Groups of people can have a specific VERNACULAR (or way of speaking) linked to where they live. Often, people have an accent when they speak which (along with their words and idioms) contribute to their DIALECT. According to its definition, vernacular can mean either nonstandard or standard language. Your vernacular with your peers might include words and phrases that someone much older than you would not understand and would be considered nonstandard. Wilson uses informal language for the characters’ dialogue in Fences. He also has Troy use the n------ epithet with a few different connotations. Nowadays, you may hear it and see it used in a variety of ways, but it’s important to understand its origins to more fully understand its impact. The n----- word gained power during the time of slavery by people who used it in order to deprive African Americans of selfhood. The word encapsulates the institutionalized erasure of country, society, home, family, religion, and culture that Africans faced when Americans stole their rights and enslaved them.
In an essay called “The N-word in August Wilson’s works,” Andretta Wilson provides some details about the N-word’s history along with how it works in some of his plays. Her essay was included in the program for the Center Theatre Group’s 2015 August Wilson Monologue Competition Los Angeles Regional Finals and provides information and suggestions: “a strategy for listening to a word so loaded with the history and memory of inequality…[is to] think of the n-word as an utterance that signifies feeling and condition, rather than a word that signifies actual people.” She also addresses the plays: “For August Wilson’s characters, the use of the n-word, even in dialogue that is not about race, is linked to both the madness of racism and the maddening effects on those who endure, discuss, and remember racial inequality. In Wilson’s works, we find at least three uses for the word “n----r.” It is used to oppress, it is used in African-American vernacular speech to recognize shared history and experience, and it is used to signify rebellion against racial inequality.”

Andretta Wilson analyzes Fences and Troy’s use of the words through the idea of that recognition: “In Fences, one use of the n-word is connected to love. To conclude a very sentimental exchange, Troy says “I love you, n----r” to his closest friend Bono. The phrase comes after Troy reminisced about… [them standing] by each other through the years…[It] is used to recognize and convey familiarity, friendship, and a shared history… [Here, its usage] requires that those who speak it also … recognize [or really see the one they address because they both] faced the same conditions.”

Wilson, Andretta. The N-Word in August Wilson's Works. Center Theatre Group Monologue Competition Brochure, 2015, www.academia.edu.

When Troy uses it with his son, Cory, it seems to convey Troy’s wish that his son break away from the limitations that were and are imposed on Troy. His wish is that Cory will not suffer the same inequalities and hardships that he faced. As you hear the word a few times during the play, think about the connotations and significance of it. How does the actor who speaks it convey emotions to let you know how to interpret the use of the word?

Vocabulary

Define the words from the play. Find them in the play if possible, or use a reference source for help. https://www.merriam-webster.com/ is a good website to use.