Reframing Narrative to Overcome Racial Stereotypes in August Wilson's Fences
Prior to the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s, African American individuals were legally free but continued to experience hate crimes, mob ruling, and Jim Crow Laws (Trudeau 470). Working to overcome racial prejudice and the myriad of African American stereotypes, Troy Maxson, in August Wilson’s Fences, works to change common misconceptions of African American men through reframing his stories to alter himself from the victim to the victor. Troy counters cultural stereotypes in society to show strength and humanity through rewriting oral narratives, altering the meaning of songs, and using improvisation to overcome barriers in his life.
As slaves, few learned how to read or write, so oral histories became an important way to preserve the past of the African American people. Through these stories, their descendants were able to learn of the hardships that came from traveling to America, working as a slave, and dealing with the fear of lynching (Trudeau 470). Oral histories often include “mythology, history, social organizations, [and] economics- things [that] are part of the culture” (Shannon 539). Contrary to using oral histories to tell the past, Troy uses oral narratives, including elements of history and mythology, to rewrite the present in order to change the perceptions that African American men are subservient, timid, and weak.
Troy’s stories work to dispel the rampant stereotypes of African Americans, replacing this with an image that shows a strong man that is willing to take a stand. Fences begins with Troy and Bono discussing the way that Brownie hid a watermelon under his shirt. Although it was clearly visible, he lied about it to his white superiors (2). This simple, somewhat humorous story tells a deeper tale of prejudice. Often times white artists illustrated African American individuals as caricatures eating watermelons in order to portray them as “ignorant, mindless buffoons” (Woods). Starting the play with this story captures the ideas of the past and works to overcome these portrayals by juxtaposing this with Troy’s story of demanding to be made into a driver.
All of the drivers were white individuals at this point, so Troy questions his boss in order to get promoted as the first African American driver. Compared to characters like Brownie, Troy portrays an image of being “honest, [with a] capacity for hard work, and… strength, which Bono seeks to emulate” (1). Brownie plays the buffoon allowing his boss to “figure if the nigger too dumb to know he carrying a watermelon, he wasn’t gonna get much sense out of him” (2). On the other hand, Troy doesn’t elude the issue but confronts Mr. Rand, a white man, and demands a driver position. He asks him, “Why you got the white mens driving and the colored lifting… what’s the matter, don’t I count?” (2). He challenges Mr. Rand’s notion of African American men, disputing Mr. Rand’s idea that “only white fellows got sense enough to drive a truck” (2). Troy’s declaration contests the viewpoint of the ignorant African American carrying a watermelon. Instead, he portrays a forthright, confident, black man. The juxtaposition of these two men compares the stereotyped, uneducated black man as being weak and dim-witted with a new perception of an independent, bold man.
Another time Troy uses stories to appear strong would be his narration about wrestling with Death. He takes his stay in the hospital with pneumonia and turns it into a tale of a physical competition against Death himself. In the end, Troy claims he beat Death, but he promised that he would return for Troy. Rose tells Bono that “Every time he tells that story he find different ways to tell it. Different things to make up about it” (12). Troy takes history, mixes it with mythology, and gives Bono a story that tells an interesting tale of his life.
Death is portrayed as wearing a “white robe with a hood on it,” similar to that of a Ku Klux Klan member. This conveys a deeper struggle against the suppression that he faces as an African American individual in white society (12). Mixing history and mythology illustrates how the issues go back further than Troy’s lifetime. Troy feels wary of society, as he deals with his personal demons of racism, but he desires to work towards a better life (Page 597). Fighting to be able to live and provide for his family becomes the ultimate struggle against good and evil, or life and death, as he overcomes the negativity in his life. In his story about wrestling with Death, Troy comes out the victor. Many other outcomes in his life are out of his control- like his baseball career- but through the stories, Troy is able to find success.
A phrase that Troy often repeats states that “death ain’t nothing but a fastball on the outside corner” (10). This lackadaisical assertion about death demonstrates how Troy works to break out over the fences that others have built (Klam). By objectifying death as a wrestling partner or baseball pitch, Troy finds that he can overcome the issues in his life through his own physical strength He gains the power to overcome anything that endeavors to hold him down- discrimination, a dead-end job, his family, or even death.
