Before You Read Fences…
About the Author: August Wilson
Born: April 27, 1945 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died: October 2, 2005 in Seattle, Washington
Birth Name: Frederick August Kittle
A Brief History
Is biracial (German and African-American) and was raised by
his mother and stepfather.
Was kicked out of high school for allegedly plagiarizing a paper
which was his original work. He educated himself in local
libraries and eventually connected with director Lloyd
Richards at the Yale School of Drama.
Is considered one of the foremost playwrights in Black theater
and theater in general.
His Works
Wrote a cycle of ten plays chronicling the history of black culture ranging from 1900-1990.
o Fences falls during the late 1950s- early 1960s
o All ten plays have appeared on Broadway.
Won a Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for Fences and another in 1990 for The Piano Lesson
All of his plays are staged in his hometown and are steeped in Black culture and the issues of the
day.
Won a Tony Award in 1987 for Fences
Fences
Setting: Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania from 1957-1965; the home of Troy Maxson, located in a very poor
neighborhood in town.
Characters:
Troy Maxson: father, 53; works as a garbage man.
Rose Maxson: wife of Troy and mother of Cory, 43; homemaker
Cory Maxson: son of Troy and Rose
Gabriel Maxson: brother of Troy; injured in WWII and is now being paid by the government. Sees
himself as the angel Gabriel.
Jim Bono: friend of Troy
Lyons Maxon: son of Troy from a previous relationship
Raynell Maxson: daughter of Troy (will be explained later)
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Theme: Universal ideas explored in a literary work.
Growing Up in the fractured definition of “Black Manhood”
History
What is real vs. what is imaginary
Motif: Recurring things that build the theme
Death and Baseball
Seeds and Growth
Blues
Symbol: Objects used to represent abstract themes and concepts
Trains
Fences
The Devil
Conflict: Struggle of opposing forces that moves the plot of a literary
work.
Man vs. Man
Man vs. Self
Man vs. Society
Man vs. Nature
Man vs. God
Other Items
Who is the protagonist?
Examples of foreshadowing
How does the actions of one have a strong effect on many>
Sources
Flanagan, Mark. "Conflict."about.com. The New York Times Company, n.d. Web. 19 Oct 2011.
<http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/literaryterms/g/conflict.htm>.
Isherwood, Charles. "August Wilson, Theater's Poet of Black America, Is Dead at 60." New York Times. The New York
Times Company, 03 October 2005. Web. 19 Oct 2011.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/theater/newsandfeatures/03wilson.html?pagewanted=all>
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Fences.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. n.d.. Web. 18 Oct. 2011.