Assessing Character through Asides, Soliloquies, and Monologues
Monologues in Fences


Act I scene 4 provides the second of three Friday payday scenes in the play. This time, Bono and Troy talk about their fathers. Their descriptions and anecdotes show their father’s traits, but also how both men view what it means to be a “good father.”

Monologue 2 Assignment: Using Act I scene 4 and Act II scene 1, select one or more of Troy's MONOLOGUES, and with reference to the Character Study, explain what this MONOLOGUE communicates about Troy's character, both EXPLICITLY (directly) and what can we INFER (derive, imply). Remember, MONOLOGUES may reveal more about a character than the character may wish to reveal! Include specific references to the text.

Critical Thinking Strategy: When analyzing quotations, setting up a table can be helpful. It allows you to see your thinking and then how you might plan to write about your ideas. You might want to make a table like this one to help you on your assignment:

Here's an example, looking at Rose's character and her MONOLOGUE on pages 70-71:

Rose supports Troy and her family. She gives of herself generously. When Troy tells her about his affair and Alberta’s pregnancy, Rose shares her thoughts and feelings with him.

When Troy tries to justify the affair by telling her he’s been "standing in the same place for eighteen years," Rose retorts: "I been standing with you!" Rose's frustration bursts free (70). Like Troy, Rose’s unrealized hopes and dreams have been controlling her. She, too, has considered "wandering off" just as Troy. She then reminds him that she stayed true to him. When she describes her self-sacrifice, the audience understands that she loved him, but also that she has internal conflicts in addition to the external one with Troy. Even though this conversation contains anger and despair, Wilson still reminds the audience that this is a couple who have loved one another - and that Troy still loves her despite his deception. As her speech continues, she provides more details about her internal conflict: that she “took all [her] feelings, [her] wants and needs, [her] dreams… and [she] buried them inside [him] (71). Wilson also provides situational irony as he characterizes Rose’s strength along with her disappointment in her marriage. She depended on giving “everything [she] had to try and erase the doubt that you wasn’t the finest man in the world” to live with being his wife (71). Those words foreshadow how she will handle what will come next for them.

Assignment: Write a paragraph or two commenting on Troy's character as displayed in one of his monologues in the Lesson 2 reading. Remember that what other characters say about Troy are also part of his characterization. For instance, you might discuss what you can infer from what Rose says about being his wife during the speech analyzed above.

NEXT: Lesson 2 Writing