Rose's Song: Fences as Tools in The Glass Menagerie

"Fences," written by August Wilson, revolves around the notion of barriers, both literal and metaphorical, faced by the characters. The term "fences" plays a vital role in representing how each character relates to the concept of boundaries, protection, isolation, and their significance in each character's life. 1. Troy Maxson: At the center of the story, Troy is a former baseball player who uses the metaphor of fences as he tries to make sense of his life. He feels fenced in by the social and racial barriers that have limited his opportunities, particularly in his baseball career. Troy also erects fences around himself as a defense mechanism, protecting himself from the harsh realities he faced growing up in poverty and experiencing discrimination. However, this behavior creates emotional distance from his family as he instills these barriers to act as both protection and isolation. 2. Rose Maxson: Troy's wife, Rose, offers a different perspective on fences. In her view, fences represent security and safety, just as the song she sings in the opening scene. She desires a fence around herself and her family to guard them from outside harm, whether it is physical or emotional. Rose builds an emotional fence around herself and invests in her family to create a united front against the world. 3. Cory Maxson: For Troy and Rose's son, Cory, fences symbolize his conflict with his father. Troy's past creates an emotional barrier that Cory finds hard to overcome. Troy is determined to protect Cory from experiencing disappointments similar to his own, but in reality, he is unknowingly stifling Cory's dreams and aspirations. In relation to baseball, fences can be seen as a barrier to success, much like the physical fence in a baseball field that prevents home runs. Troy's career as a baseball player was hindered before the sport was desegregated, which is another illustration of the "fences" of racial boundaries. The title "Fences" is apt for the play as it encapsulates the complexity of human relationships and the individual perceptions of barriers. It represents the characters' struggle to overcome—or at least cope with—personal and societal constraints. The fences that erect feelings of security, protection, and confinement can be seen as both positive and negative, highlighting the multifaceted nature of human experiences in relation to the world around them.