Fences
by
August Wilson
Background and setting of the drama, and summary
Subject: Literature-in-English
Theme: Literature in English
Topic: Fences by August Wilson
Sub Topic: Background and setting of the drama
Date: dd/mm/yyyy
Class: S.S 3
Average Age: 16 years and above
Duration: 35 Minutes
No of Learners: 40
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Explain the Background of the playwright.
August Wilson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 27,1945, to an African American mother and a German immigrant father. His name at birth was Fredrick August kittel, but he changed his name in 1965 to honour his mother, Daisy Wilson.He was an American playwright, author of so many plays, each set in a different decade of the 20th century, and he wrote predominantly about black American life. Wilson grew up in Pittsburgh, a lively poor neighborhood which became the setting in most of his plays. He had a complex childhood and this experiences characterize his writings. His mother was black, while his father was white and his stepfather, David Bradford was black also. The suburb where they lived was dominated by whites and Wilson and his family are the target of racial threats. He quit school at age 15, after being accused of plagiarizing an essay. He resorted to self-education, where he read extensively in a public library. In the late 1960s, he embraced the Black Arts Movement.
Some of his works include Journeys of Black World (1971), and his Notable works include: Fences, Piano Lessons Raido Golf, Seven Guitars, etc. Wilson won a Pulitzer Prize twice and a Tony Award for his plays. August Wilson died on October 2, 2005 of liver cancer in Seattle, Washington.
2. Explain the Background and Setting of the Play.
The play Fences which explores the lives and struggles of 20th century African-Americans is set in the dirt yard of the Maxson's house. It is a two storey brick house, set off at back alley. Two old chairs sit on a porch that is in bad need of a paint job. All these descriptions show that the Maxson are not quite the richest folks. The setting also shows that money is a constant problem for Troy and his family. They live on Troy’s garbage collection salary, but even the money, could barely feed the family. The play also sets in Pitsburgh, though not directly mentioned, some of its landmarks, like the strip district, a popular market area. etc points to that. The setting of Pittsburgh is quite important because of what Northern industrial cities represented for many black people. During the decades of civil war, many African-Americans migrated north to escape the poverty and racial discrimination of the south and they hoped to find any gainful employment in the factories, but were completely disappointed. Troy comments bitterly on his inability to find work when he first came to Pittsburgh. He therefore resorts to living in slum and crime, Pittsburgh represents Promised Land and promises broken. The play’s era is the 1950s, a period when racial discrimination was the order of the day.3. Explain the dramatic techniques use in the play.
Use of Symbolism: There is a number of incidence and actions that are symbolic and metaphoric in the play. They include:1. Fences:
The play’s title Fences is symbolic of racial discrimination that ruled the 1950 society which
involves the segregation between the black and white. The whites build wall or fence of hatred
and keep the blacks out of it. For instance, it is this wall of discrimination that prevents Troy, a
black man from finding success as a baseball player; his dream of becoming a professional
baseball player and that of his son. Cory who wants to become a footballer could not
materialize because of the literary fence built against the blacks. The second fence mentioned
in the play is the physical fence built by Troy and his son, Cory around Troy’s yard. It represents
both the metaphorical fences that Troy builds around himself to keep people from getting too
close to him, and he end up building a fence that keeps his entire family out. The meaning of
the fences to keep people out and other people built fences to keep people in. Troy persistently
criticizes and neglects his two sons, Cory and Lyons, which thus draws them away from him.
Troy pushes Lyons away by refusing to hear him play his Chinese music” (48) Troy is also said
to neglect to build the fence that Rose ordered him. His negligence to build the fence stands for
his negligence or irresponsibility towards his family. For Bono, the fence is symbolic of betrayal
of Troy to his wife.
2. Raynell’s Garden:
Raynell’s garden we see towards the ending of the play is symbolic of hope growth, renewal,
positive change and transformation of Maxson’s family. The family that is destroyed by Troy is
hoping to experience another re surging future that will be spearheaded by the new born baby,
Raynell. It is also a promise of new life in the face of death. Raynell herself is the flower that
has sprung from Troy’s seeds.
3. Irony:
Two Situational Ironies
Situational Irony refers to a situation in which actions have the opposite effect of what is
intended or expected. One example of such Irony in Fences is that Troy builds a fence around
his yard to prevent death from entering and taking him. He confirms this while addressing
death. “I’m gonna build me a fence around what belongs to me”. At the end of the play death
crosses over and takes him despite the bragging.
Another example of situational Irony is when Troy wants to be a driver on garbage truck, not
just a worker who lifts the garbage. He wants to be first African-American driver, and his wish is
granted, and rather than making him happy, his new Job makes him more isolated, depressed
and miserable, He say, “Ain’t got nobody to talk to…”
4. Foreshadowing:
Foreshadowing is often used to give advance information that will occur in the later part of the
play or novel. It helps the reader develop an expectation about upcoming events. In this play, in
act one, Troy speaks extensively about death, initially, he admits that death is inevitable and no
respecter of persons, but he also brags about how he wrestled seriously with death. This
foresees his physical death at the end of the play. Also, Gabriel’s talks about songs and strange
stories about his friendship with St. Peter, foreshadows Troy’s eventual demise, “Better get
ready for the Judgment; Gabe sings to Troy. Bono’s series of questions about an affair with a
certain woman foreshadows Troy’s inability to hide his secret which later blows open to the
general public.
4. Explain the themes of the play:
1.Dreams, Individual Choices and their Shortcomings:
Just like Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, August Wilson’s Fences is essentially about dreams.
Some of the characters in the play have different dreams of bright future. The play’s central
conflict is about how the damaged dreams of one generation can affect the dreams of the next.
Rose dreams of a united and responsible family, Troy wants to be the first African American to
be a garbage truck driver rather than Just lifting cans. Cory wants to go to college on a football
scholarship. Lyons wants to be a musician as well.
The dreams of some of these characters have one way or the other encounter delay or absolute
denial. Troy for instance, wanted to become a professional baseball player in the Negro leagues,
and he is unable to play for major leagues. His dream is therefore deferred by racism which
was the other of the day at that time. Troy who is also condemned to a mere garbage lifter
aspires and dreams of becoming the first African-American to drive garbage truck… “How come
you got all whites driving and the colored lifting? … Give everybody a chance to drive the truck
(90) Troy demands to know. This case is taken to court, Judged and part of Troy’s dream is
realized here. Note that Troy always wants more than he could actually achieve which leaves
him a bitter man.
Rose however, is interested in building a united family with an enduring legacy and that is why
she keeps talking about building fences which is symbolic of protection, oneness and unity. Her
dream is to unite Troy, Cory and Lyons as one family. The more she thrives to attain that the
more circumstances beyond her immediate control pull her down her dream of a monogamous
family with rebirth is shattered by Troy’s adulterous act which results to the birth of Raynell.
She compromises her dreams for Troy when he dies by accepting to bring up and train Raynell.
However, Cory is another dreamer who is dreaming to become a footballer. But Troy who
does not want him to end up like himself refuses to let him play football, and this destroys
Cory’s chances of going to college. “I told that boy that football staff, the white man ain’t gonna
let him get nowhere with that football… he ought to go and get recruited in how to fix cars or
something where he can make a living” (8) Troy advises Cory. Troy does not want his son to be
hurt and barred from sports the same way he was and he remarks, “I don’t want him to be like
me” (10).
