Fences

Rating:
Summary: TRUELY UNFENCED
Review: This is a great play. This is possibly August Wilson's greatest venture into the world of playwrights. Originally he was a poet, which provides an excellent twist for the play. He implies poetic feel into the play itself, but it is also well-balanced. About the play, it is a wonderful and thought-provoking piece about one family and their attempts, hopes, and fears about making it in America. It creates many interesting features such as "baseball" as a form of communication (in the sense that the family is sort of tied together through an interest in the sport). Wilson is a combination of Tennessee Williams and the author of A RASIN IN THE SUN (who's name always escapes me). When reading this, focus on character interactions between father and son. See how it reflects the stress on each respective character. I have no doubt that you will enjoy the play, but beware, if you are someone who has the inability to saw through a thick southern African-American accent, this book may not be the best for you.

Rating:
Summary: Fences: Responsibilites
Review: "Every right implies a responsibility, every opportunity, an obligation, every possession, a duty." This is how one man by the name of John D. Rockefeller Jr. interprets the term "Responsibility". It is the quality by which one is dependable. The way one chooses to deal with the course of their actions. Different people handle their responsibilities in different manors. Some voluntarily fulfill their duties, others find it a hassle they feel obligated to deal with.
"Fences," by August Wilson, is set in the mid-1960's. The storyline deals with a man and his family as they go through the struggles and conflicts of life.
Troy Maxson, the leading character in the play, is a good example of one who finds his responsibilities to be obligations. Troy is a fifty-three you old, black man who makes his meager living as a garbage man. He and his wife have two children. Troy looks at fatherhood as his duty. He brings home a paycheck, he puts food on the table, and he puts clothes on his childens' backs. He rarely shows any of the affection that one might hope he holds for his children. Perhaps this is because his father never showed him any love.
In Act I Scene I, we see Lyons, Troy's son from a previous marriage, come by to ask ten dollars of his father. His father reluctantly hands him the money after a drawn-out argument over Lyon's jobless lifestyle. Lyons and Troy have two very different views on life. Troy feels that his son, a man of thirty-four years, should be responsible for supporting himself with a steady job. Lyons disagrees, claiming he knows he has to eat, but he has to live too. He feels it is more his responsibility to enjoy life than to worry about where his next meal is coming from.
As the story progresses, we find Troy and Lyons discussing the ways of Troy's father in Act I Scene 4. Troy states that his father "cared nothing about no kids...all he wanted was for you to learn how to walk so he could start you to working." He then goes on to talk of how his father would sit down at the dinner table and eat until he was full enough to give his eleven kids whatever remained. Lyons finds this hard to believe declaring, "everybody care about their kids...that he should have just went on and left". Troy explains that his father knew he was trapped and he felt a responsibility towards his children. Without that, he would have walked out.
One can trace many similarities between Troy's behaviors back to his father's. They both feel the obligation to provide the bare necessities of life for their children. Neither happily volunteers to fulfill their parenthood duties. One difference between the two is that of the feelings Troy has for his children. He loves them, though he may not always express it.
To be responsible is to be able to answer for one's conduct and commitments. There are various ways to go about fulfilling these duties.

Rating:
Summary: It Won The Pulitzer. Nuff Said!
Review: Never read the play but I saw it on Broadway. Absolutely brilliant!

Rating:
Summary: Fences a book of ups and downs
Review: The story Fences by August Wilson is the most influencing book I have ever read.I have read alot o books but none as realistic as this one.This book seemed so real from the icebox on th porch to the ball made out of rags hanging from the tree.Fences is about an Africa-American man in hi early 50's whose name is Troy Maxson.He's had both good and bad thing happen to him.One of them is Rose,his wife.She is a loving mother to her son Cory and a faithful wife to Troy.Troy is always in Corys face Troy always tells him what to do and what no to do.Rose is a good house wife and she always aggres with troy.Bono is Troys best freind for about 10-15 years.He respects Troy and is loyal to their freindship.bono seems to be the follower of both the man,he is the kind of freind tha tells you if your doing wrong.Faced with the problems of racisim and dicrimination,Troy seems to be stumleing on some big issues.He loves baseball like he loves rose.He could have been one of the best,if not the best player in the game,but the racial issues made him the garbage man he is now.he was always mistreated by white people,this explain why Troy does not let cory to play in the schools fottball team,he is afraid that cory migth be crushed by the white paople.When i first started to read this script i thougth that it was going to be another boring and stupid,but whe n we started to read the lines ourselves, i felt i wanted the characteres to be real

Rating:
Summary: Fences
Review: "Fences", by August Wilson was a great script. "Fences" was a story about a black family in the 1960's, trying to overcome racisum and all the problems the family endures. The script was a good comedy and drama with a sad ending. I thought "Fences" was boring script that the teacher picked out, but I was wrong and I am glad I was.

