Fences Essay Introduction
August Wilson’s *Fences*, first produced in 1985, centers on Troy Maxson, a former
Negro League baseball player who works as a garbage collector in 1950s Pittsburgh
while trying to provide for his family. Troy’s experiences with racism, economic hardship,
and lost opportunities have shaped his understanding of responsibility and success, but
those experiences also influence the strict expectations he places on his son Cory. As
conflicts over work, family, love, and independence intensify, the physical fence around
the Maxson home becomes closely associated with the emotional boundaries separating
family members. Wilson uses Troy’s relationships and struggles to examine racial
barriers, generational conflict, responsibility, and the complicated ways that past injustices
can shape family life.
