Fences Q&A

At the beginning of the play, Troy is well-loved by his family and holds the central position in the household. He appears to be an honest, loving man who is devoted to his wife, and deeply concerned about the welfare of his children. Through the course of the play, the audience comes to face Troy’s faults. It turns out that he has been unfaithful to his wife, and a hindrance to the development of his children’s path to success. By the end of his life, Troy is retired, out of touch with his sons, and no longer in a loving marriage with his wife.

In the final scene of Fences, Cory tells his mother that he has no intention of attending his father’s funeral. As he attempts to explain the reasons why Rose notices not only how Cory expresses himself but also the ideology he espouses in his hate for his father. She sees Troy in both of these things. Troy too had a deep dislike for authority that sought to suppress what people were due, and Cory also shares Troy’s manner of storytelling.

Overall, Troy is certainly influenced in large by the harsh conditions of his difficult upbringing. However, he fails to understand that the world is not still and unchanging. He does not recognize the markers of change that surround him, and cannot believe that Cory’s experience of the world may be more than his own. His infidelity is certainly his fault, and thus on the whole, it can be argued that Troy was directly responsible for the problems in his life.

Bono perfectly expresses the significance of fences when Cory and Troy are discussing the reason why Rose wants to have a fence. There are only two reasons why people build fences. They either wish to prevent someone from coming in, or they wish to something from going out. Rose’s desire for the fence is the former reason since she is so obviously devoted to her family and domestic bliss, whereas Troy resolves to build the fence upon Alberta’s death and so he has the latter reason.