Sinyard 1

Shauna Sinyard

English 2100

Assignment 3

12 April 2011

Gender Conflicts in August Wilson‟s “Fences”

In August Wilson‟s play “Fences,” gender plays a significant role in the development of

Troy‟s and Rose‟s characters. In the 1950‟s, the time period the play exists, women were

submissive and men were dominant. In “Fences,” Troy‟s confession of infidelity causes a

paradigm shift in the gender roles between Troy and Rose, giving Rose the dominant position in

the relationship. Comment [B1]: I think there’s an interesting

topic statement in here somewhere, but right now
I’m not seeing it that well. Why is it important that
Rose gains the dominant position in the
In the first act of the play, Troy is sexist towards Rose to the point of misogyny. relationship? How does it relate to how women
were submissive and men were dominant in the
1950s?
According to the stage directions, Rose stays with Troy because “her devotion to him stems from You mention further on that Rose blossoms into a
“strong and dynamic woman”. I’m wondering if
maybe that’s the reason for WHY it becomes
her recognition of the possibilities of life without him: a succession of abusive men and their important that Rose becomes the dominant partner
in her relationship with Troy.
babies, a life of partying and running the streets, the Church, or aloneness with its attendant pain

and frustration,” (1.1.1991). She passively ignores Troy‟s blatant disrespect to her, knowing that Comment [B2]: This is interesting, but I think it
could do with a lead-in that helps explain how it
relates to your main point. Something to help move
from the introduction to this first paragraph,
her life without him would be much worse than his life with him. Troy rarely calls her by name, bridging them together.

referring her mostly as “woman,” and even comparing her to a dog whenever she refuses to

come when he calls her, “I had me an old dog used to get uppity like that. You say „C‟mere,

Blue!‟…and he just lay there and look at you,” (1.4.2008). The dog, Old Blue, plays a

significant role in “Fences.” In this act, the dog is a sign of faithfulness and fidelity, and Troy is
Comment [B3]: This is interesting to me, but it
feels kind of lost and alone in the paper. I remember
in his own sexist way complimenting Rose by comparing her to Old Blue. that Old Blue shows up again in the second act, and
if I remember correctly that time he’s used as a
symbol of loss and sadness. I think you could work
that in somehow during the part where you’re
discussing the second act.
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Troy sees women at objects; he vocally expresses things he plans to do to Rose in the

bedroom, and even claims that, “I eye all women. I don‟t miss nothing. Don‟t never let nobody

tell you Troy Maxson don‟t eye the women,” (1.1.1990). His ideals about women branch even

further, with the hints of his infidelity by his good friend Bono. Troy is an alpha, meaning he is

driven to control everything in his life, even those things he can‟t control, and that shows through

his treatment of his wife. Despite the way he treats his wife, Troy realizes that Rose forgives

most of his faults, and loves her for it . He says “See this woman, Bono? I love this woman. I

love this woman so much it hurts. I love her so much… I done run out of ways of loving her. So

I got to go back to basics. Don‟t you come by my house Monday morning talking about time to

go to work…‟cause I‟m still gonna be stroking!” Troy is incapable of expressing his love for

her, so he must hide behind dirty innuendos and demeaning, sexualized comments towards Rose.

Troy‟s treatment of women was brought upon by his troubled childhood. When Troy

was eight, his mother abandoned him and his father, leaving Troy alone. Troy says about his

father, “I could see why the devil had never come to get him…cause he was the devil himself.”

(1.4.2012). Troy tells a possibly exaggerated story about his first sexual experiences with a girl.

He explains that when his father caught him with the girl, his father beat him with the purpose of

allowing himself time alone with the girl. The abandonment by his mother paired with the

experience of his father attempting rape on a girl he liked just because he was an alpha shaped

Troy‟s views on women and gender roles. Comment [B4]: I like how you actually give
reasons for why Troy acts the way he does around
women. It helps to show that while he is wrong to
In the second act, Troy confesses to Rose that he has been unfaithful, and furthermore, act the way he does, his views are a product of his
environment and experiences, giving at least some
sort of reason for his actions.
fathered a child with the woman he cheated on her with. All of Troy‟s mistakes and misgivings,
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of which were previously ignored by Rose, have come to the forefront. This confession sparked

the process of role reversal between Rose and Troy. Rose‟s hurt and anger rendered Troy into a

submissive position with Rose, giving her the power in the relationship. When Troy confesses to

Rose, he begins explaining it by comparing his affair to a growing forest, saying “It starts out

like a little bush…and the next thing you know it‟s a whole forest” (2.1.2019). Rose finally

snaps, and begins expressing to Troy some of her repressed feelings, saying “Don‟t you think I

ever wanted other things? Don‟t you think I had dreams and hopes? What about my life? What

about me. Don‟t you think it ever crossed my mind to want to know other men?” (2.1.2021). By

confessing his infidelity, Troy is pleading with Rose to keep him around. Rose also makes a

second allegory to plants, saying “I planted myself inside you and waited to bloom. And it didn‟t

take me no eighteen years to find out the soil was hard and rocky and it wasn‟t never gonna

bloom.” Rose is revealing that she has never actually ignored or forgave Troy for his faults, but

instead acknowledged them with a quiet indifference. Comment [B5]: I like how this calls back to what
you said earlier, about how she passively ignored
Troy’s faults because she knew that without him she
The actual paradigm shift, where Rose gains all power of the relationship, occurs after would have had a very different, potentially less
safe life.

Alberta‟s death. In Scene III, Troy pleads with Rose to help him take care of Raynell, his child.

