17) At the end of this scene, Troy tells Death that he "can't taste nothing no more," & that "It's between you & me now! Come on! Anytime you want!" (Wilson 89).
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.
Rose leaves, and Troy addresses Mr. Death. Speaking to his own personified phantom of death, Troy challenges Mr. Death, saying that he's going to build a fence around his yard to keep him out, and that Death had better bring his army and wrestling clothes.
What does Troy tell Death? Troy tells Death to stop messing with his family and to mess with him if he messed with anybody. He said he was going to build a fence to keep him out.
Rose learns from the hospital that Alberta had a healthy baby girl but Alberta died during childbirth. Troy confronts the imaginary character, Death, out loud again. He challenges Death to come and get him after he the builds a fence. Troy dares Death to confront him "man to man," still confident that he would win.
Troy swings the baseball bat, taunting Death to try to face him. He has a renewed belief in his strength because he defeated Cory. Troy is ready for death but he will fight a hard fight when death comes.
In August Wilson's play Fences, Troy personifies death because he wants to concretize the struggles throughout his life. Troy is a storyteller, telling visually descriptive stories, that illuminate all that he has been through.
"Death ain't nothing but a fastball on the outside corner." Early in the first scene of Act One, Troy weaves a tall-tale, or Uncle Remus story in the African American tradition, about his supposed encounter with different forms of death.
Troy admits to Rose that he has been having an affair and that his mistress, Alberta, is pregnant. Later, Alberta dies in childbirth. Troy brings his baby daughter Raynell home, and Rose agrees to raise the girl as her own, saying: "From right now . . . this child got a mother.
Troy often thinks about life and death in terms of baseball. He describes Death as "a fastball on the outside corner" (1.1. 82) and claims he could always hit a homerun off this kind of pitch back in his heyday. Here he uses the idea of baseball to almost taunt Death, daring it to come for him.
17) At the end of this scene, Troy tells Death that he "can't taste nothing no more," & that "It's between you & me now! Come on! Anytime you want!" (Wilson 89).
Cory says yes—it used to be his room—and Rose comes to the door, telling Raynell to put on her good shoes for the funeral. Raynell exits into the house, and Rose tells Cory that Troy died swinging his baseball bat.
Before Rose responds, Troy muses that he cheated on his wife because he has felt restrained and worn out due to “standing in the same place for eighteen years” (Wilson 2.1).
Troy's death allows his family, especially Cory, to heal. Troy triumphs over Death because he never lets fear of it control his life.
Troy came close to experiencing death when he was diagnosed with a pneumonia at Mercy Hospital. Troy's story about wrestling with death is significant because it parallels the Biblical story of Jacob.
Yes, Troy cheats on Rose in the play Fences. He fathers a baby with his mistress, Alberta, and has to tell Rose about the affair when he finds out this news.
Christian Beliefs. Troy says ignoring a person who did right by you isn't in the Bible. He says he gets less drunk these days so he can keep watch, since the Bible says to be ever vigilant.
Troy and Rose were married for eighteen years when Rose found out that Troy had been having an affair with another woman. The woman, Alberta, dies while giving birth to Troy's daughter, Raynell. After this betrayal, Rose decides to raise Raynell as her own, but she declares Troy a "womanless" man.
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 ...
"That's the way that goes." The last line of the play, spoken by Gabriel, concludes the story on a half note. The ending feels like a major and minor chord, simultaneously. After a disappointing attempt to open the heavens for Troy with his broken trumpet, Gabriel makes up another way to open the heavens.
It appears ironic that the fence does not appear finished until the day of Troy's funeral. The completion of the fence as a whole also describes the strength of the Maxson family and ironically the strength of the man who tore them apart, who also brings them together in death.
The final moments of Fences are pretty darn awesome. On the day of Troy's funeral, his brother Gabriel returns to open the gates of heaven for him...and succeeds. Gabriel suffered a head wound during World War II and now has a metal plate in his head. The man thinks he is the archangel Gabriel.
Troy begins by confronting his employees about their discriminatory practices, he boasts to his best friend Bono and family member that he is not afraid of death and he keeps a secret that he thinks he can get away with about his affair with Alberta.
Like most tragic heroes, Troy does whatever he thinks is right. Even though the people around him warn him that the things he's doing may have tragic consequences, he stubbornly pursues his own course of action.
The significance of the ending of the play Fences by August Wilson was that only after Troy Maxson's death, could the family once again become whole. Troy had isolated himself from his family, forcing Cody to leave.