Flashcards for Fences

Alberta

Alberta plays an important off-stage role in August Wilson's Fences, acting more as a force that drives the play's main moral and emotional conflict than as a fully realized character.

character

Cory Maxson

Cory Maxson is Troy and Rose's teenage son in August Wilson's Fences, set in 1950s Pittsburgh.

character

Gabriel Maxson

Gabriel Maxson is Troy's younger brother and plays a peripheral yet symbolically significant role in August Wilson's Fences.

character

Jim Bono

Jim Bono is Troy Maxson's oldest and closest friend in August Wilson's Fences, acting as the play's moral witness and conscience.

character

Lyons Maxson

Lyons Maxson is Troy's eldest son from a previous relationship before he married Rose, and he serves as a foil to both Troy and his half-brother Cory in August Wilson's Fences.

character

Raynell Maxson

Raynell Maxson is the youngest character in August Wilson's Fences, making her appearance in the play's final scene, which takes place seven years after the main storyline.

character

Rose Maxson

Rose Maxson is the heart and soul of August Wilson's Fences, a Black woman living in 1950s Pittsburgh whose quiet strength holds the Maxson family together.

character

Troy Maxson

Troy Maxson is the complex and larger-than-life protagonist of August Wilson's Fences, which takes place in 1950s Pittsburgh.

character

“That's all you got, Rose. In the world. That's all you got to measure yourself against.”

This line is spoken by Troy Maxson to his wife Rose in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fences (1985).

Troy Maxson

“Some people build fences to keep people out, and other people build fences to keep people in.”

This line is delivered by Bono, Troy Maxson's longtime friend, in August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fences (1985).

Bono

“A man got to take care of his family. You live in my house, sleep you behind on my bedclothes, fill you belly up with my food.”

This line is spoken by Troy Maxson, the main character in August Wilson's Fences (1985).

Troy Maxson

“I don't know nothing but what's in front of me.”

This line is delivered by Troy Maxson, the main character in August Wilson's Fences, during a moment that highlights his deeply practical — and ultimately narrow — perspective on life.

Troy Maxson · Act 2

“Jesus, be a fence all around me every day.”

This line is sung by Rose Maxson in August Wilson's Fences (1985), a Pulitzer Prize-winning play set in 1950s Pittsburgh.

Rose Maxson · Act Two

“I don't want him to be me! I want him to move as far away from my life as he can get.”

This line is delivered by Troy Maxson, the main character of the play, during a heated argument with his wife Rose.

Troy Maxson

“I've been standing with you! I gave eighteen years of my life to stand in the same spot with you!”

This heartfelt declaration comes from Rose Maxson as she confronts her husband Troy in August Wilson's Fences.

Rose Maxson · Act Two

“Death ain't nothing but a fastball on the outside corner.”

This line is delivered by Troy Maxson, the main character in August Wilson's Fences (1985), during an early scene where he is in his backyard, sharing drinks with his friend Jim Bono.

Troy Maxson · Act One

“I ain't never had nobody want me. Not the way you wanted me.”

This line comes from Rose Maxson in August Wilson's Fences, directed at her husband Troy Maxson after she finds out about his affair with Alberta.

Rose Maxson

“You got to take the crookeds with the straights.”

This line is spoken by Troy Maxson, the main character in August Wilson's Fences (1985).

Troy Maxson

Baseball

In August Wilson's Fences, baseball serves as a complex symbol of Troy Maxson's unfulfilled dreams, his fraught relationship with his own potential, and the systemic racism that characterized mid-twentieth-century Black American life.

Death as a Figure

In August Wilson's Fences, Death isn't just an abstract idea; it's a tangible foe that Troy Maxson grapples with both literally and figuratively.

Gabriel's Trumpet

In August Wilson's Fences, Gabriel's trumpet represents divine judgment, spiritual redemption, and the hope for grace for those overlooked by society.

