To understand Troy’s character, conflicts, and motivations, the audience must have some understanding of baseball. For Troy, baseball (America’s pastime) paradoxically represents freedom and oppression. Learning to play baseball offered him freedom during incarceration. Upon his release from prison walls, though, he was confronted* by the additional walls of racism. The game of baseball takes place on a field, with a home plate, and a way to “hit it out of the field.” It’s both person-to-person as the pitcher throws a ball at the batter and team-to-team as each player must back up the others to win.

Writing tip

Here’s a critical perspective on this idea from this article: “Home and Fences: The Duality of Baseball Metaphors in Fences”

“Many literary devices add to the richness of Fences, but none perhaps more prominently than the allusions and metaphors grounded in baseball. Troy, who played in the Negro League, speaks in baseball metaphor and is bitter that he was not allowed to play in the major leagues. His experience with the sport and being barred because of race from the majors is a clear aspect of his character’s identity. He is the ‘darker brother,’ the contrast to the myths surrounding the sport. ‘The game of baseball has long been regarded as a metaphor for the American dream--an expression of hope, democratic values, and the drive for individual success. According to John Thorn, baseball has become ‘the great repository of national ideals, the symbol of all that [is] good in American life: fair play (sportsmanship); the rule of law (objective arbitration of disputes); equal opportunity (each side has its innings); the brotherhood of man (bleacher harmony); and more’’ (Koprince). Yet, Troy Maxson found baseball to be anything but fair. The metaphors then take on a certain irony in Wilson’s Fences. Two particular metaphors are pregnant with meaning: home and fences.”

(Underlining added for emphasis.)

Citation: Koprince, Susan. “Baseball as History and Myth in August Wilson’s Fences.” African American Review. Summer 2006. Bnet. 23 June 2008. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2838.

Assignment:  Reflect back on what you’ve read and analyze the use of the motifs of home and fences.

There are many examples and references to both home and fences throughout the play. Go back to the pages cited in the chart below and find these quotations. Then, answer these questions:

1) Can you find any others? Find one more for each and then add to your lists.

2) Which of the ones below do you think are the most important to one of the character’s development or to how the audience understands some aspect of characterization? Explain how they are important.*

3) [text-to-self]  How do they connect with your own experiences with the “home” you have (or have had) and the “fences” that keep you out or hold you in?**

[*TIP] Your explanation should include quoted evidence. Your assertions should give context to the quotation (ex. Assertion starters: Bono refers to “home runs” because...  or By referring to Troy’s “home runs,” Bono...)