Week 5 Blog

In Fences, August Wilson uses conversation and tone to portray the story as well as set the scene.

The diction used in Fences is key to the entire play. It allows the reader to truly get a feel for the scene, time period, and personalities of the characters. While reading, at times it was difficult for me to understand what each character was saying, but once rereading the line, it became more clear. At times this was bothersome, but looking back, without such strong diction, the play would not have such deep meaning. Often plays just have each character speaking a few lines then moving on to the next. While reading this play I found it so easy to read the play smoothly and truly understand when each character was chiming in. Troy and Bonno would interrupt one another, yet it was easy to hear the voices and the conversation.

It was interesting to watch each character develop simply through their conversation. Troy's character unfolded quickly. His hostility, yet bluntness was so evident. His words created anger inside of me to see how he treated his family as well has his thoughts and ideas. I simply wanted him to give his son a chance, and speak kindly. I normally do not enjoy plays, and it is hard for me to understand them, but Fences allowed me to truly become involved.

As of right now I am unsure of the meaning of Fences or where the title comes into play, which is something I was looking for in the first half. Also, there seems to be many mini conflicts rather than one large one. One main conflict is the tension between Troy and Cory. On page 58 Cory says, "Just cause you doesn't have a chance! You just scared I'm gonna be better than you, that's all." I think this one line is so powerful to the entire play, and will be interesting to see Troy's reaction.

Although the characters do not seem to be well educated, each paints vivid pictures with their words. Troy explains how he has fought with death, and gives personification to death. "I done seen him, I done wrestled with him." (page 12)

Although not very many difficult vocabulary words, it is more interesting to define the diction. For example, when they talk about gambling, death, war, and jail.