In life, everyone encounters certain fences, real or imaginary, that protect them or prevent them from doing certain things. Fences by August Wilson is a play about an African American family living in the 1950s that has to deal with disadvantages due to racism during their time. In Fences, August Wilson uses different types of fences as metaphors to resemble the way they affect life. One type of fence that August Wilson uses as a metaphor is the fence that Troy builds around his yard. Rose has been asking Troy for years to finish putting it up. Troy tells Corey to get the saw and cut wood for the fence. When Corey and Troy ask about why Rose wants them to build the fence, Bono replies with, "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 " (Wilson 61). Troy is cheating on Rose with Alberta, and the fence was not built when he cheated on Rose. Symbolism shows that if the fence was built earlier, Troy would not have left and found another girl. He would have been fenced in. This fence is relates to my life. In my home, I am fenced in so my family can be close. I do not have an actual fence in my yard, but in my backyard there is a dropoff after my lawn ends, and I have a gate surrounding the pool. My parents always want me to be safe and they love me. I also have an alarm system that we put on at night, so no one can get in. This fence keeps unwanted people out of the house. .
Another type of fence that is in the play is the fence Troy puts up between him and his son Corey. He does this by putting a fence between Corey and his dream of being a football player when he says "I don't care where he coming from. The white man ain't gonna let you get nowhere with that football noway " (Wilson 35). Corey was going to get recruited by a college football team and the coach was coming all the way from North Carolina.