At the end of the play, Troy and Cory have not been able to actualize their dreams. Troy, who is
promoted to be a driver, feels lonely in his new position and also the previous affair with Alberta
and his separation, from Bono. Cory has left his dream career in football to become a marine.
Lyons who is a talented young man aspires to become a Jazz musician, but does not have
money to kick start his dreams. He goes to Troy’s home to ask or borrow money from him and
also depends on her girlfriend, Bonnie for money. He could not realize his dream because his
girlfriend divorces him before he’s sent to Jail for fraud and devious manipulation.
2. Racial Discrimination:
Race relation which ravaged our 20th century society is also seen in August Wilson’s Fences.
All the characters in the play are African-Americans, and they must deal with racism today.
Keep in mind that the play takes place before the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. Some of
the characters such as Rose and Cory seem to sense that progress is in the air, while others are
still trapped in America’s troubled past. In the play, racism tends to interferes with the
characters’ dreams hopes and aspiration. Troy while growing up nurses the idea of becoming a
successful baseball player, but the dream did not materialize because the Negroes were not
allow to play in the team. He therefore settles down for a menial job such as garbage collection.
There is another tinge of discrimination in his garbage collecting job as the black are not
allowed to drive the truck; an exclusive preserve for the white. The blacks only lift the garbage.
As a result of racial hatred, Troy is scared to ask his boss Mr. Rand a question, for fear of being
fired. “I aint worried about them firing me. They gonna fire me cos I asked a question… I went to
Mr. Rand and asked him. “Why?” why you got the white men driving and the colored lifting? You
think only white fellows got sense enough to drive a truck… How come you got all whites driving
and the colored lifting? (3) Troy therefore challenges Mr. Rand to give everybody a chance to
drive the truck without fear of losing one’s job. Mr. Rand who can not explain the reason dares
Troy to take the matter to the union or go to hell.
Cory, that is, Troy’s son is also nursing hope of going to college on a football scholarship in
order to become a professional footballer. He had to even quit his job in A & P Company to
concentrate on his footballing career, but his high hope is soon truncated by Troy’s experience
of racism. Troy puts an end to such dream because he does not want his son to end up like
himself. “The white man ain’t gonna to let him get nowhere with that football” (9) Troy insists
that Cory, instead learn a trade so that he can have a job to rely’ on.
3. Family Disintegration and Rebirth:
There is a serious case of one who is building an enduring family reputation and unity and
there is another who is destroying it and bringing it to disrepute. Rose who is positive minded
does everything possible to reposition the Maxson’s family by giving moral and financial
support to the members in her household, while Troy whose income cannot even settle his
family’s need is busying dragging the family name on the mire.
So, Troy struggles to fulfill his
role as a father to his son and husband to his wife. He does not do much before his demise.
The family he ruled with Iron hand or hard-handedness is torn apart, as his son; Cory turns
against him and also becomes a rebel. After leveling serious criticism on how Troy tormented
his life and dreams for a better future, he vows not to attend his funeral. “I’m not going to papa’s
funeral… the whole time I was growing up… living in his house… papa was like a shadow that
followed you everywhere.
It weighted on you and sunk into your flesh” (96) Cory laments bitterly,
Troy’s adulterous act with Alberta also contributes to Troy’s backwardness and family
disintegration. The nature of trust between Rose and Troy is broken here, because Rose has
vowed never to have anything to do with Troy, especially when the news about Alberta’s
pregnancy for “Troy filters in.
To further demonstrate that Rose is an embodiment of unity and
family’s rebirth, she tries to convince Cory not to speak despicably against his dead father and
to assure him that Troy means well for the family, “Your daddy wanted you to be everything he
wasn’t… and at the same time he tried to make you everything he was… he meant to do more
good than he meant to do harm” (97) Rose cautions Cory.
Troy also sees Rose as a good
woman capable of uniting the family when he says… “I know she’s a good woman I have been
married to her for eighteen years” (6). Bono also confirms this in his words. “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”. (61).
Also, Rose forgives Troy and accepts to bring up Raynell, that is, the illegitimate daughter of
Troy and Alberta who died shortly after child birth in order to promote peace harmony and
family integration in Maxsons.
4. Betrayal and Forgiveness:
Theme of betrayal of trust is evident in the actions of Troy towards almost everyone in the play.
To Rose, Troy breaks their marital vow which spells out one man, one wife, and also kicks
against adulterous act he committed with Alberta which result to the birth of Raynell. Rose
being a kind-heartedwoman, she refuses to return evil for evil, and forgives Troy and opts to
bring up Raynell. A motherless child has got a hard time… from right now… this child got a
mother? (80) Rose assures Troy of her commitment to keep supporting the family.
Also, Troy
betrays Gabriel, his own brother when he offer him to be taken to psychiatric hospital in order
for him to have part of the money that was paid to Gabe as compensation he got from the army,
Troy uses the money to buy a house and push Gabe out. Cory is not also left out of the long list
of persons betrayed by Troy without realizing it. Troy betrays Gabriel when he signs him into
mental hospital also.
Cory feels betrayed by Troy because of high-handedness with which he
handles his life and his future career. Troy uses his past failures to Judge Cory’s future by his
(Troy) refusal to allow him choose football as his career.
The thought of how the white failed to
allow him play baseball professionally makes Troy place a stop to Cory’s football career without
realizing the implications. This causes enmity between Troy and his son.
Bono also feels betrayed by Troy’s act of adultery with Alberta and he deserts troy in the end.
Though many of the characters are hurt or betrayed by Troy’s actions, the final scene shows
that they also have respect for him. Though they are disappointed by the things he did. Troy
always does what he thinks is right and that is why he never apologize for anything he does in
the play.
Rose further demonstrates that forgiveness is the key to life as she forgives Troy and charges
others especially Cory to forgive his dad. She agrees to bring up Raynell in spite of all that Troy
did to her.
5. Mortality and Death:
Mortality is predominant in the play. It is a form of foreshadow where Troy Maxson claims that
he literally wrestled with death and won. We see several monologues throughout the play where
he taunts and challenges death, almost daring it to try and take him again. Troy’s attitude
towards death is relaxed, clam and peaceful. He sees death as inevitable end – a compulsory
journey that everyone must embark on. “Ain’t anything wrong with talking about death?
That’s
part of life. Everybody gonna die. You gonna die, I’m gonna die. Bono’s gonna die. Hell, we all
gonna die” (10).
Troy bellows. Troy also sees death as being weak and powerless, because one
can choose whether to allow it kill one or not. He also recounts how he fought with death in the
middle of July, 1941. “It seems like death himself reached out and touched me on the shoulder.
He touched me just like I touch you. I got cold as ice and death standing there grinning at me”
(11).
Troy admits that while fighting with death and death throws off his attempt to fight and
defeat death. Troy still believes that death will come after him someday because it is not easy
to conquer death. “Death ain’t anything to play with. And I know… he’s gonna have to fight to
get me” (12).
Also, Gabriel on his part believes in mortality and he admits that heaven and hell are real and
“The devil’s strong. The devil aint no pushover… But I got my trumpet waiting on the Judgment
time” (47).
