The document provides background information on the play Fences by August Wilson and the author himself. It summarizes that Fences depicts life for African Americans in 1950s Pittsburgh through the lens of the Maxson family and explores universal human experiences like family relationships. August Wilson grew up in Pittsburgh in the 1940s-1960s and drew from his experiences to craft realistic portrayals of African American life and struggles with racism in his works. The synopsis then overviews the plot of Fences, focusing on tensions between the father Troy and his son Cory over Cory's hopes for college and Troy's past experiences with racism.

1. By :
Amanita fatimatuzzahro’
M. Arif Ramadhani

2. Fences presents a slice-oflife in a black tenement in
Pittsburgh set in the late
1950s through 1965.
Fences is both unique to the
plight of African Americans
and universal in its depiction
of the human condition.
The father-son and husbandwife relationships cross both
unique and universal
boundaries.

3. The Biography of August Wilson

He was born in Pittsburgh, on 27 27 April 1945.

Son of German American Frederick August Kittel
and African American Daisy Wilson

Grew up in a poor, racially mixed section of
Pittsburgh called “the Hill”.

In his work, Wilson concentrated on the daily lives
of average African Americans, but gave particularly
poetic, lyrical voices to the lower class service
workers who dominate the Hill District. His works
are unique for consistently bringing out the angry,
bitter stories of the poor and marginalized in a
fashion that was accepted by the mainstream, while
remaining politically and socially honest.

In 2005, Wilson died of liver cancer at the age of 60.

4. The Synopsis of ‘’Fences’’
The first act of the play is a swirling portrait of Troy Maxson's
life. We meet all the main people surrounding Troy. There's his best
friend, Bono, whom he met while in prison. Now the two work
together as garbage collectors and sip gin every Friday night. Then
there's Rose, Troy's loving and dutiful wife. Lyons, Troy's son from
a previous relationship, stops by to borrow some money. We also
meet Gabriel, Troy's brother, who suffers from a World War II head
wound and now thinks he is the archangel Gabriel. Last, there's
Cory, Troy's son by Rose.

5. Wilson plants all the major conflicts of the play in the first act. Troy is trying to
break the racial barrier at work by becoming the first black garbage truck driver.
This conflict is actually quickly resolved as Troy wins his battle. We also get
strong hints in the first act that Troy is having an affair with a woman named
Alberta.
Ultimately, however, it seems that the main conflict of the play will involve
Troy's son Cory. Cory has the chance to go to college on a football scholarship, but
Troy refuses to sign the permission paper. Troy says he doesn't want his son to
suffer from the same racial discrimination that kept Troy from being a pro baseball
player. This tension comes to a head when Troy tells Cory's high school football
coach that Cory can't play football anymore, which destroys Cory's hopes of going
to college.

6. Things start to go really bad for Troy in the play's second act. When Alberta becomes
pregnant, he's forced to fess up to Rose about his affair. Making matters worse, Alberta dies in
childbirth. Rose agrees to raise the baby girl, Raynell, but says she no longer considers herself
Troy's woman.
Not only does Troy lose his mistress and his wife, he also loses his best friend, Bono. We
learn that the two men no longer hang out. This is partly because ever since Troy got the
promotion to driver, the two don't work together anymore. More than that, though, it seems like
Bono is really disappointed in Troy for having the affair. We also learn that Troy has had
Gabriel put away in a mental hospital. Rose accuses him of doing this just to get half of
Gabriel's disability check.

7. The last scene of the play takes place years later on the day of
Troy's funeral. We see Cory return home in a military uniform.
He's gone out and made his own way in the world but is still
struggling with the shadow of his father. He considers not going
to the funeral, but is talked out of it by Rose. We're given hope
that Cory is on the path to becoming his own man and forgiving
his father when he and young Raynell sing a song together in
honor of Troy.

8. Mimetic Approach
Literature is a form of imitation
It defines literature in relation to “life”
It sees literature as a way of reproducing or recreating of life in words, just as paintings
reproduces or recreates certain figure or scenes of life in outline and color.
Historically, mimetic approach is the imitation of author’s life.
Related to the August Wilson’s biography, this drama discribes August Wilson’s life.
Fences presents a slice-of-life in a black tenement in Pittsburgh set in the late 1950s
through 1965, and Fences is both unique to the plight of African Americans and universal
in its depiction of the human condition.