Dramatic Technique or Literary Device in Fences August Wilson

Use of metaphor in Fences

August Wilson makes notable use of metaphor in Fences. The most notable metaphor comes from the play's title itself. The action of the play revolves around a fence that Troy and his son Cory are building around their yard. The fence represents both the metaphorical fences that Troy builds around himself to keep people from getting too close to him and the metaphorical fences that he faced in society preventing him, as a black man, from finding success as a baseball player. The meaning of the fence metaphor is clearest when Bono explains, "Some people build fences to keep people out and other people build fences to keep people in." Baseball is another major metaphor in this play. In Act I, Troy states that, “Death ain't nothing but a fastball on the outside corner." Baseball thus becomes a metaphor for Troy's life. A home run comes to mean Troy's victories over seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Death is yet another metaphor that Troy uses. As Troy ages, he, like all of us, is closer to death. But age also separates him from baseball which was so integral to his life.

Symbols in Fences

In the play Fences by August Wilson, there are numerous symbols including baseball, Gabriel's trumpet, Raynell's garden, and countless others. Some of these symbols are examined below.

Baseball 

what baseball symbolizes 

Fences is full of baseball imagery, which takes on a lot of symbolic meaning. Troy was robbed of a professional baseball career because of his race. The shadow of this injustice has weighed on him for years and made him a bitter man. Troy often thinks about life and death in terms of baseball He describes Death as "a fastball on the outside corner" (1.1.82) and claims he could always hit a homenin off this kind of pitch back in his heyday. Here he uses the idea of baseball to almost taunt Death, daring it to come for him. Troy also tries to explain his affair with another woman in baseball terms. He tells his wife that when he found her and had Cory he felt like he was "safe" (2.1.116). But after eighteen years of that he saw Alberta and wanted to steal second” (2.1.118). Rose isn't too impressed with Troy's metaphors and tells him, “We not talking about baseball! We're talking about you going off to lay in bed with another woman" (2.1.121). Paired with the more explicit baseball imagery, the fence Troy is building itself parallels the traditional fence around a baseball field. There are also actual physical representations of baseball on stage: a baseball bat and rag ball tied to a tree. The fact that the ball is made of rags could be seen as representing Troy's poverty and his tattered dreams. It also shows that after all these years Troy is still trying to hold onto his glory days. The baseball bat is especially important in the climactic scene between Cory and Troy, becoming a weapon the two threaten each other with. It seems pretty symbolic that Cory and Troy fight each other with a bat, since Troy's inability to play baseball due to racism is what motivated him to sabotage his son's sports career. Now the two do battle with a symbolic representation of this dream deferred.

Fence 

what fence symbolizes

One of the key textual symbols in the play is the fence that Troy and his son, Cory, build. The fence serves as a structural device due to the fact that the characters' lives transform about the course of constructing the fence. The title "Fences” represents the metaphorical barriers or fences that the main characters are erecting around themselves in order to keep people in or to prevent people from intruding August Wilson did not name his play, Fences, simply because the dramatic action depends strongly in the building of a fence in the Maxson's backyard. Rather, the characters' lives change around the fence building project which serves as both a literal and a figurative device, representing the relationships that bond and break in the arena of the backyard. Throughout the play, characters create fences symbolically and physically to be protected or to protect. Three of the most important occasions fences are symbolized are by protection, Rose Maxson and Troy Maxson's relationship, and Troy against Mr Death. One of the major ways Troy and Rose's relationship is symbolized is by the cakes Rose makes for the church. We also have examples such as Rose protecting herself from Troy and Troy protecting himself from Death. The fact that Rose wants the fence built adds meaning to her character because she sees the fence as something positive and necessary. Rose for instance protects herself by singing, "Jesus, be a fence all around me every day, Jesus, I want you to protect me as I travel on my way" By Rose singing this song, one can see Rose's desire for protection within a safe environment. To Rose, a fence is a symbol of her love and her desire for a fence indicates that Rose represents love and nurturing, Bono observes that Rose wants the fence built to hold in her loved ones. However, Troy and Cory think the fence is a burden and reluctantly work on finishing Rose's  project. Bono indicates to Troy that Rose wants the fence built to protect her loved ones as he says,  "Some people build fences to keep people out and other people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She loves you?" (p. 61) While reminiscing about the project', Bono asks Troy why he 'got to go and get some hard wood' (p. 60) as he says, "Nigger , why you got to go and get some hard wood? You ain't doing nothing but building a little old fence. Get you some soft pine  wood. That's all you need" (p. 60). Troy choosing to use hard wood instead of soft pine wood shows the reader that Troy wants hard wood to protect him harder from Death and all of his problems. Although, each character in the play interprets the concept of a fence differently, they all see it as some form of protection