The fact that Gabe is partially sane, his words foreshadows death that later visits
Troy in the end. Death therefore is seen as an ultimate chance for peace. Troy triumphs over
death because he never lets fear of it control his life. Wilson seems to speak against Troy’s
view of death, and how this view informs his approach to life and the people around him.
5. List and explain the Characters in the play
Major Characters
1. TROY MAXSON: Troy is the central character or protagonist of Fences. He is a fifty-three-yearold
African-American. The husband of Rose and father of Lyons, Cory ans Raynell. He is a
garbage collector by profession.
The story revolves around him as an African American man
who works for the sanitation department, lifting garbage into trucks. He is also a former
baseball player in the Negro leagues, and he is unable to play for major leagues, not until the
major league started to accept blacks.
Troy is hardworking, strong, disciplined and fond of
telling imaginative and compelling stories about death. Troy’s years of hard work which only
yields meager and fruitless progress demoralizes him. He often fails to provide the needed love,
care and support that could mean the whole world for his family as the family’s breadwinner.
Troy is also narrow minded and his parochial views about life create conflicts with every
character in the play. This results to his inability to accept others' choices in life when they
differ from Troy’s philosophy.
Troy rules his household with iron hand; for he aggressively disagrees with Lyons’ decision to
be a musician and Cory’s decision to play football in college as well as Rose’s habit of playing
the numbers. Troy lives in dual existence; with two opposing ideas. His life’s history is half of
hope and half filled with disappointment. He once lived at the top of his career opportunity as a
baseball player and later ended up as a garbage collector. He does the opposite of what he
preaches and that is why he could hide his extramarital affairs with Alberta who died during
childbirth.
2. ROSE MAXSON: Rose is Troy’s devoted wife and mother of his second son, Cory. She is a
forty three year-old African-American house wife who volunteers to attend church regularly. She
is ten years younger than Troy. Her devotion to him stem from her recognition of the
possibilities of her life without him. She is a woman with excellent spirit and great
understanding. She recognizes Troy’s spirit as a fine and illuminating one and she either
ignores or forgives his faults, only some of which she recognizes, Rose’s request that Troy and
Cory build a fence in their small dirt backyard comes to represent her desire to keep her loved
ones close to her with tender care while she is doing everything to unit her family; Troy is busy
destroying the family’s dreams and aspiration.
She is a compassionate mother in all of her relationship with the members of her family, unlike
Troy who discriminates. She is a fair Judge of character, and she sincerely hopes for a better
future for her husband and son by not begrudging the stagnant situation at the moment. She is
also kind, peaceful and ever willing to forgive those who wrong her. Rose’s acceptance of
Troy’s illegitimate daughter, Reynell, as her own child demonstrates this attribute of hers “I’ll
take care of your baby for you… she’s innocent… and you can’t visit the sins of the father upon
the child. A motherless child has got a hard time”, Rose submits.
3. CORY MAXSON: Cory is Troy and Rose’s teenage son. He is an ambitious young man who has
the talent and determination to realize his dreams. He is a very respectful and compassionate
nephew to his disabled uncle Gabriel.
He is quite passionate and optimistic about great future
to become a footballer and he needs to actualize it through his father’s support and love, but his
father does not support this dream. His father believes that he can’t excel as a result of racism.
He prefers him to read more books to get promoted in his A & P Job, or learn how to fix cars or
build houses or learn a trade.
Troy views Cory’s career aspirations as idealistic and detached
from the realities of a racist society where the white dominate world of sports will not support
his son’s dream of becoming a footballer.
He is a dynamic and persistent person, for he is undaunted by Troy’s bully and this makes Cory
hate him vehemently. He refuses to attend Troy’s funeral because of his father’s hard
handedness.
“I’m not going to papa’s funeral… the whole time… living in his house… papa was
like a shadow that followed you everywhere. It weighed on you and sunk into your flesh” (96)
Cory bursts out with rage. He does not want to be Troy Maxson, he wants to be himself. He
says this to stand up to his father who is not willing to support his dreams.
August Wilson uses Cory as an opposing force to Troy’s views and values for which Troy
stands for and the clash between both is the central conflict in the play. Cory undergoes
transformation when he leaves home to join the marines in the end.
4. GABRIEL MAXSON: Gabriel or Gabe is Troy’s brother who is mentally ill. He was injured in the
Second World War, where he received a head injury that required a metal plate to be surgically
implanted into his head.
He’s given a cheque from the government, the part which Troy used to
buy the Maxson’s home which is the setting of the play. Gabriel wanders around the
neighborhood carrying a trumpet and singing. He sees himself as angel Gabriel who opens the
gates of heaven with his trumpet for Saint Peter on Judgment Day.
However, just before the play begins, Gabriel has moved out to live with a lady named Miss.
Pearl, Troy who is afraid that he will no longer get Gabe’s disability cheque commits him to a
mental hospital and continues to receive half of Gabe’s cheque.
5. BONO: Jim Bono is Troy’s friend of over thirty years and fellow garbage collector. They met
while serving in prison. Between both of then, Bono is a follower while Troy’s is the leader.
Bono admires Troy’s attitude and he attempts to mimic his behaviours, and Troy’s affair with
Alberta and the resultant pregnancy lead to disharmony and bridge in their relationship. Bono is
disappointed with his friend’s and feels that such affair will ruin his marriage with Rose. In
contrast to Troy, Bono remains a loving and faithful husband to his wife, Lucille, whom he
proudly talks about with passionate attention. He also claims that Lucille has made him a
better man.
At the beginning before Bono and Troy’s clash, Bono used to spend every Friday after work
drinking beers and telling stories with Troy on the Maxson's backyard. Then, Bono seems to
admire Troy’s honesty, capacity for hard work and his strength.
6. LYONS MAXSON: Lyons is Troy’s thirty-four years old son from a previous marriage. He wants to be a musician and he’s more interested in the rituals and idea of being a musician than in actual practice of the music. Lyons was born before Troy’s time in jail with a woman Troy met before he became a baseball prayer. Lyons is an ambitious and talented Jazz musician. He grew up without Troy who was still in prison much of his childhood Lyons, like most musicians is finding it difficult to make a living because he only depends on his girlfriend, Bonnie whom we never see on stage for money, Lyons does not live with Troy, Rose and Cory, but comes to the house frequently on Troy’s payday to ask for money. He cares little or nothing about his father, Lyons only visits when he needs money. Troy on the other hand often ridicules Lyons for his lifestyle and for the fact that he is unemployed and financially supported by his wife, Bonnie. Lyon’s choice of Jazz music playing appears as an unconventional and foolish occupation to Troy who calls such music “Chinese music” because he perceives the music is foreign and impractical. At the end of the play, Lyons and Bonnie divorce and Lyons is sentenced to Jail for “cashing other people’s checks.
7. RAYNELL MAXSON: Raynell is Troy’s illegitimate child by his mistress Alberta. Troy brings Raynell to Rose to take care of her when she is just three days old when her mother died shortly after the delivery of the baby and Rose complies because she feels the child is innocent and does not deserve any harm. “I’ll take care of your baby for you… she is innocent and you can’t visit the sins of the father upon the child" Rose declares to Troy. Raynell has grown into a sweet seven-year’s old girl by the time of her father’s Troy funeral in 1961. She sings Troy’s favorite song at his funeral which helps to ease Cory’s pain and anguish. Raynell’s innocence and youth represents the Maxson family’s hopes for a better future. She is very pretty and precious and Lyons perceives that her beauty is capable of breaking a whole lot of hearts.
