Dreams


 * __Dreams__**

** Introduction: ** In the play //Fences,// August Wilson uses the motif of dreams as literary devices to show and explain personality traits of characters, mainly those of Troy. It is also used to create mood by foreshadowing about later scenes. Wilson also uses dreams both in terms of personal ambitions or desires and also in terms of imagination or illusion. For example, ambitions that Troy has are usually about playing baseball even though he may be too old to compete with the younger and stronger athletes. Because of his past experiences, he even denies his son, Cory, to play football. Troy believes that blacks can not participate fully in athletics; even though Rose tells him many times that the world has changed. The playwright uses these dreams to show Troy’s stubborn and immovable personality. The characters' dreams in the play are significant to understanding their personalities.

**__ Troy __ 1. Wilson uses Troy's dream of playing baseball to show his stubborn, impulsive, and self-centered personality. ** “There ought not never have been no time called too early!” (I.i.9) "Selkirk! That's it! Man batting .269, understand? What kind of sense that make? I was hitting .432 with thirty-seven home runs!" (I.i.9)  <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">"I can't stand niggers like that. He walking around with his shoes and all run over bumming money for cigarettes. Got lucky there and hit the numbers...Man brought him that restaurant down there...fixed it up real nice." (I.ii.22) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">"Your daddy got a promotion on the rubbish. He's gonna be the first colored driver. Ain't got to do nothing but sit up there and read the paper like them white fellows." (I.iv.45)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Troy's dream to play baseball was sadly destroyed by a more racist society that existed. Even though he had great scores in the Negro League, he was never given the chance to play in the Major Leagues because he was black. He still thinks that blacks will not be as successful as whites and has denied Cory a chance to become a famous athlete. He did not think that by denying a chance, he himself has become the white man who had denied him his chance 30 years ago. This decision shows his impulsive and self-cenetered nature.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">He believes that rascism still exists because he STILL isn't in the major leagues. His logic is impaired because he refuses to believe that he is too old and that he came too ealy to be accepted as a black athlete. Also, he thinks he can compete as well as he did in the Negro Leagues. This shows his stubbornness and explains why he makes certain decisions.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">2. Troy's dreams about making money and his view on job positions show his dislike for whites and the rascism in society.    ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Money and the type of job one is doing shows power. Troy says that a black named Pope won the lottery and started acting like a white man. When blacks went in to eat, they only had vegetables in their stew; however when whites went in, they had all the meat. This shows the racial tension between blacks and whites and also Troy's jealousy of Pope's money. He later on sends Gabriel to be locked up in the hospital in return for money.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">All the whites have higher positions in jobs. This shows the racist society and Troy's inclination to blame hardships on whites.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">"Death ain't nothing. I done seen him. Done wrassled with him. You can't tell me nothing about death...I ain't making up nothing. I'm telling you the facts of what happened. I wrestled with Death for three days and three nights." (I.i.10-12) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">"Death stood up, throwed on his robe...had him a white robe with a hood on it." (I.i.12)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">3."Death" is used in exaggerated stories to show Troy's hypocritical personality about honesty and also shows dislike for whites.    **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Seeing death is not possible and is part of his imagination. This act of storytelling and Rose saying that the story is different every time shows Troy's tendency to lie or cover up things. This is hypocritical of Troy because he is the one who says that he tells the truth and that lying is bad.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Death is usually portrayed as evil and is wearing a black robe. But in //Fences//, Death is described has wearing a white robe in Troy's image of Death. This shows Troy's dislike and prejudice against whites and how he wants to fight back at them. Everything unfortunate that happens to Troy is blamed on whites and not on himself.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">**__ Gabriel __ 4. Gabriel's dream about seeing Troy's name in St Peter’s book of Judgement foreshadows plot in later scenes to create mood. **    <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"> “I done died and went to heaven…One morning St. Peter was looking at his book…he let me see you name. Got it in there under M. Got Rose’s name.” (I.ii.26) "Better get ready for judgement." (I.i.27)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Gabriel's dream of going to heaven to see St. Peter's book and singing "better get ready for judgement" foreshadows Troy doing something disappointing and Rose judging him when he confesses about the baby. This foreshadowing gives the play an ominous mood and creates suspense for the audience during a performance.