- fastballnounChapter 1 →
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.
“Death ain't nothing but a fastball on the outside corner.”
- outside cornerphraseChapter 1 →
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.
“Death ain't nothing but a fastball on the outside corner.”
- Negro LeaguesnounChapter 1 →
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.
- penchantnounChapter 1 →
A strong natural liking or tendency toward something, used here to describe Troy's habit of launching into elaborate, boastful stories.
- recruiternounChapter 1 →
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.
- disability checksphraseChapter 1 →
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.
- plantedverbChapter 1 →
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.
“I planted myself inside you and waited to come up a flower.”
- unfaithfuladjectiveChapter 2 →
Having broken the promise of loyalty in a marriage by having a romantic or sexual relationship with someone outside it.
- on the sidephraseChapter 2 →
In secret, outside of one's main committed relationship; used to describe a hidden romantic or sexual affair conducted alongside a marriage.
- visit the sins of the father upon the childphraseChapter 2 →
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.
“you can't visit the sins of the father upon the child.”
- motherlessadjectiveChapter 2 →
Without a living mother; describing a child whose mother has died, leaving the child without that parent's care and protection.
“A motherless child has got a hard time.”
- commitment papersphraseChapter 2 →
Legal documents signed to authorize placing a person into a psychiatric or care institution, removing their freedom to live independently.
- institutionnounChapter 2 →
A facility, such as a psychiatric hospital or state home, where people with mental disabilities or illnesses are housed and supervised, often involuntarily.
- corporalnounChapter 2 →
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.
- enlistverbChapter 2 →
To voluntarily sign up and join a branch of the armed forces, as Cory does after being forced out of the family home.
FencesPlay by August Wilson