All of the drivers were white individuals at this point, so Troy questions his boss in order to get promoted as the first African American driver. Compared to characters like Brownie, Troy portrays an image of being “honest, [with a] capacity for hard work, and… strength, which Bono seeks to emulate” (1). Brownie plays the buffoon allowing his boss to “figure if the nigger too dumb to know he carrying a watermelon, he wasn’t gonna get much sense out of him” (2). On the other hand, Troy doesn’t elude the issue but confronts Mr. Rand, a white man, and demands a driver position. He asks him, “Why you got the white mens driving and the colored lifting… what’s the matter, don’t I count?” (2). He challenges Mr. Rand’s notion of African American men, disputing Mr. Rand’s idea that “only white fellows got sense enough to drive a truck” (2). Troy’s declaration contests the viewpoint of the ignorant African American carrying a watermelon. Instead, he portrays a forthright, confident, black man. The juxtaposition of these two men compares the stereotyped, uneducated black man as being weak and dim-witted with a new perception of an independent, bold man.
Another time Troy uses stories to appear strong would be his narration about wrestling with Death. He takes his stay in the hospital with pneumonia and turns it into a tale of a physical competition against Death himself. In the end, Troy claims he beat Death, but he promised that he would return for Troy. Rose tells Bono that “Every time he tells that story he find different ways to tell it. Different things to make up about it” (12). Troy takes history, mixes it with mythology, and gives Bono a story that tells an interesting tale of his life.
Death is portrayed as wearing a “white robe with a hood on it,” similar to that of a Ku Klux Klan member. This conveys a deeper struggle against the suppression that he faces as an African American individual in white society (12). Mixing history and mythology illustrates how the issues go back further than Troy’s lifetime. Troy feels wary of society, as he deals with his personal demons of racism, but he desires to work towards a better life (Page 597). Fighting to be able to live and provide for his family becomes the ultimate struggle against good and evil, or life and death, as he overcomes the negativity in his life. In his story about wrestling with Death, Troy comes out the victor. Many other outcomes in his life are out of his control- like his baseball career- but through the stories, Troy is able to find success.
A phrase that Troy often repeats states that “death ain’t nothing but a fastball on the outside corner” (10). This lackadaisical assertion about death demonstrates how Troy works to break out over the fences that others have built (Klam). By objectifying death as a wrestling partner or baseball pitch, Troy finds that he can overcome the issues in his life through his own physical strength He gains the power to overcome anything that endeavors to hold him down- discrimination, a dead-end job, his family, or even death.
Troy also works to overcome stereotypes that African American men are hard, irresponsible men by altering the meaning of songs. After Troy brings his illegitimate daughter home, he stands in the front yard and calls to Rose to allow him to come inside. When she does not respond, he begins to sing: “Please, Mr. Engineer let a man ride the line/ Please, Mr. Engineer let a man ride the line/ I ain’t got no ticket please let me ride the blinds” (79). Using the symbolism of trains, he tells Rose that he desires to change. Troy acknowledges the wrong that he did to his family and humbly pleads with her to allow him back into her home and into her life. He knows that he has nothing to give Rose, much like a ticketless passenger, but he needs her more than ever as he comes to her with his motherless child (Hay 67). Early in the play, Troy works to become a driver alongside the white sanitation workers. In juxtaposition to this struggle, the song shows Troy condescending to beg and plead with a white Engineer to allow him to ride the humble baggage cart. He shows a willingness to give up his aspirations in order to receive forgiveness from his wife.
This image also works to counter stereotypes that African American men are lazy, negligent fathers. Wilson said that “[we] have been told so many times how irresponsible we are as black males that I try and present positive images of responsibility. I started Fences with the image of a man standing in his yard with a baby in his arms” (Trudeau 478). At one point, Troy tells Bono and Lyons the story of his own father who used his eleven children to work off his debt for him (51). On the other hand, Troy seeks forgiveness from Rose in order to give his daughter a better life, fully taking responsibility for a newborn child that cannot give him anything in return. Singing this song displays Troy’s willingness to rewrite his own history, swallowing his ambition and pride, for his daughter’s sake with no thought of benefiting himself.
