Fences By August Wilson Character Analysis

Minority groups often form their own communities within society, this can be shown in the play “Fences” written by August Wilson. This was illustrated by the character Troy Maxson, and his role in the black community. The importance of community to the African American culture is so significant because they feel oppressed by mainstream society. As a result of this oppression they feel the need to form their own community. Forming a community is necessary in order to create a group identity, and the driving forces that hold a community together can also be the cause of its destruction. August Wilsons “Fences” is based on a man that goes by Troy Maxson who feels confined by segregation. He is angry with the oppression he has had to face, after
As for August Wilson play, Oppression and the struggle for power is the driving force for everyone to come together with the same common cause. Troy wants to be promoted in his job because he wants to feel more important, he wants to be a driver even though he knows he doesn’t have a license, but also he wants to job because he will be making more money to survive the everyday poor hardships. There is a power struggle with the men in “Fences” they are struggling for a power that is out of reach for them, because the power is being held by someone else. They are are oppressed by white culture and simultaneously oppressed by their heritage of being held back. These men have their own freedom but they only feel a little of it. There is a struggle against the oppressive pasts and the present surroundings, and when they try to regain the power in their lives, they fail, and end up bringing the other people around them down with them. Troy tries to be the man of his household by providing a house for his family to live in, but he feels weighed down by the guilt of using his brother’s destruction as a way to jumpstart his own life. He feels like the only reason he has anything is because of the fact that his brother’s life was ruined. He says, “If my brother didn’t have that metal plate in his head...I wouldn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. And I’m fifty-three years old” (Fences