8. ALBERTA: Alberta is Troy’s illegitimate wife and mistress and the mother of Raynell who is never seen in the play. She dies while giving birth to her daughter Raynell, whom Rose brings up. Alberta’s adulterous relationship and the ensuring birth of Raynell cause the Maxson family to fall apart. She symbolizes an escape route for Troy to escape real problems of life.
Minor Characters
1. Bonnie: Lyons’ girlfriend who works in the laundry at Mercy Hospital2. Mr. Stawicki: Cory’s boss at the A & P
3. Coach Zellman: Cory’s high school football coach who encourgages recruiters to come to see Cory play football.
4. Mr. Rand: Bono and Troy’s boss at the sanitation Department who doubted that Troy would win his discrimation case.
5. Miss pearl: Gabe’s landlady at his new apartment.
6. Narrate Act-By-Act Plot Summary of the play
ACT ONE: SCENE ONE:
The play begins with the introduction of its central character, Troy Maxson, a black man of 53
years and his long time friend Bono. The year is 1952 and the two are garbage collectors that
have come to Troy’s yard on Friday pay day, to talk and drink. Troy is said to be a hard worker
and that he used to be a talented baseball player. Troy reveals a story about a co-worker named
Brownie who lied to their boss, Mr. Rand about having water melon in his hands, and hide, also
Troy recounts what happened at work when he asked his boss, Mr. Rand why the black
employees aren’t allowed to drive the garbage trucks, but only lift the garbage.
Troy says that
Mr. Rand hold him to take the complaint to the union the following Friday, and Troy is not even
afraid of getting fired. Their conversation shift from Troy’s complaint at work to subject of
Alberta, a lady who hangs out at Taylor’s bar, Troy and Bono often visit. Bono indirectly asks
whether Troy is having an affair with her at all.
Troy insists that he has not “eyed” women since
he met his wife, Rose. Bono agrees to disagree that he has once seen Troy walking around
Alberta’s house when Troy is supposed to be at Tailor’s Troy tells Bono that Alberta is from
Tallahassee.Rose enters and reveal to Bono and others that Troy’s son, Cory has been recruited
by a college football team and the college coach is coming to visit.
Troy was a baseball player in
the Negro leagues but never got a chance to play in the major leagues because he got too old to
play just as the major leagues begin accepting black players. Troy does not want Cory to play
ball but to learn, a trade. Troy exclaims that it is unfair to prohibit anyone who is good at playing
from playing in the majors. Rose warns him saying, “You gonna drink yourself to death”.
Troy
casts his mind back to a long epic story about his struggle in July 1943 with death.
Lyons, a son Troy had before he met Rose shows up at the house. He asks Troy to borrow him
ten dollars. Troy continues his saga about death changing the time and situation in which he
met death and the devil, Troy remembers how Lyons was raised, for he was in jail for most of
Lyons’ childhood.
Lyons and Rose convince Troy to give Lyons the ten dollars. Troy
embarrasses Rose, by bragging to Bono that he loves his wife and he will make love to her on
Monday morning.
ACT ONE: SCENE TWO:
The scene opens with Rose singing about Jesus as a fence that protects her while hanging her
laundry in the yard on Saturday morning. Troy tells Rose at work that everyone thinks he is
going to be fired, but he does not think it will happen. Gabriel, Troy’s brother shows up with a
basket. He sings a song about telling plums. Troy explains to Gabe that he is not mad at him
for leaving their home.
Gabe is brain-damaged from a war (World War 2) and sometimes thinks he is the angel Gabriel.
Gabe often refers to St. Peter as if he knows him personally. He tells Troy that he has once
seen St. Peter’s book for judgment day and Troy’s name appeared inside and Rose’s name too
but not the way Troy’s name appeared. Gabe sings warning song, warning Troy to get ready for
Judgment day. Rose and Troy deliberate on what to do to help Gabe now that he has moved to
Miss Pearls’. Meanwhile, Troy is feeling some guilt for mismanaging Gabe’s money he received
from the government. Rose reminds Troy about the fence she’s asked him to finish building.
Troy promises to continue after watching baseball game.
ACT ONE: SCENE THREE:
Cory comes home from football training and Rose queries him from leaving the house without
doing his house chores or helping Troy with the fence. Cory disagrees that Troy never works on
the fence, but prefers to play games and drink at Tailor’s. Troy suddenly arrives home and then
yells at Cory to help him with the fence and he warns Cory for going out to play football instead
of chores. While working on the fence. Cory asks Troy if they can buy television so as to watch
the World Series on TV, and it will cost two hundred Dollars, Troy strikes a deal with Cory to
come up with one hundred dollars and he will make it up, after Troy argues that buying a new
roof would be better with insured future security. Both engage in a friendly argument about the
status of black players in the major leagues.
Unfortunately, Troy disappoints Cory by not
agreeing to sign the permission papers for Cory to play college football, even a coach is coming
from North Carolina to recruit Cory, but even with the knowledge of how far the coach is
traveling to see his son, Troy will not change his mind. Cory pleads with Troy to change his mind
but Troy refuses on the condition that Cory gets his job back. Cory demands to know why Troy
hates him that much. Troy responds by explaining his belief that his role as a father is to provide
shelter and food and the gift of life to a son and nothing more. Troy also demands a militarylike
respect from Cory as a father.
Rose who wades into the matter concurs that Troy should
allow Cory play football since the boy is taking his father’s footsteps. Troy explains that when
Cory was born, he personally decided that he would not allow Cory pursue a career in sports in
order for him not to end up like himself.
Rose, tries to get Troy to admit that he was rather too
old to play for the major leagues at 40 and that time has changed since the year Troy was
prohibited, from playing because of the color of his skin. Troy vows never to rescind his
decision and claims that he is trying to give everything he has to his family. This scene marks
the end to Troy and Cory’s blissful relationship. The blow to their relationship is an irreconcilable
one.
ACT ONE: SCENE FOUR:
It is Friday once again on a payday. As usual, Troy and Bono are in Troy’s house drinking and
talking. Troy has won his case against the commissioner’s office. He has been given promotion
that will make him the first black garbage truck driver in the city. Lyon shows up and asks if Troy
wants to hear him play jazz that night. Troy calls jazz, a Chinese music” because it is foreign
and unfamiliar to his ears and he does not understand it. Lyons and Bono case Troy because he
does not know how to drive and read. Lyons surprises Troy when he pays back the ten dollars
he borrowed.
Gabriel also appears in this scene and continues to talk about how he was responsible for
opening the gates of heaven on Judgment Day, Bono and Troy remember their dead fathers and
their childhood experiences of becoming men. Cory comes home very furious and angry after
finding out that Troy went to the high school football coach, Zellman and told him that Cory may
not play on the team anymore.
ACT TWO: SCENE ONE:
Cory still stands his ground that he is not quitting the football team, Rose agrees to convince
Troy on his behalf as soon as Troy comes home from bailing Gabriel out of jail who was
arrested for disturbing the peace.This cost Troy fifty dollars. Troy and Bono believe that the
police arrested Gabriel and others because it is easy for them to make money out of him. While
making the fence, Bono complains that the wood is too hard and difficult. Cory and Troy are
still wondering about the essence of the fence.Bono them declares to Cory and Troy that people
build fences to keep people out… and other build fences to keep people in Bono is indirectly
referring to Troy’s extramarital affair, not wanting to state it directly in the presence of Cory, but
shares his opinion on what Troy should do through his explanation of the fence. Bono implies
that Troy should respect Rose’s love and be loyal to her love instead of pushing her and Cory
away from him.
