Theme and Symbolism in Fences Essay

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fences' is precisely that 'fences' and yet whilst some handicaps seem impassible, there are others that are built on mental schemas, personal experiences, and the way that we instinctively and unconsciously interpret the world. A recent book that I read (unsuccessfully traced) conveyed the author's conclusion from his years of psychotherapeutic practice which was that people construct narratives of their lives in order to make meaning of them. Frequently, these lives narratives may be self- destructive and dangerous to the person's progress. Introducing shifts in these narratives in his practice, the author often found that people were no longer obstructed by their societal or 'self' imposed fences and could move on to form totally different, fare healthier type of life for themselves. Fences, Wilson seems to tell us, are not immutable. They can be broken through and transcended would individuals so wish to do so. Some of the characters in 'fences' indeed did as much.

The characters of 'Fences' constructed numerous limitations for themselves. Some of these, it is true, were socially constructed. Even these, however, may have profited from a twist in the narrative and the characters may have emerged with a difference in their life histories.

Societal and experiential limitations are many: Blacks are not allowed to drive garbage trucks (and inherent in this is the many social limitations constructed against Blacks); Troy never received his longed for change to play in the Major leagues for Blacks were not accepted at the time; Cory cannot play on the team (and thereby forfeits his chance of opportunities) due to the fact that his father forbade the coach to include him; Gabriel has to be committed to an asylum since he is mentally impaired; Troy dies with his life seemingly a mess -- his mistress whom he loved has died in childbirth, his wife, Rose, is estranged from him, his brother is in an asylum, and his son, Cory refuses to attend his funeral.

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Even baseball for Tory had become, as Birdwell noted, a disappointment:

The triumphs of the past have become bitter betrayals, and baseball now means lost dreams. Baseball had defined Troy; had given him meaning and status. Now it left him with nothing tangible (62).

Troy has become so locked into the misery of his past that he cannot see the present nor Cory's future and he impedes his son from obtaining success. In Troy's case, the pattern of abuse continues. Abused by his own father, he controls his son and, consequently, loses him.

Troy is not the only one who is limited by confining narratives. Rose is too. Living in the 1950s, she is confined by subservience to her marriage. In the end, fences, both physical and metaphorical, seems to be the recurrent themes of this essay. The metaphorical ones seem to be both internal and external and life at the end seems doleful, miserable, and meaningless.

Can narratives be changed?

At the funeral, Gabe blows his trumpet and no sound comes out. He tries again, but the trumpet won't play. Gabe will not give up. He does not accept 'fences'. He dances. "He makes a cry and the Heavens open wide. He says, "That's the way that goes." And the play ends. May that be a message to the reader never to accept limitations but to rather change one's narratives however impassable they seem to be?

The author's life history seems to tell us as….....

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