 The fence can also be seen as a barrier of distance. Troy for instance, persistently criticizes and neglects his two sons, which thus draws them away from him. Troy pushes Lyons away by refusing to hear him play his "Chinese music" (1:2:48). He also scars his relationship with his other son, Cory, by preventing him from playing football and rejecting his only chance to get recruited by a college football team. Also, Troy states that Cory's things will be on the other side of that fence." Bono also observes that to some people, fences keep people out and push people away. Bono indicates that Troy pushes Rose away from him by cheating on her. Troy's lack of commitment to finishing the fence parallels his lack of commitment in his marriage. The fence appears finished only in the final scene of the play, when Troy dies and the family reunites. The wholeness of the fence comes to mean the strength of the Maxson family and ironically the strength of the man who tore them apart, who also brings them together one more time, in death. Wilson utilizes the physical fence as a means to illustrate and elaborate its many symbolic meanings. “Fences" may appear to be a straightforward title, but after reading the play it becomes discernible that it's a complex symbol which summarizes the entire play 

Raynell's Garden 

what Raynell's garden symbolizes 

In the final scene of the play, a seven-year-old Raynell runs out in her nightgown to see if her garden has grown on the day of her father's funeral. It hasn't. Of course, this isn't much of a surprise, since the girl just planted it the day before. Rose assures her, “You just have to give it a chance. It'll grow (2.5.12). This symbol represents the promise of new life in the face of death; renewal, growth, and positive change for the family in their next chapter after Troy's death. Raynell herself is the flower that has sprung from Troy's seeds. We can't help but notice that Raynell is looking at the garden just when another of Troy's offspring, Cory, enters. Cory is struggling desperately to escape the shadow of his father. Later in the scene, Cory's interaction with Rynell helps him come to terms with his father's memory. You could see Raynell's garden as representing the possibility that Cory will grow beyond the shadow of his father

Mr Death 

What Mr Death symbolizes

Death is personified in Fences. It is a presence throughout the text and looms over the action. Troy firs mentions Mr Death when describing a battle he had with pneumonia. He said, “What you want, Mr Death? ... You done brought your army to be getting me?" (p. 14) In this early scene, Troy seems al powerful. His family and friends listen to his stories and look up to him. But death continues to loom Troy recognizes death is ever-present and says, "Ain't nothing wrong with talking about death. That's part of life. Everybody gonna die” (p. 13). In several scenes Troy addresses Death personally. He insists it stays away or be ready to fight. Troy declares he will build the fence not for Rose but to keep Death out. As the play continues, Troy's all-powerful image begins to crumble, leaving the character vulnerable to death. Here, the symbolism of death is intertwined with that of baseball and the three-strikes rule First, Alberta dies in childbirth. After her infant daughter's acceptance into the Maxson family, things stabilize. Death strikes again, however, when the altercation occurs between Troy and Cory. When Troy's relationship with Rose Withers, he has a third strike against him. Finally, Mr Death arrives an takes Troy himself. Troy's vigilance is no match for Mr Death. The epic battle was one Troy  win as a young and exceptionally strong man. His vitality contrasts with that of his brother, who was grievously injured in World War II. But inevitably, as Troy ages, death takes its toll.

