Fences is a play that takes place in the 1950's. An African American family struggles with finding a place in the world. The father, Troy, is a very serious man who works hard at his low paying job to support his family. He is tough on them and sees his job as a father to support his children, but doesn't think has to love them. He was rejected as a baseball player, which destroyed his faith in society. His son Cory quits his job to focus on football, but Troy tells him it is a waste of time. Troy has an affair, which leads to the birth of a daughter. Rose works hard for her family and takes care of the baby, but would not treat Roy as her husband anymore. The conversations take place around building a fence, that others think Roy will never finish. He ends up dying of a heart attack in the end and the family all meet up for his funeral. This story is beneficial to high school students because it teaches them about life. It shows how others have different goals that they want to accomplish. Some make sacrifices where they miss out on their goals, while others give up on ever accomplishing them. Just like Cory had to make a decision of whether to give up working to be accomplished in football, they will have to make decisions in their lives that involve risks. As they grow up, they will have people trying to bring them down and prevent them from working towards their goals. Their parents will try to push them towards what they think is best, so they will have to make tough decisions on whether or not they agree. This story is educational because it shows students a coming of age story from an African American's point of view. They have obstacles to overcome that may be different than the students in the class. African Americans were treated badly in the south, where Troy grew up. These negative experiences affected his point of view on the world. He wanted to become someone different from his dad, who was abusive. Even though he supported his family financially, he did not treat them with love and respect. By reading this story, the students will realize that the past can play an important part in the future.
Problems that may come up When Teaching Fences
Since Fences is written as a play, it may be more difficult to teach than a novel. The narration involves a different character speaking every couple of lines, so students have to pay attention to the characters. Giving the students a background on each character is important because it helps them to understand each of their stories and personalities. A way for teachers to approach a play would be to have each student be a different character and read aloud. This helps students to determine the differences between the characters and the narrator. They will be more interested in the story if they are acting as characters in the book. By switching the characters so that each student gets to read aloud, it will keep the students interested and paying attention.
This website includes an overview of the play, character descriptions, themes, quotes, and key facts.
Author biography.
Lesson plan for Fences.
Clip from Fences.
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