Wilson, Fences

August Wilson's Fences allows the ordinary objects of domestic life to acquire a larger symbolic significance in their dramatic use. The play uses these symbols to dramatize a crucial moment in African-American history: the 1950s, when the great advances of the Civil Rights era are taking place, but when an audience might very well question what tangible effect they had on the lives of actual African-Americans. In presenting the story of Troy Maxson, Wilson's story predominantly dramatizes a story about justice: arguably, all of the symbols relate to this central theme.

The chief symbol that encapsulates the play's central themes of justice is, of course, baseball. Troy Maxson -- in his fifties at the time of the play -- is presented as having been a magnificent baseball player in his youth: Troy's friend Bono suggests only "two men ever played baseball as good as you. That's Babe Ruth...
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