birth to his child. Troys attempt to comfort Rose by explaining that the other woman allows him to be a part of myself that I aint never been is futile. Rose rejects Troys explanation: Aint nothing you can...
Troys son Lyons (by a former wife) fares no better with Troy than does his half-brother Cory. The fact that Troy himself was an abused son makes him an uncaring father to Lyons, who, like Troy, ends in jail. Even when Troy appears to be at his best, there is an air of ambivalence about him. While Troys attitude toward his brother, Gabriel, a brain-...
Maxson home. African American home in an unspecified city, possibly Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Maxsons yard, which is an extension of their house, represents Troy Maxsons ambivalent feelings: his spirit, large like his body, desires the rootedness of home but resists its limitations. The responsibilities of his family bind him even more closely ...
As Troys friend Bono comments, some people build fences to keep people out . . . and other people build fences to keep people in. The partially built fence surrounding the Maxsons yard represents the conflicts of the play. Rose, Troys wife, wants a fence to keep her world safe, to keep the family close, but to Troy, the fence represents confinement...
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A summary of Act One: Scene One in August Wilson's Fences. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of Fences and what it means. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.
In 2016, Fences was adapted into a film directed by Denzel Washington, who also starred as Troy Maxson. Read the full play summary, an in-depth character analysis of Troy Maxson, and explanations of important quotes from Fences.
Need help with Act 1: Scene 1 in August Wilson's Fences? Check out our revolutionary side-by-side summary and analysis.
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Free summary and analysis of the events in August Wilson's Fences that won't make you snore. We promise.