Trains 

what trains symbolizes

Troy brings his illegitimate baby, Raynell, home for the first time at the beginning of Act II, Scene 3 of Fences. Troy sits with his motherless baby on a porch where he once reigned, but now is an unwanted presence. Then, Troy sings the song, "Please, Mr Engineer, let a man ride the line," (p. 82) which echoes the pleas of a man begging a train engineer to let him ride, in hiding, for free. Especially during the Harlem Renaissance (the flourishing of African-American artists, writers, poets, etc, in the first half of the 20th century) and during slavery times, respectively, trains were common literary devices in African-American literature and music. A character that rides a train or talks of trains, or even goes to a train station came to represent change. Trains represent the coming or arrival of a major change in a character's life. In Fences, Troy identifies with the blues song about riding the train. By singing this particular song, Troy acknowledges that his actions caused the upheaval in the lives of his loved ones. Troy sings, "Please, Mr. Engineer let a man ride the line," but in other words he is crying out to his wife, Rose, to let him back into her home. Like the voice in the song, Troy is homeless and has nothing to offer the one he needs something from in order to keep going. Especially with a baby in hand, Troy has no future without his wife. In order to come back into her life, Troy knows he is asking Rose to give him a free ride of forgiveness. If she does take him back, Troy knows life with her will never return to the life they once had together because he lost her trust and respect when he committed adultery. The train song also connotes the time Troy and many other men of his generation spent wandering North during the Great Migration. He sings, “I ain't got no ticket, please let me ride the blinds," (p. 82) which represents the poverty the released slaves and the failed sharecroppers experienced in Troy's father's generation. Troy sings the song to his newborn daughter, passing on a song that tells an important story of her past and links that past to the present. Troy's song exemplifies the tradition in African-American history to make something from nothing -- like the song. Troy hopes his love for his daughter and her innocence will change Rose's heart and allow Troy another chance at fatherhood and marriage.   Troy calls a man the Devil who tried to sell Troy furniture in exchange for monthly payments by mail. Again, providing the pragmatic version of the story, Rose explains why Troy invents stories about the Devil. "Anything you don't understand, you call the Devil." Troy observes door-to-door salesmen and the process of layaway for the first time and in his ignorance, turns a modern occurrence into a mythical story. Troy also describes the Devil's appearance as a man in a white hood. Wilson conjures the image of members in  regalia with this description, Troy imagines the Devil, not just as an airy spirit from hell but also as a living human being. To Troy, the Devil sometimes symbolizes the aggression and cowardice of bigotry. Troy's stories about the Devil show that he sees himself as a man winning a fight against injustice and hatred. Troy's courage in overcoming racism is also suggested by his complaint against the Sanitation Department that eventually hires him as the first black man to drive a trash truck. However, as the play progresses and Troy loses the love of his family and inadvertently betrays his brother, Gabriel, the less we believe in his ability to win in his struggle to overcome the bad luck of his fate and the demons he carries within that become even greater forces than the racism that curtailed his dreams.

Genre of fences

  drama

 family drama

 coming of age 

 tragedy

The fact that this is a play makes it by definition a drama, a piece of literature meant to be spoken by actors in front of a live audience. This particular drama focuses on the trials and tribulations of the Maxson family, making it a family drama. You could also view the play as a coming-of-age story, because it ends with Troy's son Cory advancing into manhood. Though it doesn't fit all the definitions of tragedy, it definitely meets many of the requirements.

Tone

The tone of this drama is hopeful, heightened and everyday colloquial language with universal appeal, August Wilson's voice is a unique blend of African-American dialect and heightened poetry. The tone of Fences and the other plays manages to be incredibly approachable and lofty at the same time, Wilson's characters are somehow bigger than themselves. They seem to represent not just themselves, but all African-Americans, and all people.

Writing style - poetic realism

August Wilson's plays are almost always realistic"; they have to do with everyday people in everyday situations. Almost all of his characters are black, and they speak in an African-American dialect similar to the one spoken in Wilson's native Pittsburgh. Of course, Wilson's plays also have an incredibly poetic quality to them. His characters have the ability to speak in ways that are far more heightened than you'd typically find in everyday speech. For this reason, we say the play is an example of poetic realism Many great American playwrights wrote in a similar style: Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Eugene O'Neill to name a few.

Allusions in Fences

When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it is usually not accidental. A number o literary, religious, sports and pop culture references are apparent in the drama. Some of these include the following:

Literary References

• Uncle Remus (1.1; p. 16)

Religious References

St. Peter (1.2; p. 28)

Sports and Pop Culture References

Babe Ruth (1.1. p. 12)

• Josh Gibson (1.1; p. 12)

Selkirk (1.1; p. 12. 1.3; p. 42)

Jackie Robinson (1.1; p. 12)

Hank Aaron (1.3; p. 37)

Satchel Paige (1.3; p. 37)

Sandy Koufax (1 3; p. 37)

Warren Spahn (1.3; p. 37)

Lew Burdette (1.3; p. 37)

• Joe Louis (2.1; p. 63)

• Aunt Jemima (1.2; p. 29)