Troy also works to rewrite history through passing the song “Old Blue” from one generation to the next. Although Troy’s father was described as an evil man who drove his mother away, Troy often sings a song that his father taught to him (51). Troy in return teaches this song to his three children. He sings, “Hear it ring! Hear it ring! I had a dog his name was Blue. You know Blue was mighty true. You know Blue was a good old dog. Blue treed a possum in a hollow log” (46). The song indicates that Troy picked up many habits and attributes from his father.
Although Cory ran away from home after a falling out occurs between himself and Troy, he returns to attend his father’s funeral. As he sings “Old Blue” with Raynell, Cory expresses forgiveness for his father, finds peace, and let go of the pain that his father caused him.
“In this act of self-healing, Cory accepts the parts of his father that he sees in himself and, in the process, discovers a new sense of self—one that is filled with self-acceptance, peace, and hope” (Morgan 4).The song rewrites the future for Troy’s descendants and stops the “struggle between father and son over conflicting visions of black identity, aspirations and values is the play’s narrative fulcrum, and a paradigm of violent divisions” (Hall 273). Cory finds that he can accept his father’s attributes that he has inherited while choosing to forbid bitterness to drive his future decisions, like Troy’s bitterness of not being allowed to play baseball propelling his choice to prohibit Cory from playing football. The song helps him to acknowledge the qualities that he has inherited from his father and works to stop “the destructive pattern of behavior that father has carried on to son for generations” (Morgan 4). This act rewrites the cycle that has kept the Maxson men from reaching their full potential.
As slaves, few learned how to read or write, so oral histories became an important way to preserve the past of the African American people. Through these stories, their descendants were able to learn of the hardships that came from traveling to America, working as a slave, and dealing with the fear of lynching (Trudeau 470). Oral histories often include “mythology, history, social organizations, [and] economics- things [that] are part of the culture” (Shannon 539). Contrary to using oral histories to tell the past, Troy uses oral narratives, including elements of history and mythology, to rewrite the present in order to change the perceptions that African American men are subservient, timid, and weak.
Troy’s stories work to dispel the rampant stereotypes of African Americans, replacing this with an image that shows a strong man that is willing to take a stand. Fences begins with Troy and Bono discussing the way that Brownie hid a watermelon under his shirt. Although it was clearly visible, he lied about it to his white superiors (2). This simple, somewhat humorous story tells a deeper tale of prejudice. Often times white artists illustrated African American individuals as caricatures eating watermelons in order to portray them as “ignorant, mindless buffoons” (Woods). Starting the play with this story captures the ideas of the past and works to overcome these portrayals by juxtaposing this with Troy’s story of demanding to be made into a driver.
All of the drivers were white individuals at this point, so Troy questions his boss in order to get promoted as the first African American driver. Compared to characters like Brownie, Troy portrays an image of being “honest, [with a] capacity for hard work, and… strength, which Bono seeks to emulate” (1). Brownie plays the buffoon allowing his boss to “figure if the nigger too dumb to know he carrying a watermelon, he wasn’t gonna get much sense out of him” (2). On the other hand, Troy doesn’t elude the issue but confronts Mr. Rand, a white man, and demands a driver position. He asks him, “Why you got the white mens driving and the colored lifting… what’s the matter, don’t I count?” (2). He challenges Mr. Rand’s notion of African American men, disputing Mr. Rand’s idea that “only white fellows got sense enough to drive a truck” (2). Troy’s declaration contests the viewpoint of the ignorant African American carrying a watermelon. Instead, he portrays a forthright, confident, black man. The juxtaposition of these two men compares the stereotyped, uneducated black man as being weak and dim-witted with a new perception of an independent, bold man.
Another time Troy uses stories to appear strong would be his narration about wrestling with Death. He takes his stay in the hospital with pneumonia and turns it into a tale of a physical competition against Death himself. In the end, Troy claims he beat Death, but he promised that he would return for Troy. Rose tells Bono that “Every time he tells that story he find different ways to tell it. Different things to make up about it” (12). Troy takes history, mixes it with mythology, and gives Bono a story that tells an interesting tale of his life.
