August Wilson's Fences is a play about life and an extended metaphor that Wilson uses to show the disintegration of the relationships between Troy and Cory and Troy and Rose. Troy Maxson represents the dreams of black America in a predominantly white world, a world where those dreams were not possible due to the racism and attitudes that prevailed. Troy Maxson is representative of many blacks and their "attitudes and behaviors...in the social flux of the late fifties, in their individual and collective struggles to carve out a place for themselves on the rocky social terrain of American America." post-war” (Pereria, 37). ). Much of the tension in the play comes from Troy Maxson and his inability to change, his "refusal to accept the fact that social conditions are changing for the black man" (Pereria, 37). Troy's wife, Rose, recognizes him early on and tells him, "Times have changed since you were young, Troy." People change. The world is changing around you and you can’t even see it” (Wilson, 40). the inability to change variously affects Troy's relationship with his second son, Cory, who is a promising athlete. The sport provides the arena for continued conflict and foreshadows the events that will ultimately lead to the fall of Troy. There is a constant struggle between Troy and Cory because Troy does not allow his son to pursue his athletic dreams, instead telling him to keep his after-school job. This comes from Troy's past, when he was a promising baseball player who was prevented from playing because he was black. Troy's fears are passed on to the new generation when he prevents his son from pursuing football because of his past, even though the world was changing at that time and people of color were growing middle of paper. ...: 2000. the web. June 24, 2015.http://www.jstor.org/stable/2903299?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contentsNadel, Alan. May All Your Fences Have Gates: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson. University of Iowa Press, USA: 1994. Internet. June 22, 2015.http://www.jstor.org/stable/3042198?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contentsPereira, Kim. August Wilson and the African-American Odyssey. University of Illinois Press, Chicago: 1995. Internet. June 27, 2015.http://www.jstor.org/stable/3042485?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contentsShannon, Sandra G. The Dramatic Vision of August Wilson. Howard University Press, Washington DC: 1995. Internet. June 29, 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2901368?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Wilson, August. Fences. Penguin Books USA Inc., New York: 1986. Wolfe, Peter. August Wilson: Twayne's American Author Series. Ed. Frank Day. Twayne Publishers, New York, 1999.