Larger than Life :Mythicizing the life and Death of August Wilson's Fences' Hero

Abstract

August Wilson’s play Fences(1986) is part of the playwright’s twentieth century grand dramatic scheme to portray the African American experience in the States in a decade by decade fashion. In fact, he grounded his plays in African and African American cultures in an attempt to produce distinguished black drama. Obviously enough, Wilson is trying in this play to put the African American experience on equal footing with that of the white culture and to promise hope in a better tomorrow. This research paper aspires to explore how Wilson employs the blues, the game of baseball and storytelling to explain the nature of the adverse world Troy Maxon had to face from birth to death. Additionally, it also intends to describe Wilson’s endeavor to mythologize the life and death of his protagonist and his persuasion that he deserves all respect in spite of his human mistakes, life defeats and small triumphs.