The Fence

In August Wilson's Fences, the fence that Troy Maxson builds in his backyard over the years serves as the play's main symbol, capturing the conflicting ideas of protection and imprisonment.

The Yard

In August Wilson's Fences, the yard around the Maxson home symbolizes the struggle between hope and limitation.

Metaphor

The fence serves as the central metaphor of the play, taking on conflicting meanings as the story unfolds.

Extended Metaphor

Troy’s ongoing depiction of Death as a wrestling opponent creates a powerful metaphor that runs throughout the play.

Symbolism

Wilson layers various symbols throughout the play.

Dramatic Monologue

Troy's lengthy speeches act as dramatic monologues where his attempts to justify himself also reveal his unacknowledged truths.

Allusion

Wilson incorporates references to African American culture and history throughout the dialogue.

Irony

Dramatic irony plays a significant role in Troy's arguments against Cory playing football.

Repetition

Troy's catchphrase, "You ain't got to like me…but you gonna respect me," comes up during crucial confrontations, each time deepening into a tragic refrain that highlights his waning authority.

Personification

Death is the most vividly personified force in the play, but Wilson also extends this personification to other abstract concepts.

Motif

Songs appear consistently throughout the play.

Narrative Poem

Wilson structures much of the play's exposition and characterization through embedded narratives—stories that characters share about their pasts rather than scenes directly portrayed for the audience.

Juxtaposition

Wilson contrasts Troy's outward generosity with his inner tyranny throughout the play.

Pathetic Fallacy

Wilson's stage directions utilize the physical environment of the Maxson yard to mirror and foreshadow emotional states.

fastball

A pitch thrown at maximum speed, the fastest throw a baseball pitcher can deliver. Troy uses it as a metaphor for Death coming at you hard and straight, something you either hit or don't.

noun · Chapter 1

outside corner

The edge of home plate farthest from the batter, where a pitch is hardest to hit solidly. It implies something just barely within reach but still dangerous.

phrase · Chapter 1

Negro Leagues

Segregated professional baseball leagues for Black players that existed in the United States before and during the integration of Major League Baseball, when Black players were barred from the white leagues.

noun · Chapter 1

penchant

A strong natural liking or tendency toward something, used here to describe Troy's habit of launching into elaborate, boastful stories.

noun · Chapter 1

recruiter

A person whose job is to find and sign up talented individuals, here a college or team representative seeking to bring Cory onto a football program.

noun · Chapter 1

disability checks

Government payments made to a person who cannot fully work because of a physical or mental impairment, here the monthly money Gabriel receives for his war injury.

phrase · Chapter 1

planted

To have placed something living into the ground so it can grow; Troy uses it figuratively to mean he put his love and hope into Rose, expecting something beautiful to grow from it.

verb · Chapter 1

unfaithful

Having broken the promise of loyalty in a marriage by having a romantic or sexual relationship with someone outside it.

adjective · Chapter 2

on the side

In secret, outside of one's main committed relationship; used to describe a hidden romantic or sexual affair conducted alongside a marriage.

phrase · Chapter 2

visit the sins of the father upon the child

A biblical expression meaning to make an innocent child suffer for the wrongs done by their parent; Rose uses it to say Raynell should not be punished for Troy's betrayal.

phrase · Chapter 2

motherless

Without a living mother; describing a child whose mother has died, leaving the child without that parent's care and protection.

adjective · Chapter 2

commitment papers

Legal documents signed to authorize placing a person into a psychiatric or care institution, removing their freedom to live independently.

phrase · Chapter 2

institution

A facility, such as a psychiatric hospital or state home, where people with mental disabilities or illnesses are housed and supervised, often involuntarily.

noun · Chapter 2

corporal

A low-ranking non-commissioned officer in the military, one step above a private; it signals that Cory has served long enough to earn a promotion.

noun · Chapter 2

enlist

To voluntarily sign up and join a branch of the armed forces, as Cory does after being forced out of the family home.

verb · Chapter 2