Death is portrayed as wearing a “white robe with a hood on it,” similar to that of a Ku Klux Klan member. This conveys a deeper struggle against the suppression that he faces as an African American individual in white society (12). Mixing history and mythology illustrates how the issues go back further than Troy’s lifetime. Troy feels wary of society, as he deals with his personal demons of racism, but he desires to work towards a better life (Page 597). Fighting to be able to live and provide for his family becomes the ultimate struggle against good and evil, or life and death, as he overcomes the negativity in his life. In his story about wrestling with Death, Troy comes out the victor. Many other outcomes in his life are out of his control- like his baseball career- but through the stories, Troy is able to find success.
A phrase that Troy often repeats states that “death ain’t nothing but a fastball on the outside corner” (10). This lackadaisical assertion about death demonstrates how Troy works to break out over the fences that others have built (Klam). By objectifying death as a wrestling partner or baseball pitch, Troy finds that he can overcome the issues in his life through his own physical strength He gains the power to overcome anything that endeavors to hold him down- discrimination, a dead-end job, his family, or even death.
All of the drivers were white individuals at this point, so Troy questions his boss in order to get promoted as the first African American driver. Compared to characters like Brownie, Troy portrays an image of being “honest, [with a] capacity for hard work, and… strength, which Bono seeks to emulate” (1). Brownie plays the buffoon allowing his boss to “figure if the nigger too dumb to know he carrying a watermelon, he wasn’t gonna get much sense out of him” (2). On the other hand, Troy doesn’t elude the issue but confronts Mr. Rand, a white man, and demands a driver position. He asks him, “Why you got the white mens driving and the colored lifting… what’s the matter, don’t I count?” (2). He challenges Mr. Rand’s notion of African American men, disputing Mr. Rand’s idea that “only white fellows got sense enough to drive a truck” (2). Troy’s declaration contests the viewpoint of the ignorant African American carrying a watermelon. Instead, he portrays a forthright, confident, black man. The juxtaposition of these two men compares the stereotyped, uneducated black man as being weak and dim-witted with a new perception of an independent, bold man.
Another time Troy uses stories to appear strong would be his narration about wrestling with Death. He takes his stay in the hospital with pneumonia and turns it into a tale of a physical competition against Death himself. In the end, Troy claims he beat Death, but he promised that he would return for Troy. Rose tells Bono that “Every time he tells that story he find different ways to tell it. Different things to make up about it” (12). Troy takes history, mixes it with mythology, and gives Bono a story that tells an interesting tale of his life.
Death is portrayed as wearing a “white robe with a hood on it,” similar to that of a Ku Klux Klan member. This conveys a deeper struggle against the suppression that he faces as an African American individual in white society (12). Mixing history and mythology illustrates how the issues go back further than Troy’s lifetime. Troy feels wary of society, as he deals with his personal demons of racism, but he desires to work towards a better life (Page 597). Fighting to be able to live and provide for his family becomes the ultimate struggle against good and evil, or life and death, as he overcomes the negativity in his life. In his story about wrestling with Death, Troy comes out the victor. Many other outcomes in his life are out of his control- like his baseball career- but through the stories, Troy is able to find success.
A phrase that Troy often repeats states that “death ain’t nothing but a fastball on the outside corner” (10). This lackadaisical assertion about death demonstrates how Troy works to break out over the fences that others have built (Klam). By objectifying death as a wrestling partner or baseball pitch, Troy finds that he can overcome the issues in his life through his own physical strength He gains the power to overcome anything that endeavors to hold him down- discrimination, a dead-end job, his family, or even death.
Troy also works to overcome stereotypes that African American men are hard, irresponsible men by altering the meaning of songs. After Troy brings his illegitimate daughter home, he stands in the front yard and calls to Rose to allow him to come inside. When she does not respond, he begins to sing: “Please, Mr. Engineer let a man ride the line/ Please, Mr. Engineer let a man ride the line/ I ain’t got no ticket please let me ride the blinds” (79). Using the symbolism of trains, he tells Rose that he desires to change. Troy acknowledges the wrong that he did to his family and humbly pleads with her to allow him back into her home and into her life. He knows that he has nothing to give Rose, much like a ticketless passenger, but he needs her more than ever as he comes to her with his motherless child (Hay 67). Early in the play, Troy works to become a driver alongside the white sanitation workers. In juxtaposition to this struggle, the song shows Troy condescending to beg and plead with a white Engineer to allow him to ride the humble baggage cart. He shows a willingness to give up his aspirations in order to receive forgiveness from his wife.