Troy finally admits to Bono that he is indeed having an affair with Alberta. Bono wants Troy to
stop the affair before Rose finds out. Bono bets with Troy that as soon as he finished building
fence for Rose, Bono will buy his wife, Lucille the refrigerator he has promised her for a long
time. Argument ensues between Troy and Rose as to whether Gabriel needs supervision or not.
Troy discloses to Rose that he is going to be a father to a child of another woman. Gabe shows
up and interrupts their conversation. Rose who becomes very disappointed and upset, laments
that she can’t believe that Troy could do this after she has been this loyal to him for eighteen
years.
Rose states that she has been a good wife and mother, and so Troy should have stayed with her
Troy confesses to Rose that he does what he did to get away from the pains of his unstable
career and life’s frustration. Rose who feels totally hurt accuses Troy of being selfish and not
giving, but always takes from her. This infuriates Troy and consequently grabs Rose’s arm and
she yells loudly when she couldn’t bear the pains. Cory rushes in and punches Troy in the chest.
Both of them are surprised at the actions.
ACT TWO: SCENE TWO:
Rose and Troy have not been in talking terms for the past six months because of Troy’s affair
outside, and Troy has been going to Alberta’s house every Friday after work. He wants to have
sometime to himself to relax and enjoy his life. Troy is off to hospital to see Alberta who is in
labor. Troy is hit by worse news about Gabriel who has been taken away to the asylum. Troy
has made a mistake in sending Gabe away because he could not read the papers that he signed.
Troy denies having signed the paper, but Rose recognizes his signature, and this makes Rose
angry at Troy for not signing the papers so that Cory could go to college to play football and
then sign the papers for Gabe to be locked up in a mental hospital. A call comes in to inform
Rose that Alberta has delivered of a baby but died during childbirth. This news weakens Troy
who calls for a duel with death. He challenges death to confront him “man to man”.
ACT TWO: SCENE THREE:
Troy comes home with the motherless baby, called Raynell. He sit on the porch singing a blue
song about a man begging train engineer to let him ride the train in hiding for free. “Train” in
Oral traction in African American represents a crossroads in a person’s life or life changing
experiences, or a ride to heaven and a ticket away from the troubles of life on earth. Rose
therefore decides to welcome the baby home since the baby is innocent and shouldn’t be
blamed for Troy’s sins. “You can’t visit the sins of the father upon the child. This child got a
mother but you’re a “woman-less man”. Rose takes in Troy’s baby, Raynell as her own child, but
refuses to accept Troy back. Rose rejects Troy as her partner.
ACT TWO: SCENE FOUR:
Rose is preparing for a church when Lyons arrives to return the twenty dollars he borrowed
from Troy as loan. This time Cory has graduated, and is currently looking for a job since jobs
are scarce. Lyons suggests to Cory that he asks Troy to help him find a job. Troy who now lives
life of isolation and loneliness drinks without Bono and sings a blue song to himself. Bono and
himself are no longer friends and they don’t work in the same trash route anymore every since
Troy gained promotion as Truck driver in a white neighborhood. When Troy and Bono finally
meet, they discuss their hopes for an early retirement and their wives. We also learn that Rose
is more religious now and more dedicated to her church.
Cory comes home and steps over Troy on the porch without saying excuse me. Troy picks up
a fight with Cory as a result of Cory’s inability to respect Troy as the father of the house. Troy
insists that Cory leave the house and provide for himself since he does not respect him as the
man of the house and the breadwinner who provide for Cory. To defend his actions, Cory points
out Troy’s recent shortcomings and failings as a role model, and the house Troy is claiming
belongs to Gabriel. Troy physically attacks Cory on account of this revelation, and Cory swings
at Troy with a baseball but does not hit Troy because he would probably kill him. Troy taunts
death and ready for death.
ACT TWO: SCENE FIVE:
It is 1965, and Troy is dead. Raynell who is already seven year old plays in the midst of her
newly planted garden. Troy died of a heart attack when he was swinging a bat at the baseball
that hangs from a tree in their yard.
Cory returns home from the marines in his uniform. He is
engaged to marry a woman after he broke up with Bonnie. Cory confesses to Rose on his
refusal to attend Troy’s funeral, because he wants to rebel against Troy. After much persuasion
and Rose’s teaches, Cory explains to Rose why he has mixed feelings for Troy.
“Papa was like a
shadow that followed you everywhere” (98) Cory therefore sees Troy is a stockier who never
allows him to be what he wants to become in life. Gabriel shows up lastly, having been released
or escaped from the asylum. He informs everyone that it is time to tell St. Peter to open the
gates of heaven for Troy. Gabe blows his trumpet but no sound. He tries several times but the
trumpet wouldn’t play. He turns his frustration into an improvised African song and sings for
heaven to open wide. “That’s the way that goes“ Gabriel bellows.
Rationale:
FENCES is set in the modest home of Troy Maxson: a dirt compound with a two storied brick house, set off a back alley. Two junky chairs sits on a porch that badly needs to be painted. The description suggests that the Maxsons are not exactly rich but barely gets by on Maxson’s garbage collectors salary. Being a family of little means, we are reminded that money is constant concern for the Troy’s family. The location of Maxson family house is in Pittsburgh even the name Pittsburgh is not exactly mentioned in the place but there are signs that indicated the play was actually set there. For instance, Pittsburgh is the playwright home town and almost all his plays takes place there. The play also directly mentioned many Pittsburgh landmarks like the strip district, a popular market area.Pittsburgh as a setting seems to be particularly significant because of what the town and other Northern industrial cities represented for many black people. In the decade following the civil war, many African- American migrated northwards to escape the poverty and racial discrimination of the south. They hoped to find work in the factories but were often disappointed. Troy discusses not being able to find work when he first came to Pittsburgh. He ended up living in a shack and resorted to crime to survive. In some ways, Pittsburgh represented promises and promises broken.
The plays time period is in the 1950’s. Some progress has been made in terms of race relations since Troy was younger. Probably the most significant bit of progress to the play was in the area of sport specifically football. The pro sport teams has been integrated. This seems to annoy Troy the more because it reminded him of the lost opportunity he had to become a football star. It is important to note that even though progress has been in this area, there were still more areas in the black American racial struggle that little or no progress was recorded. We are also made to note that this was before the days of the civil right movement in American history. The south was still officially segregated and in the North, many African- Americans faced unofficial racial barriers. The racial tension of the times definitely combine significantly to the conflicts in the play.
The time setting of the play is important because the 1950’s represents a time of great upheaval in the race relations in the United States. Troy Maxson represent a previous generation that now watches the world moves on around them. They have been maligned by the white transgressors and yet have been able to corner a small portion of the country’s booming wealth for themselves. Troy dies however in 1965, the year of the greatest legislative triumph of the civil right era. He is not able to enjoy the victory that he helped bring about.
