August Wilson’s Fences is a play built on the difficulties of understanding the characters. It concentrates on the characters’ ideas of right and wrong, honor and dignity, and how to live life. Strong male characters are revealed in Troy, the main character, and his son Cory, who transcends the fences built by his formidable father. Masculinity and its finding are shown in the play through overcoming fences, however high they may be.
The play begins with Troy, a former baseball player who, because of the color of his skin, could not join the National League. Troy is blue-collar and does manual labor because other work is not available due to racial restrictions. His wife Rose asks him to finish the fence (keep the family together), but Troy is an unimportant father, unable to respect his son Cory’s interests despite his ideals about morality, perseverance, and hard work (Wilson, 2019). Cory wants to fulfill his dream of becoming a musician, and he is sure he can transcend boundaries and become a respected man. Troy angrily throws his son out for disobedience because his father taught him that. It raises the problem of toxic masculinity and Troy’s inability to break from harmful traditions to his family. The overstepping Cory goes into the Marines, where he serves until his father’s death and does not want to attend his funeral. Rose’s mother doesn’t see it as manly, only regretting that she couldn’t give her son the ability to respect people.
The main point of the play is that overcoming boundaries, whatever they may be, allows people to become good and strong. Masculinity is born out of actions, culture, and attitudes toward others, not stubbornness and an unwillingness to understand people. The fence is a succession of examples of manliness: Troy, who, despite everything, continues to work; Rose, who can forgive and believe in people; Cory, who found his cause. Thus, Fence is a demonstration of the capabilities of courageous humans.
Reference
Wilson, A. (2019). Fences. Plume.