In this play, the character that stood out to me was Cory, because he knew that his father Troy wants him to succeed, but under his rules. Cory wants to have a career in football. Troy knows what it was like to be a pro ball player, but he didn't get the respect he deserved because he was black. Now it is Cory's turn and he doesn't want Cory to get hurt.

The script was very good, I think it was mainly about a family who is just getting by, then all of the sudden the family takes wrong turn and falls into a down-ward spiral, by a bad mistake by Troy. But the family manages to pull together and overcome all the diversity. I really liked this script. To me, there are no borring scenes in this script. I think the lesson of this script was, family should always stick together and never turn your back on family.

I really liked the script, it was funny and very real. I could really relate to Cory, because we both love football and we both put our jobs behinde football and ignore our fathers about finding a job. Both our dads don't want us to devote all our time to sports. But want us to get jobs and focus on school and our responsibilities. This script is good, I would recommed it to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: A Book of Restraints
Review: "Fences," by August Wilson, takes place in the sixties when a black man and his family go through the struggles and conflicts of life. Cory Maxon is a teenage boy who loves the sport of football and is living a fun and free high school life. However at the same time Cory is having to live up to his fathers rules and expectations. I think that throughout this play a very important lesson is reaveled; a lesson that families should always attempt to work out their problems no matter what it takes. I truly belieive that a sucessful family relationship is vital to a childs personality and character. I thought that this play was phenomonal. It opened my eyes to a whole new perspective on the life, problems, and struggles that an african american family can experience; just like any other family can experience. I realized that they are the same as any other family, and their lives can be rough and rocky just like anybody else's. Cory Maxon, was the character that I could associate with the most. My he4art went out to him during his times of struggle. Cory was an incredible young man but I think that his father Troy Maxon held him back from being the person that he had the potential to become. -zack zarcone

Rating:
Summary: "Fences"by Agust Wilson
Review: "Fences"by August Wilson,was a great book because people can relate to it.In my case I kind of found myself in Corys position because sometimes my dad doesn't give me per motion to go were i want to go.Like when I asked him if I could get a part-time job he said that I would start to pay my own bills and be independent. Troy Maxon is thought as man of the house.Troy struggles to raise his son cory,because Troy wants to educate his son the way troy was raised.

Rating:
Summary: MISTAKES
Review: Fences,by August Wilson,is a good play that teens and adults can relate to because it deals with the struggles that parents and their kids go through. It doesn't matter what race you are,there are things that go on in this book that you or someone you know can relate to because in the story their is relationship ploblems like husband and wife have.It shows that everybody goes through hard times and it doesn't matter what the time period is. The main character is Troy Maxson,a man like any other middle-aged man that works all day and on friday just likes to have fun.Troy used to play baseball when he was young,but never could get over the fact that he didn't make it to the big leagues.He has a family to support and tries to keep them together.Troy has has been married to Rose for 18 years and a son with her.He has another son with another woman he was with before he was with rose.Troy has a hard time raising his two sons and faces new struggels with each passing day.He made mistakes in his life that mess everything up. I think it was a good book because it deals with real life situations(the struggles that people go through to keep a family together.)(to forgive people for their mistakes and try to learn from them.)I think this is a book that people in the 60's through today and in the the future can relate to.I recommed fences.

Rating:
Summary: Fences a book of family goals.
Review: Araceli Tapia

Fences a book of family goals. Fences,by August Wilson,is a wonder play mixed with family conflicts and comedy.It helps other people understand that everyone has family conflicts, not just the people in play. In this play,Rose Maxson is 10 years younger than Troy Maxson A middle-aged Afican American who is always by TRoy's side to understand him.But she doesn't agree with Troy, by keeping Cory away from playing football.Cory is the son of Rose and Troy Maxson. I think two of the things that make this play great is when Rose forgives Troy of cheating with another women.The second thing that makes this play great is when Rose takes responsibility by taking care of Troy's daughter without her being her mother.When the baby was born withouy a mother

Rating:
Summary: Fences: A book of learnig and growing.
Review: "Fences" by Agust Wilson is a well written play about a family, in between the 1950's and 1960's, dealing with each other differnces, while trying to make as a poor black family in the south. Troy Maxon is the un-yeilding father of two and loving husband to his wife,Rose,of 18 years. In the play Troy continuosly questions his son devoution to his future. After Troy himself was un-able to succed in the proffession of his choice (pro- baseball). This conflict leads Troy and Cory, his son, to engage in quite a few arguments, dealing with this subject. Troy Has already done a-less-than-stellar job raising his un-employed free-loading, musican, son Lyons. Troy has realized his mistakes as an absentie father and tries not to do the the same with his youger son, Cory. I think someone is really able to feel for all of the charecters flaws and innocsence in this play. People will, in a way, be able to see parts of there friends and family in the charecters of the play. to me the important message in this play would have to forgiveness because eventuly you got to forgive. My personal reaction to the play,Fences, was that it is a great play. It takes you in right away and leads you through on a emotional roller-coaster we call life. With its twist and turn we still manage to get thought it with out losing are lunch. -Jen verduzco.