Comparing Fences 'And' Tell Me How Long The Train's Been Gone

Kevin Munguia
July 28, 2011
Comparison Essay The play “Fences” by August Wilson, is a play about a man and the struggles that life gives him during his time in the 1960’s. In the short story “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone” by James Baldwin, it talks about a boy in Harlem and how he deals with his family and with his own life as a child during the Harlem Renaissance. These stories were written during and inspired by the Harlem Renaissance Era. Since these stories were inspired by and written during this time period, they talk about some of the struggles that African-Americans faced during the time of their stories. These two stories both have a common theme that can be used as a point of comparison for the two.
The play “Fences” by August Wilson revolves around a man named Troy Maxson. Troy is and ex-con who is now working as a garbage man. His dream was to become a major league baseball player. He could never complete this dream due to his race. Later on when they accepted African-Americans to play for the major leagues, he was already to old to play in a major league team. Troy is a hard working man and is now at that point in life dealing with many struggles. He has cheated on his wife of 18 years and is now having another child with another woman. He’s also having trouble at work because of his race also and he’s having troubles with his two sons. He has never been there for his first son, Lyons and with his son Cory, he’s very distant with. Just like Lyons, it’s like he’s never there for him. These problems with his sons revolve around the theme based on father/son relationships. The short story “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone” by James Baldwin is concentrated mostly on the adventures and memories of a little boy in Harlem, during the Harlem Renaissance Era. The boy’s name is Leo. He has a real close relationship with his older brother Caleb. Leo would cover for Caleb when Caleb would leave him alone to go be with his friends. This shows that they were really close. During this time, there used to be a lot of discrimination against African-Americans. One night after leaving from a party, Caleb and Leo got stopped by a police man just because of their race. Their father talks to them about white men and they don’t understand why he talks about them the way he does until this event happens. Talking about their father, Caleb and Leo don’t have many issues with their father. Their father talks to them a lot and the only real problem is on the weekends, when his father gets drunk. This father/son relationship is an ongoing theme in the short story.

As seen, this theme about father/son relationships is ongoing throughout both of these plays.
This could be one of the only things that these two stories have in common, the theme. After that they really don’t have much in common concerning that theme. As seen in “Fences” by August Wilson, Troy and his sons have a real bad relationship. Troy is bitter and harsh. He has done many things for his sons, mostly Cory, to lose a lot of respect for him. It’s almost the complete opposite for the short story “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone” by James Balwin. Caleb and Leo don’t have as nearly as bad a relationship with their father. Compared to Troy and his sons, Caleb, Leo and his father have a good relationship. Leo’s father talks to them and tells him about how he feels. Like when he talks to his sons about how he feels about being there in Harlem during that time. They have communication, something Troy and his sons don’t have. The only problem with Leo, Caleb and their father would be that he gets drunk on the weekends. This theme, father/son relationships is one of the many themes that these two stories have. It can be used as a point of comparison for the two stories, but it seems to be the only thing they have in common involving the theme, just the
theme.