The Impact Of Race In The Play Fences

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The impact of race in the play Fences

The play Fences is written by the American writer August Wilson. The play revolves around the garbage man named Tony. Throughout the play he is building the fence around his house. The title is very significant and symbolic because the fence that he builds around his house is not just the material fence rather it is a fence from the external world that segregates him from the outer white dominant society. It gives him a feeling of protection. Other than the title there are other elements too that are noteworthy and one of them is that of the sport Baseball. In the Pulitzer prize-winning drama Fences the author has challenges the history as well as the mythology of the American dream related to the game. In the year 1987 Wilson wrote this drama and the setting of the drama is from 1957, just before the civil rights movement started. The play represents the time when the game of baseball had become integrated however the racial discrimination remained intact. The protagonist of the play, namely Troy is filled with bitterness and the hatred. Throughput the play the author is trying to put the character in the historical context of the actual black leagues. The racism that was faced by the people in the play affects the lives of the character and the decisions that they make.

In August Wilson’s play, relations were a great share of the story since each character had a dissimilar type of association with one other. Troy had a connection with every single character in the drama and it was not the identical type of association. He has a complex association with all characters in this play as Troy’s character is problematic and it foundations clashes with every person in Fences. He has a private association with his own self and it was sort of a fabricated relation nonetheless to Troy it was actual than all the other things in his life. Troy was a refutation type of person so he actually denied to agree with others knowledge and guidance and remained fixed to his own beliefs. He had a bumpy life growing up, the slavery that he and his family faced while growing up left an everlasting impact on his life. Troy is a man that takes on all his accountabilities and a really tough and fervent worker then again, he has problems with his internal character that made him construct a connection with his essence and continuously thought that he needed to believe and go with his irregular views. His attitude is mostly founded on experience, these experiences shoot from his coarse infancy, custodial life, his baseball profession and the biased employing practices in employment by his owners at the hygiene sector. Throughout this period, the separation among blacks and whites was at its highest point and this impact was the main leading factor to which Troy’s life was erected upon. All through the play Troy is typically perceived as a regular African American kneeling down to discrimination and separation.

Cory the son of Troy Maxson in the play is going to have a bright future at football but the experiences of his father hinders him. Troy does not let him play at the team even thought there was a good chance that he would be selected at the team (Koprince). The racism at the time in which the setting of the play is, was highest in US. Black people were denied the basic needs of life and were living a very harsh life. They all were facing fear of rejection at some place or the other. As far as the supports is concerned, the situation as same there too. There was no official agreement to not allow the blacks in the team however the unsaid rule prevailed throughout the country. In the play Troy actually is afraid that his son will probably have to face the discrimination that he himself had faced once so he forbids him and does not allow him to play at the league. This bitter the relationship of father and son. Cory is given no option but to agree to his father and this consequently deters their mutual relationship. The racial bias and the discriminatory attitude is the basic reason behind leading the relationship of father and son to this dead end. At the start o0f play the son Cory is seen as the cheerful and the bright guy but with every coming conflict with his father he transforms into the same person as his father and the same bitterness that his father has in infilled in himself too. This is evident from the play that they both are not the bitter and aggressive people in reality but they are shaped into being such because of the experiences that they face living in a white dominated society that shows discrimination towards the black. The power and the influence that white people had over the lives of the black is shown in the play and that also becomes the reason for shaping the lives if the black persons.

Living in the society that is discriminating to some race is not easy for the people that belong to that race. The blacks that, lived in America had to face a lot of difficulties at the time when racism was at its peak in the country. The country was taken in the name of equality and freedom for all, however it seemed that it was just an illusion and the reality was quite different for the black or the Afro-Americans. They did not get their rights. In the play we also see that the jobs at the workplace were selected for the black and whites. Blacks were only supposed to pick the trash cans and the whites were to drive the trucks. Troy; the protagonist, was living in such discriminatory circumstances and it was inevitable for him to get affected by this discrimination. The mental pressure that he faced was too much for him and caused him to get involved into things that he would not probably if the circumstances were normal. He cheats upon his wife and gets caught. Adding insult to his injury his mistress dies while giving birth to his child. His wife agrees to take care of the child but ends her relationship with him. This further puts troy in stress and leaves him devastated.

Though it is true that the Maxson family faces the racism and the discrimination from the white people in the play but it cannot be said that all the problems in the lives of the characters are due to the racism. The lives of the Maxson family members are upside down due to the head of the house Troy Maxson, and his harsh nature. Troy is very aggressive and lives in the past. He tells the fancy stories to others and in a way tries to cover up the reality of his and his family members; lives. It is because of his harsh attitude and stubborn nature that he loses his own son. He makes his own past come in the way of the future of his son Cory. He wanted to play football, but he does not let him play as he wants him to do a real job. To him playing football is something childish and the real job is needed for the family running. Troy’s own philosophy and the understanding of life hinders him sometimes to see the truth. He has his own beliefs and does not see the world outside those views as he thinks that what he is thinki8ng is right. He imposed his views upon the family members and this was the reason that the relationship of him with his son and the near ones got deteriorated. However, it may not be true in absolute sense.

The rash nature of the protagonist is the reason apparently that caused troubles for him and his family too, but at the core of it is the reality that he has faced in the past. The experiences that he lived are the reason that put him in situation that he is obliged to act in the way he does. At workplace he faced discrimination. There he took a stand and fought for his rights. “You think only white fellows got sense enough to drive a truck. That isn’t no paper job!” (Wilson). Though he is not right in a lot of matters but the fact that he is harsh and lets his family’s hopes down lies in the past he survived and lived. He denies his son to enter the league and make a career as a footballer is because he himself had experienced the discrimination at in his young age when he used to play and was denied to enter the official team. The pain that he got he did not want his son to get that’s why he denied him to enter the league.

Racial discrimination is going around and distressing commons forthcoming activities. Cory’s ideas were demolished secondarily by the discrimination going around the state in the 1950s and 1960s. Towards the end of the drama, Troy acquired what he at all times desired, to be a trash truck driver. After a couple of months, he apprehended that his elevation was not as per his prospects. In his fresh position he wasn’t capable to mingle or express himself to his friends. Troy realized that he was extremely tired and it wasn’t the similar as it used to be when he was with his friends. Racial discrimination directed him to not like his upgrade and Cory’s fantasy being shattered. Cory’s idea of becoming a proficient soccer player was crumpled by his dad who was the victim of racism as he did not wish for his son to go through the same refusal. Being black was not stress-free to reside in US during the initial 1900s (VELIZ).

The discernment was at its top and the Afro-Americans were enforced to live as the slaves of the white individuals. In this drama Fences by Wilson the characters were the victim of sheer prejudice and their lives transformed and shaped according to the it. Their attitudes and their choices, and at large their lifestyles are affected by the racism. The idea of racism is prevalent throughout the novel and the characters either directly or indirectly are affected by this discrimination and the biased attitudes.

Works Cited

Koprince, Susan. Baseball As History And Myth In August Wilson's "Fences". The Johns Hopkins University Press; African American Review (St. Louis University), 2006, pp. pp. 349-358.

Wilson, A. Fences. Penguin Books, 1988.

VELIZ, ABRAHAM. "Impacts On Racism - Breaking Character". Breaking Character, 2018, https://www.breakingcharactermagazine.com/impacts-on-racism/. Accessed 12 June 2018.