Prerequisite/ Previous knowledge:
Storyings, songs, history etc.Learning Resources:
Flash cards, an audio video youtube examples, Available useful objects.Reference Materials:
1. Exam focus on Literature in English by J.O.J Nwachukwu et’al.2. Standard literature in English vol.4 by Tony Duru
3. Fences by August Wilson
4. Internet sources
Lesson Development:
STAGE |
TEACHER'S ACTIVITY |
LEARNER'S ACTIVITY |
LEARNING POINTS |
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| STEP 1: PREVIOUS KNOWLEDGE full class session (3 mins) |
The teacher Introduces the lesson by asking questions based on previous knowledge What do you understand by setting of a play? |
The students respond to the questions based on previous knowledge. Setting in any work of art specifically refers to location (place), duration (time) and the background that a story takes place. |
Reversing previous lesson |
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| STEP 2: INTRODUCTION full class session (3 mins) Identification of prior ideas. |
The teacher review/introduce what they are going to study today, the drama “Fences” by August Wilson. INTRODUCTION TO FENCES The story is set in the 1950s and revolves around Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball player turned sanitation worker, and his family. Troy is a complex character who grapples with issues of race, identity, responsibility, and the American Dream. He is a flawed man, grappling with the consequences of his past decisions and his relationships with his family, particularly his son Cory. The title "Fences" serves as a metaphor throughout the play. Troy, in building a fence around his yard, seeks to protect what he has, but also inadvertently builds barriers between himself and his loved ones. The fence symbolizes the walls Troy constructs in his own life, separating him from his family emotionally and socially. The play explores themes of fatherhood, duty, dreams deferred, and the weight of history. It delves into the complexities of relationships, particularly between fathers and sons, and the impact of societal constraints on individual aspirations. Wilson's rich dialogue and vivid characters make "Fences" a compelling exploration of the African-American experience and the universal struggles of humanity. |
The students listen attentively to the teacher. | Introducing the topic for discussion to arouse their interests and refresh their memories. |
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| STEP 3: DEVELOPMENT Group Work (2 mins) |
The teacher guides the learners to form four groups and asks them to choose their leaders and secretaries. | Learners choose their group leaders and secretaries. | Inculcating leadership skills, competitive spirit, cooperation, teamwork and a sense of responsibility among learners. |
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| STEP 4: EXPLORATION 3 mins Mode: Individual |
The teacher presents to the class the instructional resources and leads the students
to air their views on them. Thereafter, Teacher asks probing questions that lead students to: explain the plot summary of the drama. The teacher makes contribution were necessory. |
The students explain the plot summary of the play. August Wilson’s Fences explores the struggles of the Maxson's, an African-American family, who lives in a white dominated environment in the era of extreme racism. The play addresses their dreams, aspirations, struggles and their inability to realize this dream. . The play opens on a Friday in 1957, that is, Troy’s and Bono’s payday. Troy is fifty three years old while Bono is his friend of thirty-odd years. They are dressed in clothes suitable for their jobs as garbage collectors. They both go to Troy’s house to do their ritual of drinking and talking. In their conversation. Troy reveals to Bono how he has asked Mr. Rand, their boss, why the black employees are not allowed to drive the garbage trucks, only to lift the garbage. He complains that they might fire him for asking such question. Troy wants a change in job description where everyone will be entitled to equal job opportunity. Bono accuses Troy of eyeing a girl and cheating on his wife for buying a drink for a lady. Troy denies Bono’s claim and admits that he has never cheated on his wife, Rose who is about fortythree years old. Cory, Troy’s son has just be recruited by a college football team. Troy laments that the whites will not allow him to succeed as a footballer. Rather, 'He ought to go and get recruited on how to fix cars or something where he can make a living” amTro says.Bono insists that there are a lot of black boys playing ball now, Troy tells his own story how he got frustrated when he was in Negro leagues, but never got a chance to play in the major leagues because he was too old (40 years) to play just as the major leagues began accepting blacks players.This rejection plays a major part in shaping Troy's life.Troy casts his mind back in long epic story about his struggles in July 1943 with death when Rose cautions him not to drink himself to death. Lyons, Troy’s oldest son from a previous marriage who is thirty-four years old enters because he knows it is Troy’s pay day. He has come to borrow ten dollars from Troy and he wants to become a musician. Troy has agreed to give him money and he will payback with interest, Rose then reminds Troy about the fence she’s asked him to finish building. While Cory and Troy are working on the fence, Cory breaks the news that he had stopped working at the local grocery stores, the A & P, during the football season. Cory begs Troy to let him play because a Coach from North Carolina is coming all the way to Pittsburgh to see Cory play. Troy refuses and demands Cory to get his job back Cory then insists that, his boss, Mr. Stawicki has already hired somebody else when he told him he wanted to play football. This act one, scene four takes place on Friday. Troy has won his case and has been assigned as the first colored garbage truck driver in the city. Bono and Troy remember their father and their childhood experience of leaving home in the south and moving north. Cory comes home enraged after finding out that Troy told the football coach that Cory may not play on the team. It seems that the main conflict of the play will involve Troy’s son Cory. Cory has the chance to go to college on a football scholarship, but Troy refuses to sign the permission paper. Troy says he does not want his son to suffer from the same racial discrimination that kept Troy from being a pro baseball player. This tension comes to an end when Troy tells Cory’s high school football coach that Cory can’t play football anymore, which destroys Cory’s hopes of going to college. However things begin to fall apart in the second act, for Troy when Alberta becomes pregnant. He feels bad that he has messed his affair with Rose, especially when Alberta dies during child birth. Rose agrees to raise the baby girl, Raynell, but says she no longer considers herself as Troy’s woman. Troy not only lose his mistress and his wife, but also his best friend Bono; for they no longer hangout together. Rose takes in Raynell as her own child but refuses to be dutiful as Troy’s wife. Gabriel, Troy’s brother has been taken away to the asylum because Troy couldn’t read the papers and sign him away. On Troy’s payday, Bono shows up uninvited, both Troy and Bono acknowledge the fence and the refrigerator Bono bought for his wife, Lucille as a promise for a long time. Another argument between Troy and Cory spring up. Troy insists that Cory leave the house to cater for himself. Troy insists that Cory leave the house to cater for himself. Cory exposes Troy’s secret relent disgrace on Rose when Cory points out that the house and property from which Troy is occupying belongs to Gabriel whose government checks paid for most of the mortgage payment. “You took Uncle Gabe's money he got from the army to buy this house and then you put him out… I aint going nowhere! Come on… put me out I aint scared of you” (88) Cory rants. Troy physically attacks Cory. Troy succeeds in throwing Cory out of the house for good, and Troy swings the baseball bar in the air and begins to taunt death. The final scene opens in 1965 with Raynell who is already seven years old, she is playing in her newly planted garden. Meanwhile, Troy has died of heart attack, Cory returns home from marines, but refuses to attend Troy’s funeral. “I’m not going to papa’s funeral… The whole time I was growing up… living in this house… papa was like a shadow that followed you everywhere. It weighed on you and sunk into your flesh I don’t want to be Troy Maxson. I want to be me” (96) Cory lament bitterly. Rose raises eye brown on Cory’s inability to pay his father’s final respect. She says that not attending Troy’s funeral does not make Cory a man Cory is on the path to becoming his own man and forgiving his father when he and young Raynell sing one of Troy’s father’s blues songs. Gabriel turns up released or escaped from the mental hospital. He tries to blow his trumpet to open the gates of heaven for Troy, and when no sound comes out, he embarks on a ritualistic dance and chant. He finally cries out and the heavens open as wide as God’s closet. “That’s the way that go” Gabe screams. |
