Fences by August Wilson is a classic of African-American life written in 1983 and set in the 1950s. It constitutes the sixth chapter of Wilson's "Pittsburgh Cycle", which spans ten chapters in total. Fences is a period piece during a decade that Wilson had personally lived through when he wrote the play, which makes it more than likely that he likely drew from real-life experiences and observations to create such a realistic portrayal of blacks in the ' 1950s. Its protagonist, Troy Maxson, is widely considered by Black Baby Boomers to be a very recognizable character, perhaps even archetypal of the black community of that era, but Wilson delves deeply into the character's psyche to reveal all the dimensions of Troy, clarifying what they would otherwise be the mysteries of a misunderstood character of the 1950s. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Troy works as a garbage collector for the Sanitation Department to provide for his wife Rose and his teenage son Corey. Troy has adapted to a pace of life that depends on a very dark outlook, but he prefers it because he has endured too much upheaval in life thus far. He was something of a baseball star in the Negro Leagues, but was barred from playing in the big leagues, first because he was black and then because he was too old when integration began. Thus, it represents a common criticism of Jackie Robinson in the black community that despite the barriers Robinson broke, he was hardly the best black player who could break them. Troy represents that perspective and at one point even says, “I've seen a hundred niggas play better than Jackie Robinson. Hell, I know some teams Jackie Robinson couldn't even form! (Wilson II). Now, Troy proves to be a character prone to hyperbole, but this remains a relatable statement to many African Americans alive today who, perhaps as children, felt these sentiments bandied about with great fervor at the time. Troy represents a black archetype, but Jackie Robinson serves as a sort of invisible character in the story due to the numerous references in the work to his abilities and the barriers he has broken. Robinson represents both in history and in reality a successful challenge to traditional norms and, above all, to historical change. Without a doubt, August Wilson belonged to a generation profoundly influenced by Robinson's change of discourse in the second half of the twentieth century. New Historicism is a lens of literary criticism that defines the term, discourses, as “ways of seeing and talking about the world” (Dobie 181). The discourse in the era of Fences is mid-shift, changing from one that not only segregated blacks and whites at a subaltern level, but also segregated their ambitions. The lives of African Americans were changing because they were able to dream the same dreams as their white counterparts and pursue those dreams (e.g. professional sports). Troy's son, Corey Maxson, is largely a product of August Wilson's generation. He is influenced by the changing discourse in America at the time and, therefore, is committed to the dream of pursuing a professional career in football, which is quickly eclipsing baseball as America's pastime. Corey has been offered a scholarship to play college football, and Rose pursues this ambition, seeing it as an opportunity to, at the very least, go to college and further his education, if not actually play for the NFL . Troy, on the other hand, is quintessentially non-supportive and can be frustrating for some to read or watch on stage without understanding the true drivepsychology behind Troy's reasoning. Carl Jung promoted what is called neo-Freudian psychology as a student and, as some call him, a successor to Sigmund Freud. Jung argued that “we must deal with three powerful archetypes that make up the self. I am the shadow, the soul, and the person” (Dobie 64). Jungian psychoanalysis defines the shadow as the side of the self that one does not wish to face, comparing it to some sort of villain or devil within. The anima (for men; animus for women), on the other hand, is the driving force that drives an individual to act, and Jung suggested that this anima is feminine for men – the masculine animus for women women – to indicate it as a characteristic of man. opposite sex within a person and suggest that people are often aware of this opposite sex only in dreams (Freudian concept) or by projecting it onto someone else in reality. Finally, the persona is very similar to the Freudian idea of ​​the ego; it is the external mask that portrays oneself to others as an accurate representation of oneself. Jung believed that, to achieve individuation (i.e., well-adjusted psychological health), one must discover and accept different sides of the self. Troy fails to achieve individuation because he has not accepted all sides of the self, although all are present and observable. in the game. Troy constantly expresses his love for Rose in the grandest ways in front of Bono, Corey, Gabe, and Lyons. He is lively around her and claims that she is the center of his world in one way or another, but all the while refuses to admit that he is unfaithful to her. He cheats on her with a woman from work that the public never sees, and Bono confronts him several times. In fact, one of the most classic lines in the entire production comes from Bono's response to Troy about why the fence that Rose wants Troy to build is so important. Bono says, “Some people build fences to keep people out… and other people build fences to keep people in” (Wilson). Troy stubbornly responds that he doesn't need anyone to tell him that his wife loves him. The side of him that cheats on the woman he seems to genuinely love is a side of himself that he can't come to terms with or even acknowledge. Meanwhile, Rose is definitely the woman Troy projects his soul onto. It gives him the impetus to get up and go to work every day. Troy's invisible lover can easily be confused with the projection of his soul as Troy admits that she allows him to feel good about himself, but this is not a move to action. Troy gets, for all intents and purposes, the will to live from his relationship with Rose. His infidelity, however, is evidence that he has lost sight of how crucial Rose is to the formation of his individual self, an oversight that only further exacerbates his lack of individuation. He has, instead, crafted for himself a lively and highly opinionated character who is presumably self-sufficient, loyal and supportive. The latter is as much a lie as the first two since he does not support his son's ambition based on the illusion he has created for himself that the white man will not allow any black man to achieve anything since he never achieved his ambitions .August Wilson extrapolates these three dimensions from this character, perhaps from real life experiences with similar people, and highlights them for the audience. This makes Troy a very complex three-dimensional character, fitting his corresponding black archetype. However, in literary theory Jungian psychoanalysis is commonly called mythological criticism, which deals specifically with literary archetypes, and Wilson uses them extensively in the work. For example, mythological literary criticism establishes that gardens are symbols of innocence, much like the Garden of Eden, and.