August Wilson Betrayal In Fences

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Have you ever felt betrayed by someone you loved? Someone that you care about a lot and would do anything for? Well betrayal plays an important part in the award winning play “Fences” by August Wilson. The play “Fences” is based on a 1950s poor black urban family who faces many obstacles to keep their family together. The main character, Troy Maxson, did several things that hurt his wife Rose, his son Cory, and even his brother Gabriel such as ruining a dream, having an affair or even sending someone away. Betrayal is an important theme in Fences because it describes real life events that can happen in a person’s life and August Wilson’s message of never hurt the ones who loves you the most.
Troy and his son Cory do not have a close relationship. …show more content…
Troy had an affair with Rose with another woman named Alberta who is pregnant with Troy’s baby. Troy’s friend, Bono, said “Some people build fences to keep people out… and other people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She loves you” (2.1). Bono says this because he wants Troy to realize that he has a good woman who loves him and he should not hurt her. Troy knows that he has to tell Rose what is going on so he says “I don’t know how to say this….. I can’t explain it none. It just sort of grows on you till it gets out of hand. It starts out like a little bush…and the next thing you know it’s a whole forest” (2.1). This is Troy’s way of trying to explain to Rose what he has done, but he does not really know how to fully come out and say it. Rose was confused by what Troy was saying and in response he says “I’m talking, woman, let me talk. I’m trying to find a way to tell you… I’m going to be a daddy. I’m going to be somebody’s daddy” (2.1). After beating around the bush Troy finally came out and told Rose that he was expecting another child with another woman. In response to what Troy said , Rose says “I took all my feelings, my wants and needs, my dreams...and I buried them inside you. I planted a seed and waited and prayed over it” (2.1). In other words Rose puts her life into Troy and their relationship because she loved …show more content…
Gabriel has a mental disability due to an injury that happened during the Vietnam War. Rose believes that Gabriel should be put back in the hospital so he can be taken care of, but Troy says “Don’t nobody wanna be locked up, Rose. What you wanna lock him up for? Man go over there and fight the war…..messin’ around with them Japs, get half his head blown off...and they give him a lousy three thousand dollars. And I had to swoop down on that” (1.2). In other words Troy does not want Gabriel to be locked up in the mental hospital because Gabriel has gone through a lot and Troy still wants to use Gabriel’s checks that he gets from the war to keep his house. However, Troy did keep his promise to Gabriel. Rose said “Well you ought to know. They went over to Miss Pearl’s and got Gabe today. She said you told them to go ahead and lock him up” (2.2). In other words Gabriel was picked up from Miss Pearl’s house and was sent back to the hospital. In response, Troy said “I told you I ain’t signed nothing, woman! The only thing I signed was a release form. Hell, I can’t read, I don’t know what they had on that paper! I ain’t signed nothing about sending Gabe away” (2.2). In other words, Troy cannot read, so he did not mean to send Gabriel away.
In conclusion, the play “Fences” describes the importance family, and while we may think we know what’s best for our loved ones we have to take their feelings in consideration. Troy realized this
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