Research-Supported Essay on Fences Objective : This essay will be a thesis-driven, research-supported essay on the play Fences . Your purpose is to make an original argument and support it with...

Limits set by Baseball in “Fences by August Wilson”
Fences is a play by August Wilson that features the mishaps in the life of a black man, Troy Maxson, that come about primarily due to racial discrimination. We are guided through the family life of Troy which turns out to be a complete mess as a result of a
oken baseball dream that Troy had in his youth. After analyzing and synthesizing the characters of the play, it can be established that baseball has been shown as a metaphor for fences in Troy’s life who is the protagonist of the Play. The racial segregation is the major highlight of this play which showcases how Troy and his family have been addressed with injustice. Financial and family struggles are shown and dynamic of the aspirations of each character is given special place as well in this play by August Wilson.
Baseball has been a highlighted theme throughout the play. Not only is it discussed in more than one scene, but its elements are also present in the background as well. So, baseball is a dominant factor in the play in many ways. In essence, it marks both the beginning and the end of the play.
The dominance of baseball in Troy’s life is evident from the very first scene where he is discussing, ironically, its insignificance in his life. His dream of pursuing professional baseball was crushed due to the color of his skin. Later various other things that got crushed with that dream are revealed, namely, Troy’s personality and his life perceptions.
“What it ever get me? Ain’t got a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of” (12).
Troy often tries to make light of the game but his use of baseball language and often alluding to it in speech and symbolism shows just how much he liked the game. He discusses the game with his son and wife and often even plays with it in his yard.
The effect of not being able to pursue a game he liked so much has weighed down on him greatly. As a result, he has turned into a bitter man who is unable to create strong relationships or love anything or anyone genuinely.
For, Troy even Death is just "a fastball on the outside corner" (13). He believes that he could simply hit a home run off this kind of pitch. He seems to be challenging Death in that he isn’t afraid of facing it. This kind of daring attitude shows that Troy isn’t afraid of what life might
ing him. He faces life heads on like a baseball player faces the ball on the pitch. However, he ends up making many mistakes in the course of his life and misses plenty of his strikes.
Cory, Troy’s son realizes the profound effect baseball has on his father and thus he uses it as a pretext to buy a television for their house to which he succeeds to some extent
“So you can watch it. They got lots of things on TV. Baseball games and everything. We could watch the World Series.” (34)
However, he is not able to get...