Big-league baseball
- Big-league baseball is important as it symbolically contributes to the overall theme of conflict emerging from the play. Troy was a baseball star in the Negro league, but he did not get the opportunity to play the game as a profession because he was discriminated against due to his race. Baseball is the source of his flaws in broken character and poor family relationships. Because he did not get the chance, it made him bitter for years because of the injustice. His inability to play is what makes him sabotage the athletic career of his son. He believes the discrimination he experienced will also affect Cory, and he will not get a chance to play. To him, whites will never give a chance to black, which will end up hurting him. Even though Rose tries to convince him that the time has already changed, but he is still stubborn. He gives her an example where a black player always stays at the bench in all major leagues. One may interpret his opposition to his son’s career as a concerned father but looking at the comments he makes and his belief that he can still play even in his current age, it can be said that he is jealous of him. He hates the idea that his son will play in major leagues while he was shut down. His attitude is what results in conflict between father and son. When Troy and Cory have an intense argument that caused him to leave home, he becomes mad and wants to use a bat to strike his father. This symbolized the bitterness they have towards each other is because of the baseball league. The baseball league is the foundation of their disagreements and is what eventually drives a wedge between them and eventually cut their family bond. The big-league baseball represents disappointments and the death of dreams to both Troy and his son.
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- The play is titled fence, both literally and figuratively. Literally, it is because it comes from the fact that the fences which Cory and Troy spend most of the play building it and only get completed when the play is about to come to an end. However, the title is a combination of complex symbols that dominate most of the play. The fence symbolized all the barriers in Troy’s life like homelessness, poverty and discrimination he went through, and of which it separates him from his family. The reason it takes him long to complete the fences is because he neglects it by spending time away from home. The neglected fence represents the affair he has with Alberta as he abandons his family. It also symbolizes the thing Troy wants to keep out of his house. This is portrayed when he argues with Troy, and he throws him out of his house. He tells him that his items will be “on the other side of that fence” thus, he establishes that the fence divided him and his son. This is similar to when he tells death he will finish the fence to keep his family safe immediately after Alberta dies. The fence also relates to all characters in the play. To troy, it represents the obstacle he faced in his life and the need to escape death when he decides to finish it. It also symbolizes his infidelity since he goes to see his mistress on the time he is supposed to work on the fence. To Rose, the fence is something that defines his family. She wants to defend and protect everyone. She sees as something positive and necessary and just like Troy the fences, she wants to keep her loved ones in and protect them. To Cory, the fence represents his responsibility as Troy wants him to grow as a responsible man. However, it still represents a barrier to his career. He has to work on it before his personal business, including playing football. To Lyon, it related to a barrier in his relationship with his father; he does not relate with him well and only goes to see him when in need of money. He lives outside the fence, which means to the family he is an outsider. Fences relate to Gabriel in that it was money from him that helped in building the family house. The injury prevents him from having a normal life. He is fenced in isolation from reality.
- The father-son relationship is a recurring this mainly because of the conflict that dominates them. This is because of the intergenerational gap and mistreatment. The parenting stories from Bono and Troy highlight a generation that separates father and son because of tough economic times. Bono was raised by an irresponsible father and a womanizer. He never got to know much about him, which is the reason why he decided not to have children to make sure he will not be a bad father who might abandon them. Troy, on the other hand, was raised in an abusive family dominated by conflicts. Even though his father was responsible, he was abusive and uncaring. The beating and injuring he sustains from him is what makes him run away from home at a tender age. The bitterness he harbours affects the relationship he has with his sons. Lyon represents singles parenting as his father was not there for him. Troy was in prison and, therefore, did not fulfil his responsibility to him. It is why they have a poor relationship. Troy wants to correct him as an adult by calling him lazy and only comes to see him when he needs money. He tries to make him responsible by offering to get him a job in his company, but troy refused. Since troy does not have any influence on him, he can make his own decisions. The father-son relationship between Cory and Troy is strained because he uses a strict parenting style as he wants to make up for his father’s mistake. The problems he went through as a homeless person and socioeconomic burden that resulted from racial discrimination make him make a poor decision concerning his son Cory. Because he could not play in the big-league, he was affected psychologically. He is not ready to accept changes and ends up destroying his son’s career while claiming he is protecting him. The consequence is that their father-son bond is broken. The lifestyle Troy grew up in does not apply to Cory’s generation, which results in conflict.
- Throughout the play, Gabriel is portrayed as a mentally insane person trapped in a state of delusion, as he believes to be Archangel Gabriel. He believed in divine power like chasing hellhound away and the concept of judgment day. He, therefore, represents purity and bearer of morals. Thus he serves to show the death and judgment, especially of Troy. Being alone on the stage shows that finally, the conflict that dominated the play has ended. It symbolizes that Troy has finally found the peace that he never had throughout his life. In the play, Gabriel is shown to be innocent and often talk of the judgment day, which foreshadows Troy’s fate; his presence serves to show that fate was finally sealed. Also, by being alone in the state reflect how troy was alone in his struggles, but he is now at peace. Gabriel represents the act of settling Troy’s troubled soul since everyone in his family had forgiven him. He is the last speaker as he finalizes the relationship the two of them shared from childhood, and he gets to bring Troy’s character to an end. He has fulfilled his duty of ensuring that his brother is safe at last. He is also the last speaker because, unlike the other characters who argued with each other. He was never in any conflicts; thus, he shows there will be no more arguments. The Gate of heaven is used as the last vision to show that troy has been accepted in heaven. That is, he will not be judged because all his family members forgave his misdeeds. His death is what brought them together as a family once again.
- The blue dog song is significant as it highlights Troy’s life story. It is about him as a misunderstood father. When troy sings the song, it reveals he wants to be seen as a good person and that he does not want to be like his father. he sings it to boost his confidence. He believes himself to be better than what others think of him. He is telling himself that he is not a disappointment to his family. All through the play, Troy never sings any part that talks about Blue dying until the part where he is about to die. It shows that he knew death was nearing, and finally, he was accepting it. The only time the son is completed to the end is when Cory and Raynell sing it during his Troy’s funeral. It, therefore, shows that the song was about him. When Cory and Raynell sing, the duet at the last scene is give meaning that it represents the life of Troy. They realize that their father had the best intention for them even though it did not seems so. He never once thought of himself when it came to his children, as responsibility was his first priority. The two of them singing show Troy loyalty to his family even though he ruined it by destroying Rose’s trust. Cory finally accepts his father’s death and forgives his father for his mistakes. The song bonds him with his half-sister showing they are becoming family once again.