Discussion Questions for Fences
1. What is the significance of the fence?
2. Wilson has stated that Fences began for him “with the image of a man standing in his yard with a baby in his arms.” While this play contains that scene, Wilson doesn't state that the play was built around this scene, thus who or what is the baby in Wilson's initial visual inspiration for the play?
3. Troy is stuck in the duality of being a wounded son, and compensates for it by being an omnipresent father, what effect does this have on Cory?
4. What does the fence mean to each of the characters? (Rose-p48 Bogamil)
5. Wilson has stated that Fences is either the “odd man out” of all of his plays, or it is the fulcrum that all of his other plays evolve around. Which do you think? (p. 123 Name the Father)
6. What is the significance of the fight with the devil? (p. 75 Wang)
7. In what ways is Troy from Fences and Levee from Ma Rainey's Black Bottom similar?
8. What time does Troy exist in?
9. How would you compare Fences to today? Service jobs vs. Information Age
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This page was last updated on Sunday, February 22, 2004 at 2:21 AM EST.
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