Fences Act 1

August Wilson's Fences focuses on the life of an African-American man in the late 1950's. Scene 1 begins with Troy and Bono drinking at Troy's house and recapping about the previous week at work. This scene seems to foreshadow much to come, including Troy's mysterious relationship with a woman named Alberta, Troy's disgruntled attitude towards his son, Lyons, and his lack of support for his son Cory's football career. As act 1 continued, these relationships developed further. Troy seemed to be lying about his trip to Taylor's to watch the game, considering he couldn't even remember the final score, causing me to question whether he actually went to watch the game or to visit Alberta. In relation to his struggling relationship with his son, Lyons surprises Troy by paying him back on a recent loan, causing me to question why exactly Troy seemed to dislike Lyons so much since he seemed like an honorable young man. Also, Troy's failure to support his other son, Cory, continued throughout the Act as he forbids Cory from playing football in college, and even for the remainder of high school, demanding that instead Cory continue his work at the local A&P. As far as I can tell, Troy seems to take out most of his frustrations with his life on others. For instance, I think he is still annoyed that he was unable to fulfill his dream because he was too old to play baseball in the major leagues. Because of this, he resents his son Lyons for being able to pursue a career as a jazz musician, and he also resents his son Cory for receiving the chance to play football past high school. Also, I view this potential relationship with Alberta as an outlet for his frustrations and an excuse to escape the "fences" he's built between himself and his family.

VOCABULARY - Overall, there weren't any words I was unfamiliar with, however the dialect and style the author uses was sometimes hard for me to interpret.