Plot Summary of the play. |
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| STEP 5: DISCUSSION 5 mins. Mode: Group |
The teacher guides the learners to discuss the background setting of the playwright. | The Students in their various groups discuss the background setting of the playwright. Frederick August Kittel Wilson was born to a German father and an African –American mother in 1945. Wilson was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. His father drifted in and out of the family. His mother and a step-father called David Bedford mostly raised him. When Wilson was 16, he was accused of plagiarism at school when he wrote a sophisticated paper that the authorities did not believe he could write. When Wilson principal could not recognized the validity of his work, she suspended him and later ignored his attempts to come back school. Wilson soon dropped out of school and educate himself at the local library, reading everything he could find. In 1960, Wilson got himself involved in the black power movement while he work on poetry and short stories. Eventually in the sixties, Wilson reinvented himself as a playwright. His work was nurtured through institutions like the Yale school of drama where the dean of drama school at that time, theater director Lloyd Richards recognized Wilson’s talent. While working a variety of jobs, Wilson began to write eventually in 1968 the black horizon on the hill theater company.it was not untiln1978, however when he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota that Wilson began to produce mature drama. Wilson took it upon himself to write plays about black experiences in the United States. Fences is his play about blacks in the 1950’s. Beginning in the 1957, between the Korean and Vietnam War, Fences ends in 1965 but the themes of the play directly placed its consciousness in the pre-civil right movements. All of Wilson’s plays takes place in the town of Pittsburgh and Fence is no exception. Some of Wilson’s other plays are: the Jitney (1982), Ma Rainey’s black bottom (1984), Fullerton street, Joe Turner’s come and gone, Fences is his third play. All the plays were written in a cycle called the Pittsburgh cycle because they focused on Pittsburgh in the 1950’s. In 1990, Wilson won his second Pulitzer with the piano lessons. His more recent work includes two trains running (1992) WHICH Involves a diner on the verge of being torn down and seven guitars (1995) Wilson’s homage to blues guitarist Floyd Barton. August Wilson died at the age of 60 in Seattle in 2005 and was buried in his native Pittsburgh. |
background setting of the playwright. |
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| STEP 6: APPLICATION 4 mins Mode: Group |
The Teacher allows some contributions from students, characterization analysis of the play. | The Students made contribution on the character analysis of the play. 1. Troy Maxson: The protagonist of Fences, a fifty-three year-old, African American man who works for the sanitation department, lifting garbage into trucks. Troy is also a former baseball star in the Negro Leagues. Troy's athletic ability diminished before the Major Leagues accepted Black players. Hard-working, strong and prone to telling compelling, fanciful stories and twisting the truth, Troy is the family breadwinner and plays the dominant role in his over thirty-year friendship with fellow sanitation worker, Jim Bono. Troy's character is the centerpiece that all of the other relationships in Fences gather around. Troy is husband to Rose, father to Lyons, Cory, and Raynell, and brother to Gabriel. Troy is a tragic-hero who has excessive pride for his breadwinning role. Troy's years of hard-work for only meager progress depress him. Troy often fails to provide the love and support that would mean the most to his loved ones. 2. Cory Maxson: The teenage son of Troy and Rose Maxson. A senior in high school, Cory gets good grades and college recruiters are coming to see him play football. Cory is a respectful son, compassionate nephew to his disabled Uncle Gabriel, and generally, a giving and enthusiastic person. An ambitious young man who has the talent and determination to realize his dreams, Cory comes of age during the course of the play when he challenges and confronts Troy and leaves home. Cory comes home from the Marines in the final scene of the play, attempting to defy Troy by refusing to go to his funeral, but Cory changes his mind after sharing memories of his father with Rose and Raynell. 3. Rose Maxson: Troy's wife and mother of his second child, Cory. Rose is a forty-three year-old African American housewife who volunteers at her church regularly and loves her family. Rose's request that Troy and Cory build a fence in their small, dirt backyard comes to represent her desire to keep her loved-ones close to her love. Unlike Troy, Rose is a realist, not a romantic longing for the by- gone days of yore. She has high hopes for her son, Cory and sides with him in his wish to play football. Rose's acceptance of Troy's illegitimate daughter, Raynell, as her own child, exemplifies her compassion. 4. Gabriel Maxson: Troy's brother. Gabriel was a soldier in the Second World War, during which he received a head injury that required a metal plate to be surgically implanted into his head. Because of the physical damage and his service, Gabriel receives checks from the government that Troy used in part to buy the Maxson's home where the play takes place. Gabriel wanders around the Maxson family's neighborhood carrying a basket and singing. He often thinks he is not a person, but the angel Gabriel who opens the gates of heaven with his trumpet for Saint Peter on Judgment Day. Gabriel exudes a child-like exuberance and a need to please. 5. Jim Bono: Troy's best friend of over thirty years. Jim Bono is usually called "Bono" or "Mr. Bono" by the characters in Fences. Bono and Troy met in jail, where Troy learned to play baseball. Troy is a role model to Bono. Bono is the only character in Fences who remembers, first-hand, Troy's glory days of hitting homeruns in the Negro Leagues. Less controversial than Troy, Bono admires Troy's leadership and responsibility at work. Bono spends every Friday after work drinking beers and telling stories with Troy in the Maxson family's backyard. He is married to a woman named Lucille, who is friends with Rose. Bono is a devoted husband and friend. Bono's concern for Troy's marriage takes precedent over his loyalty to their friendship. 6. Lyons Maxson: Troy's son, fathered before Troy's time in jail with a woman Troy met before Troy became a baseball player and before he met Rose. Lyons is an ambitious and talented jazz musician. He grew up without Troy for much of his childhood because Troy was in prison. Lyons, like most musicians, has a hard time making a living. For income, Lyons mostly depends on his girlfriend, Bonnie whom we never see on stage. Lyons does not live with Troy, Rose and Cory, but comes by the Maxson house frequently on Troy's payday to ask for money. Lyons, like Rose, plays the numbers, or local lottery. Their activity in the numbers game represents Rose and Lyons' belief in gambling for a better future. Lyons' jazz playing appears to Troy as an unconventional and foolish occupation. Troy calls jazz, "Chinese music," because he perceives the music as foreign and impractical. Lyons' humanity and belief in himself garners respect from others. 7. Raynell Maxson: Troy's illegitimate child, mothered by Alberta, his lover. August Wilson introduces Raynell to the play as an infant. Her innocent need for care and support convinces Rose to take Troy back into the house. Later, Raynell plants seeds in the once barren dirt yard. Raynell is the only Maxson child that will live with few scars from Troy and is emblematic of new hope for the future and the positive values parents and older generations pass on to their young. 8. Alberta: Troy's buxom lover from Tallahassee and Raynell's mother. Alberta dies while giving birth. She symbolizes the exotic dream of Troy's to escape his real life problems and live in an illusion with no time. 9. Bonnie: Lyons' girlfriend who works in the laundry at Mercy Hospital. 10. Mr. Stawicki: Cory's boss at the A&P. 11. Coach Zellman: Cory's high school football coach who encourages recruiters to come to see Cory play football. 12. Mr. Rand: Bono and Troy's boss at the Sanitation Department who doubted that Troy would win his discrimination case. 13. Miss Pearl: Gabe's landlady at his new apartment. |
