Troy casts the Devil as the main character of his exaggerated stories. The devil in his imagination symbolizes the hostility and the cowardice of the racism. In his later life he loses all the love from his family members, friends and brother. In this play, Death represents the obstacles keeping Troy from happiness.

How is death personified in fences?

Death” Symbol Analysis. Death appears as a personified figure in Troy’s fanciful tales about wrestling with death and buying furniture from the devil. Troy’s typically stubborn sense of manhood and strength largely derives from his relationship with death.

Why does Troy personify death?

In August Wilson’s play Fences, Troy personifies death because he wants to concretize the struggles throughout his life.

Why does Troy taunt death?

Why does Troy taunt Death after the confrontation with Cory in Fences, Act 2, Scene 4? Each time Troy feels a sense of loss he rails against Mr. Death—first when Alberta died, and now with Cory gone.

How does Troy describe death?

He describes Death as an army, an icy touch on the shoulder, a grinning face. Troy claims he spoke to Death. Troy thinks he constantly has to be on guard against Death’s army. He claims he saw Death standing with a sickle in his hand, spoke to Death and wrestled Death for three days and three nights.

What is the significance of Troy’s story about the devil?

Second, the story of the devil represents how Troy compromised his ambitions of playing baseball to earn a living. Again, this foreshadows Troy’s actions when he insists that Cory do the same thing.

What does Troy bargain with the devil for?

Troy continues his saga about Death, changing the times and situations in which he met Death and the Devil. This includes the time a door-to-door salesman that Troy claims is the Devil sold him a layaway plan to buy furniture.

What is the story that Troy tells about death?

The stories that Troy tells about death are fantasies that always emphasize Troy’s potency. In one of the stories he tells, Troy relates how he once wrestled with death and won. The potency exemplified in these stories is of a type that Troy does not actually possess – the power to change.

What might the fence come to stand for or symbolize in the play Why might fences plural be a more apt title than the fence?

The fence symbolizes both the barriers that divide and the ties that bind the Maxson family to one another. The name Fences is a more apt title than The Fence simply because these barriers and ties are numerous, separate, and often completely opposite in nature.

Does Troy fear death in fences?

Troy’s death allows his family, especially Cory, to heal. Troy triumphs over Death because he never lets fear of it control his life.

Does Rose forgive Troy?

Rose rejects Troy as her partner because she takes seriously the Biblical commandment that decrees, “Thou Shalt Not Sin,” but finds forgiveness for the child born to her sinful husband because of her belief that “when the sins of our fathers visit us/we don’t have to play host/we can banish them with forgiveness/as God

What crime caused Lyons in jail?

Troy tells both the audience and Lyons and Bono about his past in Act I scene 4, which includes the story of how he came to be put in prison due to the accidental murder of somebody he was trying to rob when he was going through a very difficult

Why did Cory join the Marines?

Cory Maxson (born 1940) was a resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 1950s. The son of former Negro Leagues baseball player Troy Maxson, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps after being kicked out of his house for wanting to play football instead of getting a real job, and he was estranged from his father.

How much does it cost to get Gabe out of jail?

Rose agrees to talk to Troy on Cory’s behalf when Troy comes home from bailing Gabriel out of jail. Gabe was arrested for disturbing the piece. It cost Troy fifty dollars to bail out Gabriel.

Why does Rose want Cory to go to Troy’s funeral?

Rose asks Raynell to change her shoes to prepare for Troy’s funeral. Cory refuses to attend the funeral because he wants to rebel against Troy. Rose teaches Cory that not attending Troy’s funeral does not make Cory a man.

Why does Gabe think Troy is mad at him?

While Gabriel did move out on his own it’s not clear if it was by force or by choice. Gabriel did move out on his own. That’s why Gabriel thought that Troy was mad at him because he took his pension money elsewhere. The dynamic of Gabriel existing in the Maxon household is half burden/half walking on eggshells.