This image also works to counter stereotypes that African American men are lazy, negligent fathers. Wilson said that “[we] have been told so many times how irresponsible we are as black males that I try and present positive images of responsibility. I started Fences with the image of a man standing in his yard with a baby in his arms” (Trudeau 478). At one point, Troy tells Bono and Lyons the story of his own father who used his eleven children to work off his debt for him (51). On the other hand, Troy seeks forgiveness from Rose in order to give his daughter a better life, fully taking responsibility for a newborn child that cannot give him anything in return. Singing this song displays Troy’s willingness to rewrite his own history, swallowing his ambition and pride, for his daughter’s sake with no thought of benefiting himself.
Troy also works to rewrite history through passing the song “Old Blue” from one generation to the next. Although Troy’s father was described as an evil man who drove his mother away, Troy often sings a song that his father taught to him (51). Troy in return teaches this song to his three children. He sings, “Hear it ring! Hear it ring! I had a dog his name was Blue. You know Blue was mighty true. You know Blue was a good old dog. Blue treed a possum in a hollow log” (46). The song indicates that Troy picked up many habits and attributes from his father.
Although Cory ran away from home after a falling out occurs between himself and Troy, he returns to attend his father’s funeral. As he sings “Old Blue” with Raynell, Cory expresses forgiveness for his father, finds peace, and let go of the pain that his father caused him.
“In this act of self-healing, Cory accepts the parts of his father that he sees in himself and, in the process, discovers a new sense of self—one that is filled with self-acceptance, peace, and hope” (Morgan 4).The song rewrites the future for Troy’s descendants and stops the “struggle between father and son over conflicting visions of black identity, aspirations and values is the play’s narrative fulcrum, and a paradigm of violent divisions” (Hall 273). Cory finds that he can accept his father’s attributes that he has inherited while choosing to forbid bitterness to drive his future decisions, like Troy’s bitterness of not being allowed to play baseball propelling his choice to prohibit Cory from playing football. The song helps him to acknowledge the qualities that he has inherited from his father and works to stop “the destructive pattern of behavior that father has carried on to son for generations” (Morgan 4). This act rewrites the cycle that has kept the Maxson men from reaching their full potential.
Wilson explained that the “blues is the best literature [African Americans] have, all the way back to Africa, and various other parts of the world” (Shannon 540). One of the defining characteristics of the blues is the ability to make up and create the music on the spot. John Simon wrote that the language in Fences appears blues-like “because the play is constructed in a way both naturally fluid and artfully controlled, both improvised like the riffs of a jam session and thought-out like the development in sonata form” (Beaufort 26). For example, as Troy tells Bono about how he met Rose, he says, “Hitch up my pony, saddle up my mare… there’s a woman out there for me somewhere. I looked here. Looked there. Saw Rose and latched on to her” (6). Another time he publicly announces his love for Rose he says, “I love this woman. I love this woman so much it hurts. I love her so much… I done run out of ways loving her. So I got back to basics” (20). Modeling the blues, Troy uses improvisation in his stories by repeating the phrases in slightly different variations.
Improvisation relies on the artist’s ability to voice their conscious and unconscious emotions. This allows Troy to search out the greatest way to express his love for Rose, and it tells her that he truly loves her since he is expressing his emotions unscripted. The blues allow Troy to tell his story in an honest, heart felt way. This shows a deeper, sympathetic side to Troy, and it dispels the idea that African Americans were subservient or could be objectified by white society.
Gabriel also uses improvisation to refine his stories. The character of Gabriel represents Troy’s alter ego and acts as a spokesman for God, warning Troy that he “better get ready for the judgment” (27) by repenting of the sinful act of cheating on his wife (Shannon 136). Gabriel even tells Troy that he saw his name in the judgment book, but it was not in the same section as Rose, revealing that sinners and adulterers do not belong in the same place as those who remain faithful to their spouse.
On the other hand, Gabriel, thinking he is the Archangel, chases the hellhounds away (27). This is a conscious decision to keep sinful things out of his life and to protect his loved ones from them. He also tells Troy that the judgment book does not include his own name since he was already accepted into heaven (26). This shows Gabriel’s goodness and purity, a direct opposition to Troy’s character. Another way that Gabriel is Troy’s alter ego is that he provides for the family. Through the money that he receives for being injured in the war, the Maxson family purchases a home. Troy shamefully recognizes that the “only way I got a roof over my head” is due to the money that he obtains from Gabriel.