The use of Setting and character as one

Another skillful style used by August Wilson to further develop Fences is the use of setting and character together. The use of setting and time periods within the play help contribute to the development and personalities of the characters. The characters also relate to certain time periods that can be easily established and seen through the course of the play. These time periods include the Civil Rights Movement, World War II, the Great Depression, and the 2nd Women's Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Movement and the ambitions of the people during this time are highly evident in the character of Troy. "Why you got the white mens driving and the colored lifting? What's the matter, don't I count. All I want them to do is change the job description. Give everybody a chance to drive the truck." Troy works for the garbage company. He feels extraneously angry that all of the coloured people are subjugated to the ha rder work, while the whites can sit back and relax, Troy wants equality in the workforce, allowing everyone a fair chance to drive the truck. Troy is very ambitious, and would like to be in a position of power, in a world that denies him almost everything. World War II has had an overwhelming effect on Gabriel, Troy's younger brother by seven years. The war had done massive damage to his body and now "he has a metal plate in his head. He carries an old trumpet and believes with every fiber of his being that he is the Archangel Gabriel.” This metal plate has done horrible damage to his brain and he is truly suffering from it. “Gonna buy me a new horn so St.Peter can hear me when it's time to open the gates. Hear that? That's the hellhounds. I got to chase them out of here." He is far past crazy at this point, and later on he is arrested for causing a disturbance. He had been chasing and yelling at kids, claiming they were hellhounds, and he had to chase them off. Most people think it would be better for hin to be in the hospital, but Troy does not think that would be fair to Gabriel. "Don't nobody want to be locked up, Rose. What you wanna lock him up for? Man don't bother nobody. He just mixed up from the metal plate he got in his head. Ain't no sense for him to go back to the hospital.” Troy is the only one who is truly trying to protect him. However, Troy later on betrays him The Great Depression has also had an immense impact on Troy. With the play taking place in 1957, and Troy being fifty-three years old (born in 1904), Troy was around twenty-five when the stock market crashed, leading to the Great Depression:

Cory: You ain't got to pay for it all at one time. You can put a down payment on it and carry it on home with you. 

Troy: Not me. I ain't gonna owe nobody nothing if I can help it. Miss a payment and they come and snatch it right out your house. Then what you got? (p. 36) Having lived during that time he knows how bad it is to buy stuff on the margin. That is one thing that caused the Great Depression. Buying on the margin is also one thing which caused many families to go into financial ruin  the common locale. Characters repeat phrases, or pass phrases around, like a blues band with a line of melody. Similar to the role of repeated lyrics and melody of a blues song, Wilson's characters display changes in their lives and a changed attitude toward life by repeating scenarios in which they act. For instance, Friday, Troy's payday, is the setting of three scenes. By mirroring the situation in which events in the play take place, we can observe the change that occurs from one instance to the next. For instance, in Act I, Scene 1, Troy and Bono come home after payday as best friends worried about Troy's future, In Act I, Scene 4. Troy and Bono celebrate after pay day because Troy won his discrimination case, but Bono is more concerned that Troy will ruin his life with his extramarital affair. Troy comes home after payday in Act II, Scene 4, estranged from Bono and his family. He drinks and sings to comfort himself  By now, the good days of the play's first scene seem far-gone. This is a way playwrights manipulate the sense of time in a play, but for Wilson in particular, the repeated events and language of the play are in keeping with what he calls a "blues aesthetic."Wilson's plays are extensions of the history of blues in African-American culture, and thus, in American culture in general.

Allegory

Troy's brother, Gabriel, is potentially an allegory to salvation. Other than being actually named Gabriel, like the angel, Uncle Gabe wears a trumpet, constantly chases away the "hellhounds", and regularly talks with Saint Peter. At the end, just before Troy's funeral, the family gathers around Gabe in the yard. He blows three times into his trumpet; the first two times are unsuccessful but by the third try (because three, of course, is a biblical number), a pure tone is released and the sun breaks through the clouds while the family looks on. Troy is at last delivered and the rest of the family is too, each seeming to find peace in their relationship with Troy. The fence referred to by the play's title is built over many years and is revealed to be finished only in the final act of the play. It is not obvious as to why Troy wants to build it, but a dramatic monologue in the second act shows how he conceptualizes it as an allegory -- to keep the Grim Reaper away. The fence is also symbolic of the emotional barrier that Troy erected between himself and his sons, one from each of his adult relationships. Rose also wanted Troy to build the fence as a symbolic means of securing what was her own, keeping what belonged inside in (her family), and making what should stay outside, stay out. 

