Fences Act 2, Scenes 4 - 5
Two months after Alberta’s death, things have changed significantly in the Maxson household. Lyon enters the house to return some money that he had borrowed from Troy, and Rose cautions him about being too loud as Raynell is sleeping. He runs into Cory, who has just graduated from High school and is looking for a job. Lyon suggests that he seek Troy’s help in his job search. Lyon leaves after that small conversation, and Troy returns home soon afterward. Troy comes into his home, and Cory leaves the house just as soon as he enters. Rose is attending a bake sale at the church, and she leaves as well, without telling Troy when she’ll be back. Troy takes his bottle of gin and sits down on the porch to drink by himself. Bono comes over to visit him since they haven’t gotten an opportunity to hang out together after Troy’s promotion. Bono and Troy talk about retirement as Bono is getting too old to lift the trash bins, and Troy feels too lonely sitting in the truck all by himself. He is happy that Bono bought his wife the refrigerator, and Bono tells him that it was because he had heard that Troy had finished working on the fence for Rose. They part with a promise to keep in touch, and Troy continues to drink alone.
Cory comes by and tries to get inside the house without acknowledging Troy. This angers Troy, and he prevents Cory from entering the house. Troy reminds him that this is his house, and Cory needs to respect him, which includes being polite. Cory has no patience for his father’s drunken foolishness, and he tells his father so. Troy tells Cory to leave the house because Cory has grown too big, and he is now trying to take his place as the man of the house. Cory bursts out with anger that all Troy has ever done is try and scare him. They continue to argue until the matter comes to blows, and Cory picks up the baseball and he threatens to hit his father with it. Troy assures him that he will need to kill Troy if he decides to attack with the bat. Troy manages to wrench the baseball bat away from Cory and overpowers him. He allows Cory to leave without hurting him and tells him never to return to that house. After Cory leaves, Troy feels as if he has cheated death once again.
The final scene of the play is set in 1965, the Maxson household has yet again undergone several changes. Rose and Raynell argue as Rose urges her daughter to stop obsessing about her garden and to get dressed because they can’t be late. There’s a knock on the door, and Raynell opens the door to find Cory, who is dressed in the uniform of a corporal in the US Marines. Raynell doesn’t recognize him, but Rose shrieks with emotion as she embraces her son. She leads him to Bono and Lyon, who are both dressed in funeral clothes. They all admire Cory for the progress he is made in the world, and Bono likens his appearance to a young Troy. Bono leaves to arrange the pallbearers for Troy’s funeral, and Lyon catches up with Cory. Cory learns that Lyon has been serving a prison sentence of three years for fraud, Bonnie has left him, but Lyon remains passionate about music. He intends to continue playing music once he has finished serving his sentence.
Lyon begins to eat some of the food that Rose has prepared for him, while Cory heads into the backyard. He notes the unchanged nature of the yard, and Rose comes out to talk to him. He tells her that he has no intention of going to Troy’s funeral since he needs to be able to say no to him once in his life. Rose doesn’t want to hear any such complaints and he will be going to his father’s funeral. Cory criticizes the way Troy had raised him, as he had constantly been afraid of him. Rose reminds him that no matter what his faults were, Troy was a good man who gave Cory his very best. She further adds that whatever things Troy did in the house, were done with her consent, and that included how he raised Cory. She tells him that Troy had been a complicated man who wanted Cory to not repeat the mistakes that he had made, yet he desired Cory to emulate him. Rose returns inside the house, and Raynell comes out to talk to Cory. She tells him that Troy had always called her room, Cory’s room, and asks him if Cory knew about the song that Troy used to sing. Together, Troy’s children sing the song about Blue, the good old dog, that died like a man. Cory is moved deeply by the recitation of the song, and Gabe comes rushing in just as the song ends. He’s carrying a trumpet without a mouthpiece, and he promises to blow it so that St. Peter can let Troy into the kingdom of heaven. He blows into the Trumpet several times, but there’s no sound. He then does a strange dance and feels the gates of heaven open to his brother’s soul.
Analysis
The final scenes of the play focus on the resolution of the character arcs of Lyon, Cory, and Rose. Troy recedes into the background and is primarily redeemed through Rose’s conversation with Cory at the end of the play. A feminist reading of Rose’s character demonstrates that she has exercised her version of power and authority throughout the play, even though Troy has always seemed to be the ultimate authority of the household. Cory attempts to break away from his father as he expresses his desire to not attend his funeral. However, Rose reminds him that Troy couldn’t be the only person to bear the blame for Cory’s complaints as she had allowed Troy to behave in the manner he had done. She explains that she had given Troy the power he exerted over the household because that was the path that had been available to her as a woman. She reminds Cory that though his father had been harsh with him, he had always given his best to provide for Cory in the best way that was available to him.
Cory has found success in the military, and he is on his way to achieving the American dream. Yet, readers realize that the path to success is not necessarily guaranteed in the military as demonstrated through Gabe’s character. This aspect of the story demonstrates that there were very few paths to success that were available to young African Americans during the mid-20th century.