As Troy’s alter ego, he also uses improvisation to alter his story. At the end of the play, Gabriel attempts to blow his trumpet to open the pearly gates for Troy. When he realizes that the trumpet does not work, he improvises with “a dance of atavistic signature and ritual” (101).
Like the blues, the characters repeatedly work to find ways to overcome barriers set by white society to suppress African American men. The slightly different variations they attempt include baseball, music, and football. Though none of these things are successful, Gabriel discovers the ritualistic dance as a means to overcome the obstacles for black men in America. Although Gabriel takes on the persona of the Archangel Gabriel, a white biblical character, he uses his African American roots to make up for the blunders that would keep Troy from entering heaven. Wilson said, “If black folks would recognize themselves as Africans and not be afraid to respond to the world as Africans, then they would make their contribution to the world s Africans” (Trudeau 480). Troy was prohibited from playing baseball since it was branded a white man’s sport, but as Troy’s alter ego, Gabriel overcomes a white man’s endeavors through the use of his African roots and leaves his mark as a black man. He takes a stand and uses his past to rewrite the future, using African rituals to do a white man’s job.
Fences takes place at a pivotal time in African American history. As English drama critic, Clive Barnes, said, “The timing of the play- the late ‘50s- is carefully pinpointed in he history of black America as the turning point in the Civil Rights movement when a dream unfulfilled became a promise deferred” (Beaufort 24). Between the dark past and the hopeful future, Troy works to overwrite the past to reach a brighter future. Overcoming the past and the stereotypes that continue to hold him back, Troy reframes stories in his life to show strength, humanity, and depth. By using the blues and oral histories for his own benefit, Troy illustrates a new side to African American men that empower them as individuals among American society.
Bibliography
Beaufort, John. "Fences' Probes Lie of Blacks in '50s." Christian Science Monitor (1987): 23-26.
Hall, Sharon K. "Fences by August Wilson." Contemporary Literary Criticism 50. (1988): 266-272. Web. 2 Feb 2010.
Hay, Samuel A. African American Theatre: An Historical and Critical Analysis (Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama) . New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 67-68.
Klam, Jennifer Chung. "Swinging for the Fences." Union Tribune (2008): n. pag. Web. 22 Feb 2010.
Morgan, Charla. "Fences- My Father, Myself." Associated Content (2009): 1-4. Web. 14 Feb 2010.
"Nobody's Negro." My Apologies. Web. 21 Feb 2010. <http://myapologies.wordpress.com/2009/09/>.
Page, Yolanda Williams. "I Won't Be Blue Always: Music as Past in August Wilson's 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone', Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', 'The Piano Lesson' and 'Fences'.." Dissertations Abstracts Internaional, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 63.2 (2002): 597. Web. 4 Feb 2010.
Shannon, Sandra G. "Blues, History, and Dramaturgy: An Interview With August Wilson." African American Review 27.4 (1993): 539-559. Web. 2 Feb 2010.
Shannon, Sandra G. "The Good Christian's Come and Gone: The Shifting Role of Christianity in August Wilson Plays." MELUS 16.3 (1990): 127-142. Web. 2 Feb 2010.
Trudeau, Lawrence J. "August Wilson." Drama Criticism (1992): 469-490. Web. 3 Feb 2010.
Woods, Keith M. "Talking Race Over a Slice of Watermelon." Poynter Online. Web. 3 February 2010. http://www.poynter.org/content/content_print.asp?id=42722&custom=.
Improvisation relies on the artist’s ability to voice their conscious and unconscious emotions. This allows Troy to search out the greatest way to express his love for Rose, and it tells her that he truly loves her since he is expressing his emotions unscripted. The blues allow Troy to tell his story in an honest, heart felt way. This shows a deeper, sympathetic side to Troy, and it dispels the idea that African Americans were subservient or could be objectified by white society.
Gabriel also uses improvisation to refine his stories. The character of Gabriel represents Troy’s alter ego and acts as a spokesman for God, warning Troy that he “better get ready for the judgment” (27) by repenting of the sinful act of cheating on his wife (Shannon 136). Gabriel even tells Troy that he saw his name in the judgment book, but it was not in the same section as Rose, revealing that sinners and adulterers do not belong in the same place as those who remain faithful to their spouse.
