Fences

The building of the fence around the Maxson house seems to be an endless project, one that Cory is supposed to help Troy complete. At first, it seems as if Troy is building the fence because he wants to protect his property and Cory is shirking his responsibilities by choosing football practice over working on the fence. As Cory points out, however, Troy also avoids working on the fence by going over to the Taylors’ house every weekend to, as we later learn, see Alberta. Bono reveals that Rose was the one who asked for the fence, suggesting that she wants it to keep the people she loves from leaving. Troy, who already feels trapped by the safety of his life, is not interested in boxing himself in. Cory is also much more invested in escaping through football to want to spend time on the fence. Instead of working to build a fence to keep the family in, Troy builds fences between himself and those who love him. Throughout Cory’s childhood, Troy keeps his son out by making Cory afraid of him and refusing to give him his approval.

In the second act, just before Troy confesses to Rose about Alberta’s pregnancy, Bono comments on the wood that Troy has chosen for the fence. Bono, who has a healthy relationship with his wife, doesn’t understand why Troy feels the need to use such hard wood and make the construction job much more difficult than it needs to be. To Troy, though, a fence must be sturdy and durable. He jokes that he plans to live forever, so the fence must also last. This comment speaks to the hard barriers that Troy erects around himself, and the barriers that he sees holding him back as a Black man in the United States. He does not know how to bend or change to meet another person’s needs, and the only way he knows how to hold his family together is through force. While Rose understands what it means to hold onto someone you love, Troy can’t see this as anything but confinement.

Troy finally resolves to build the fence when Alberta dies. He realizes that while Rose may have wanted a fence to keep him in, a fence is also designed to protect what is within. Troy only makes the effort to protect his home and family when he loses everything on the outside, but building the fence does not win Rose back. She stays but refuses to acknowledge Troy as a husband. After the fence is finished, Troy drives Cory out so his son cannot seize his role as the man of the house. The fence, made from rigid wood rather than soft pine, is Troy’s method of attempting to control his family and force them to follow his rules. At the end of the play, death comes for Troy right there within the fences surrounding his property. Once Troy is gone, within that fence, Rose can finally grow her own garden.