Rose replies, “From right now…this child got a mother. But you a womanless man.” Rose

agrees to live with Troy and take care of his child, but that is the extent of the relationship. Comment [B6]: I think you should add why Rose
decides to take care of Raynell. I think it would help
show how Rose has the strength of character to not
treat an innocent child badly for the sins of her
Instead of two women, he now has none. By fathering this child, Troy loses the most important father.

woman in his life: Rose. Throughout the rest of the play, we see Rose bloom into a dynamic

and strong woman. She invests her time taking care of Raynell and helping out at the church. Comment [B7]: As I said above, to me this is the
core of your paper, and I think you should focus on
this. Rose becomes a strong, dynamic woman in an
She becomes her own woman, and puts Troy in his place when necessary; when Troy asks what era when that wasn’t expected of women, and I
think a lot hinges on that.
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time she will be back from the church, she replies, “Ain‟t no use in you studying me. It don‟t

matter what time I come back,” (2.4.2026).

When someone dies, whether it is of old age or an accident, humanity has a tendency to

analyze the lives of the deceased and forgive all faults that the deceased may have. In the final

scene of the play, Rose makes some observations about her life with Troy and the role he had in

the way she lived it. She says, “I do know he meant to do more good than he meant to do harm. Comment [B8]: I kind of felt like I’d just taken a
sharp left turn out of the blue. I think some sort of
bridge to connect this with the previous paragraph
would help the sudden discussion over death and
He wasn‟t always right. Sometimes when he touched he bruised. And sometimes when he took funerals not “jump” out so sudden.

me in his arms he cut,” (2.5.2033). Rose is explaining to Cory that although Troy‟s methods

weren‟t always right, he always had the greater good in mind. Troy‟s alpha nature and need to

control everything ended up being his demise. Rose so analyzes her own mistakes in the Comment [B9]: This seems out of place to me;
the majority of the paper so far talked about how
negative Troy’s actions were. Where do we see that
he had the greater good in mind?
relationship, saying “When your daddy walked through the house he was so big he filled it up.

That was my first mistake. Not to make him leave some room for me. For my part in the matter.

But that that time I wanted that. I wanted a house that I could sing in. and that‟s what you daddy

gave me. I didn‟t know to keep up his strength I had to give up little pieces of mine,” (2.5.2033).

Rose gave Troy her entire life, and expected nothing in return except a roof over her head and a

place to be safe. Women, especially African-American women, in the 1950‟s lived very menial

lives. The attitude of women in that era was very much submissive. Men brought home the

bacon, and women cooked and cleaned. Rose was content to live that life, as most women were,

but eventually she realized that it wasn‟t enough anymore. She gave her entire life to Troy for Comment [B10]: This is another side of what I
think your core point is. Namely the realization that
living a completely submissive life isn’t enough, that
Rose needs to also live her own life as well.
him to just betray her. After Troy‟s death, she gave what was left of her feeling for Troy to

Raynell, saying, “I‟d been blessed to relive a part of my life,” (2.5.2033).

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I really suck at writing conclusions. I plan on explicating some of my quoted passages a

little more and re-write my horrible intro.

Questions for Peer Response

1. What seems to be the central idea—or argument—of the essay? Underline

it and then sum it up in your own words. In what ways do you think this
central idea is—or isn’t—supported by a detailed interpretation of Wilson’s
Fences?

It‟s kind of hodge-podge here and there, but to me the central idea seems to be that living
a submissive life in a marriage is not at all fulfilling, and that if you allow yourself to be
used and pushed around you can wind up with almost no life of your own. Eventually
you‟ll realize this, and you can either continue to submit, or you can stand up for yourself
and either demand an equal status in your relationship or just find a life of your own.

As for whether this is supported or not, I‟d say it is. Shauna clearly shows us what parts
of the play reveal how unfulfilling it is, being completely submissive in a relationship,
and she also shows us how fulfilling it can be to stand up for yourself.

2. What specific evidence makes the essay persuasive to you? Make at least 3
suggestions for developing the argument further, with additional evidence
from the play.

I like how she shows that Rose has suffered, and how she becomes a stronger person
once Troy has revealed his infidelity. As I mentioned above, I think her argument would
be helped if she

i. Added some more stuff about Old Blue, especially in regards to how the
dog is used in the second act
ii. Explained why Rose decides to take in Raynell as her own, and how it
relates to her growing as a strong woman
iii. Kind of expand on why Rose still thinks decently of Troy at his funeral.
What exactly about him made her think that he did mean more good than
harm?
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3. Write a brief outline of the essay. Does it seem logically organized to you,
with a clear sense of direction from beginning to end? If so, why? If not,
what suggestions can you offer for rearranging?

It starts out with the introduction, explaining to us the significance to Troy‟s confession
of infidelity. It then moves immediately into a discussion of Troy and his treatment of
Rose in the first act, showing us how he acts as the dominant partner in their relationship.

Then, it discusses how Troy‟s confession, and how Rose tried to deal with Troy‟s flaws
for so many years. This part shows us how the role of dominance is transmitted to Rose.
The last part discusses how Rose now acts as the dominant partner of the relationship.

I think it does have a sense of direction, as it clearly moves from point A to B to C. I

don‟t think it‟s entirely clear though. I think that she needs to add bridges between these
points though to help it flow more, as well as give it an overarching theme.

4. Do you see any material that you think should be deleted? If so, explain
why.

Beyond just adding some more stuff, I don‟t really see anything that needs to be deleted.