On the other hand, Gabriel, thinking he is the Archangel, chases the hellhounds away (27). This is a conscious decision to keep sinful things out of his life and to protect his loved ones from them. He also tells Troy that the judgment book does not include his own name since he was already accepted into heaven (26). This shows Gabriel’s goodness and purity, a direct opposition to Troy’s character. Another way that Gabriel is Troy’s alter ego is that he provides for the family. Through the money that he receives for being injured in the war, the Maxson family purchases a home. Troy shamefully recognizes that the “only way I got a roof over my head” is due to the money that he obtains from Gabriel.
As Troy’s alter ego, he also uses improvisation to alter his story. At the end of the play, Gabriel attempts to blow his trumpet to open the pearly gates for Troy. When he realizes that the trumpet does not work, he improvises with “a dance of atavistic signature and ritual” (101).
Like the blues, the characters repeatedly work to find ways to overcome barriers set by white society to suppress African American men. The slightly different variations they attempt include baseball, music, and football. Though none of these things are successful, Gabriel discovers the ritualistic dance as a means to overcome the obstacles for black men in America. Although Gabriel takes on the persona of the Archangel Gabriel, a white biblical character, he uses his African American roots to make up for the blunders that would keep Troy from entering heaven. Wilson said, “If black folks would recognize themselves as Africans and not be afraid to respond to the world as Africans, then they would make their contribution to the world s Africans” (Trudeau 480). Troy was prohibited from playing baseball since it was branded a white man’s sport, but as Troy’s alter ego, Gabriel overcomes a white man’s endeavors through the use of his African roots and leaves his mark as a black man. He takes a stand and uses his past to rewrite the future, using African rituals to do a white man’s job.
Fences takes place at a pivotal time in African American history. As English drama critic, Clive Barnes, said, “The timing of the play- the late ‘50s- is carefully pinpointed in he history of black America as the turning point in the Civil Rights movement when a dream unfulfilled became a promise deferred” (Beaufort 24). Between the dark past and the hopeful future, Troy works to overwrite the past to reach a brighter future. Overcoming the past and the stereotypes that continue to hold him back, Troy reframes stories in his life to show strength, humanity, and depth. By using the blues and oral histories for his own benefit, Troy illustrates a new side to African American men that empower them as individuals among American society.
Bibliography
Beaufort, John. "Fences' Probes Lie of Blacks in '50s." Christian Science Monitor (1987): 23-26.
Hall, Sharon K. "Fences by August Wilson." Contemporary Literary Criticism 50. (1988): 266-272. Web. 2 Feb 2010.
Hay, Samuel A. African American Theatre: An Historical and Critical Analysis (Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama) . New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1994. 67-68.
Klam, Jennifer Chung. "Swinging for the Fences." Union Tribune (2008): n. pag. Web. 22 Feb 2010.
Morgan, Charla. "Fences- My Father, Myself." Associated Content (2009): 1-4. Web. 14 Feb 2010.
"Nobody's Negro." My Apologies. Web. 21 Feb 2010. <http://myapologies.wordpress.com/2009/09/>.
Page, Yolanda Williams. "I Won't Be Blue Always: Music as Past in August Wilson's 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone', Ma Rainey's Black Bottom', 'The Piano Lesson' and 'Fences'.." Dissertations Abstracts Internaional, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences 63.2 (2002): 597. Web. 4 Feb 2010.
Shannon, Sandra G. "Blues, History, and Dramaturgy: An Interview With August Wilson." African American Review 27.4 (1993): 539-559. Web. 2 Feb 2010.
Shannon, Sandra G. "The Good Christian's Come and Gone: The Shifting Role of Christianity in August Wilson Plays." MELUS 16.3 (1990): 127-142. Web. 2 Feb 2010.
Trudeau, Lawrence J. "August Wilson." Drama Criticism (1992): 469-490. Web. 3 Feb 2010.
Woods, Keith M. "Talking Race Over a Slice of Watermelon." Poynter Online. Web. 3 February 2010. http://www.poynter.org/content/content_print.asp?id=42722&custom=.
