1. August Wilson’s
“Fences”

2. The Playwright: August Wilson
• Born in Pittsburgh, PA
• Father was white
o Never lived with his family
• Mother was African-
American
• Random fact: he flunked
out of 9th grade and
worked basic, unskilled
jobs from the age of 16
on. Received his
education from libraries
other public places.

3. The Playwright: August Wilson
• 1960s-70s
o Involved in civil rights
movement
• Described himself as a
black nationalist,
advocating to
separate from the
whites and to create of
self-governing black
communities

4. The Playwright: August Wilson
• Began writing plays in
Pittsburgh
• Founded and directed
the Black Horizon
Theatre Company in
Pittsburgh in a
predominantly black
neighborhood called
“the Hill”

5. The Pittsburg Cycle
1900s - Gem of the Ocean (2003)
1910s - Joe Turner's Come and
Gone (1988)
1920s - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
(1984) (Chicago)
1930s - The Piano Lesson (1990) *
1940s - Seven Guitars (1995)
1950s - Fences (1987) *
1960s - Two Trains Running (1991)
1970s - Jitney (1982)
1980s - King Hedley II (1999)
1990s - Radio Golf (2005)
• A series of ten plays,
nine of which are set in
the Hill District
• Each set in a different
decade
• All designed to
represent that African
American people’s
existence in the US
during the 20th century.
* Pulitzer Prize winning play

6. Wilson’s Purpose
• “did not write plays with specific political agendas,
but he did believe art could subtly effect social
change and while his essential aim was to evoke
and ennoble the collective African-American
experience, he also believed his work could help
rewrite some of those rules” (Isherwood).

7. Applying this to “Fences”
• “’I think my plays offer a different way to look at
black Americans,’ [Wilson] told The Paris Review.
‘For instance, in “Fences” they see a garbage man,
a person they don’t really look at, although they
see [garbage men every week]. By looking at Troy’s
life, white people find out that the content of this
black garbageman’s life is affected by the same
things – love, honor, beauty, betrayal, duty.
Recognizing that these things are as much a part of
his life as theirs can affect how they think about and
deal with black people in their lives” (Isherwood).

8. Fences
• Presents a slice of life in a black tenement in
Pittsburgh
• Set in the late 1950s through 1965

9. America in 1957
• January 23 - Ku Klux Klan members force truck
driver Willie Edwards to jump off a bridge into the
Alabama River - he drowns as a result.
• September 4 - American Civil Rights Movement:
Little Rock Crisis- Orville Faubus, governor of
Arkansas, calls out the US National Guard to
prevent black students from enrolling in Central
High School in Little Rock.]
• October 4 – Russian launches Sputnik I into orbit.
• November 7 - Cold War: In the United States, the
Gaither Report calls for more American missiles and
fallout shelters.

10. Fences & Troy Maxson
• The main character,
Troy Maxson, is a
garbage collector who
has taken great pride
in keeping his family
together and providing
for them.
• Troy's rebellion and
frustration set the tone
for the play as he
struggles for fairness in
a society which seems
to offer none.

11. Fences & Troy Maxson
• In his struggle he builds
fences between himself
and family.
• Troy also wrestles with
the idea of death and
claims that he sees
death as nothing but a
fastball, something he
can handle.
• The baseball metaphor
is used in relation to
death and throughout
the play.

12. Works Cited
• Isherwood, Charles. "August Wilson, Theater's Poet
Of Black America, Is Dead at 60." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 02 Oct. 2005. Web. 06
Apr. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/theater/new
sandfeatures/03wilson.html?pagewanted=print&_r=
0>.