Being able to Explain the character analysis of the play. |
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| STEP 7: EVALUATION Mode: Entire Class 5 mins |
The teacher asks the students the following questions: 1. Write a plot summary of the play. |
The students expected answers Fences is divided into two acts. Act One is comprised of four scenes and Act Two has five. The play begins on a Friday, Troy and Bono's payday. Troy and Bono go to Troy's house for their weekly ritual of drinking and talking. Troy has asked Mr. Rand, their boss, why the Black employees aren't allowed to drive the garbage trucks, only to lift the garbage. Bono thinks Troy is cheating on his wife, Rose. Troy and Rose's son, Cory, has been recruited by a college football team. Troy was in the Negro Leagues but never got a chance to play in the Major Leagues because he got too old to play just as the Major Leagues began accepting Black players. Troy goes into a long epic story about his struggle in July of 1943 with death. Lyons shows up at the house because he knows it is Troy's payday. Rose reminds Troy about the fence she's asked him to finish building. |
Asking the learners questions to assess the achievement of the set objectives. |
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| ASSIGNMENT | The teacher gives learners take home. 1. Discuss the title of the play and how it relates to the events in the play,"Fences” “Rose is the backbone of the Maxson”. 2. Examine the assertion in Fences. 3. Discuss the theme of dreams and aspiration in the play. 4. Examine how Troy rule his household with iron hand in Fences. 5. Assess the setting of the play and bring out how history inform the world of the play. |
The learners copy the assignment | Better understanding of the play. |
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| CONCLUSION 5 mins |
The teachers wrap up from the learners' contribution. Plot summary FENCES by August Wilson is the story of 53 years old Troy Maxson and his long-tine friend Jim Bono. It begins with the two friends having a drink on Troy porch or verandah. The two friends are both tax collectors and are discussing about conditions at their place of work, how their boss Rand denies blacks the opportunity to drive Garbage trucks. Bono asks about Alberta, a woman he has seen Troy talking to but Troy ignores his question. Rose is Troy’s wife of about eighteen years and she joins Troy on the porch. Troy explains to bono how he and Rose first met, Rose corrects some aspect of the explanations. Troy and Rose argues on several issues bordering from the kind of supermarket to patronize to the plan of their teenage son Cory to play on the football team in collage. Troy takes the reader on a flashback to his days as a young man when he was a great baseball player, how he was segregated against and kept out of the major league because he was black. This experience had embittered him. He also remembered a near-death experience he had when he was sick with pneumonia. Lyons, in his early thirties, is Troy’s son by an earlier marriage. He is just passing by and decides to say hello. Troy thinks that he wants to borrowed money. Lyons rejects Troy’s offer to get him a job because it music that he is interested in and it is music that gives his life meaning. Troy directs Lyon to get ten dollars from Rose because she is the one who gets her husband pay cheque every Friday. In Act 1, Scene2, Cory wants Troy’s help building the fence he has promised his wife. Rose tells him, his son is at the football practice. Troy’s brother Gabriel appears. Gabriel is Troy’s younger brother. He is the only one of Troy’s siblings that we encountered in the play. He is a Second World War veteran who returns home with a disabling head injury that has made him mentally unsound. Gabriel believes he is actually the arch angel in the bible. He recently moved out of Troy’s house. He is proud of the move but he thinks it upsets Troy. Troy used the money given to Gabriel for his war injuries to pay for the house they are living in. In Act 1, Scene 3, Cory comes home and Troy rebukes him about falling behind on his chores. As they work on the fence together. Cory tells Troy that he left his job to focus on football. Troy continues to refuse to meet with the football recruiters despite Cory’s pleas and he insists his son gets another job. When Cory ask Troy why he doesn’t love him, Troy talks about responsibilities. After Cory leaves, Rose asks Troy why he would not allow his son to play football. Troy truly does not trust the recruiters or understand that time has changed. Act 1, Scene 4 takes place on the next Friday night with Troy and bono engaged in their weekend ritual. Troy tells Rose, bono and Lyons that Mr. Rand has made him the first black driver. Troy and bono talks about their fathers and how they left home. Later, Cory comes in. He is furious that that Troy has forbidden the coach to let him play football or be recruited by the collage team. The act ends after Cory insults Troy who tells his son ‘that’s strike one’. As Act two opens, Troy bails Gabriel out from jail after the disable veteran is arrested for disturbing the peace. Bono reminds Troy that Rose is a good woman and Troy admits to having an affair with Alberta. He says he love Rose but cannot end the affair with Alberta. Troy confesses to Rose that Alberta is going to have his child. Troy tries to explain what the affairs means to him but Rose turns to walk away accusing Troy of taking but never giving. Troy grabs Rose roughly and Cory hits his father. Troy is ready to hit back but Rose stops him. He ‘calls strike two’ on Cory. Act 2, Scene2 occurs six months later. Alberta is about to have a baby. Troy has signed papers to have Gabriel institutionalize. Troy is now entitled to half of Gabriel’s money every month. As Rose accuses Troy of selling out his brother, a phone call informs that Alberta has died in childbirth. The scene ends with Troy challenging death who has taken Alberta, to come to him. In Act 2, Scene 3, Troy brings home his infant daughter. Rose aggress to help Troy care for the baby but says she is finished with him that he has gained a child and lost a wife. Act 2, scene 4, takes place on another Friday night a few weeks later. Lyons returns money he had borrowed from Troy. Bono, who has not visited for sometimes, stops by. The two also sees ach other less often at work since Troy’s promotion. Their connection has been lost. Cory comes home and tries to force himself pass his father who is drunk and singing on the steps. The two gets into a verbal fight that turns physical. Troy’s throws Cory out of the house. As he leaves, Cory says he has no intention of coming back. Alone, Troy taunts death again. Act 2, Scene 5 takes place seven years later. It is the morning of Troy’s funeral. Cory now a corporal in the U.S army returns for his father funeral. Jim compliments Cory on his achievement and tells him “your dad knows you had it in you”. Lyons who had been in prison for cashing other people’s cheque had received permission to attend his father funeral. Still bitter, Cory informs mother that he does not intend to attend his father’s funeral. Gabe, who is still institutionalized had also received permission to attend his brother’s funeral. Rose reminds him that Troy is still his father. Cory and his half-sister, Raynell strikes up a conversation and begins to sing Troy’s childhood song about old to signal blues, prompting Cory to change his mind and attend his father’s funeral. Gabe sees this as a momentous time: he takes out his trumpet and prepares to signal saint peter to open the gate of heaven for Troy. When no sound came out, he does a ritualistic dance and chant. In the play’s final moment, we are told the gate of heaven are wide open. The family shows many of the problems that African- American faced during this time, dealing with racism, lack of money, insufficient job opportunities and the stress of holding it all together. It ends somewhat sadly with most of its characters in worse situations than when they started almost all due to Troy influence on their lives. The only one with true potential for success is Raynell since Troy is gone and she can make her own decision without his influence. |
The students listen to the teacher and copy down notes. | Consolidating and harmonizing scientific concepts. |