Dramatic structure and intensity of action in Fences

Fences is structured more strictly after the classical tragedy structure. The play embraces the orderly flow of beginning, rising action, climax, and falling action. Wilson's play also features a clear protagonist, Troy Maxson, with whom the audience can identify, suffer, and become redeemed. Beginning (Major Conflict) - Opposing views by Troy and Cory on Cory's future aspiration to become a baseball star. Their relationship deteriorates after Troy prohibits Cory from playing football and going to college. Their relationship disintegrates further when Troy reveals he has been cheating on Cory's mother with another woman and gotten her pregnant and signed papers permitting Cory's Uncle Gabe to be committed to a mental hospital while Troy lives in a house paid for by Gabe's money 

  Rising Actions - Troy reveals his affair with Alberta to his wife, Rose; Rose reprimands Troy, Troy viciously grabs Rose's arm and will not let go; Cory surprises Troy, attacking him from behind; Cory and Troy fight; Troy wins the fight and wams Cory that he has one more strike to spend.

Climar - Rose tells Troy that Alberta died having his baby.

Falling Action - In Act II, Scene 4: Troy picks a fight with Cory; Cory displays his disgust for Troy's betraying behaviour towards Rose, Gabe, and Cory; Troy and Cory fight with a baseball bat; Troy wins and kicks Cory out of their house. Though written in 1986, the play deals with African-American life in the post-World War II era. Troy is a product of this time, continually caught between the African-American oppression of his Southern childhood and his Northern adopted home, and his changing world - a world in which African-Americans were joining the middle class, securing better jobs, and seeing their children gain opportunities, such as college and sports careers, that previous generations never had. Troy represents an entire generation, unsatisfied with the legacy of racism that they bore and uncomfortable in their slow social growth.

Songs and music

There are many events when the characters sing songs apparently. Mainly we can find examples in the characters of Rose (singing about fences). Troy (singing about the dog Blue, and a lullaby to Raynell) and Gabriel (singing about judgment and St. Peter). It is noteworthy that as the play's tensions wind down, Cory and Raynell together sing a song that their father used to sing. Though the song is about a dog named Blue it seems clear that the two are singing it in honour of Troy. We are left with the impression that Cory is on the road to coming to terms with his father. On the other hand, it is stated that Lyons, Troy's son from a previous wife wants to be a musician. These too remind the readers and audience that music in this play has a significant place. August Wilson's writing is rooted in music including Blues in particular. For instance, Troy sings two blues songs, one, in Act II, Scene 3, "Please Mr Engineer let a man ride the line," and in Act II, Scene 4, “Hear it Ring! Hear it Ring!” Rose also sings a song in Act I, Scene 2, "Jesus be a fence all around me every day." Wilson invented these lyrics but based them on themes and symbols in African-American traditional, spiritual, gospel, and blues songs. Rose's song is a religious song so hers might have more roots in the gospel tradition. Troy's songs are truly from the blues tradition. His song, "Hear it Ring Hear it Ring!" was passed on to him by his father and in the last scene of the play, we witness Cory and Raynell singing the song together after Troy's death. The blues in Fences connects generations together and keeps alive a family's roots and history beyond the grave. Wilson was also a good poet and interested in speech patterns and rhythms. Thus, he gives high values to sounds in his plays.

Meanings within meanings

In Fences, Wilson focuses on the day to day trials of ordinary people in order to approach the struggle of African-Americans in a racist society. This slice of life, begins with a scale and detail of lower class life, probes meanings within meanings in the play at every turn. Like so many African-Americans, Troy Maxon's life has been one of constant denial and deprivation. The play depicts phenomenonof contradictions, weary from a lifetime of hard labour, Troy manages to uphold his breadwinning responsibilities to his family all the while ruling them with his seething anger. Wilson employs the images of "baseball” “fences", "death", "rose” and “garden” as instruments to convey the meanings within meanings of the play. Moreover, in Fences he portrays a bleak picture of what happens to blacks when their aspirations go beyond the fences within which they are confined. The fences of a racist society are structured by the fences blacks have often created to alienate themselves from the ones who remind them of their failures.