Fences: Act 1: Scene 1 Summary & Analysis

August Wilson’s written introduction to the first scene informs us that the play takes place in 1957, and that Troy is fifty-three years old. Having a conversation, he and Bono enter the yard outside Troy’s house. Wilson writes that, of the two friends, Bono is the “follower,” and that his dedication to their over thirty-year friendship is based on his respect for Troy’s honesty, work ethic, and strength—all things Bono wants to embody himself. Further, we learn that it’s Friday night—payday—the one night when, weekly, the two friends get together to drink and converse. Wilson writes that Troy typically talks the most and, though he can be quite vulgar, he sometimes becomes highly profound. Wilson also reveals that the two work as garbage collectors. Wilson explicitly describes Troy as being a black man, and we get the sense that Bono is as well.

The play begins by Bono accusing Troy of lying. Troy is telling a story about a black man—Troy actually refers to him as a “nigger”—who, when he was carrying a watermelon beneath his shirt, was questioned about the watermelon by a white man, Mr. Rand. But the man carrying the watermelon denied having a watermelon on him, and, in response, Troy says that Mr. Rand said nothing, figuring “if the nigger too dumb to know he carrying a watermelon, he wasn’t gonna get much sense out of him.” Troy claims that the man carrying the watermelon was “afraid to let the white man see him carry it home.”

Troy and Bono’s conversation continues, and Bono says that the same man who was carrying the watermelon had come up to him and said that Troy was going to “get us fired.” Bono told him to go away, and the man called Troy a “troublemaker.” Troy implies that the man was mad because he saw a union representative (likely for the black garbage collectors) talking to Mr. Rand (Troy and his fellow collectors’ boss). As Troy and Bono talk, we learn that Troy filed a complaint with Mr. Rand through the union about the fact that all the garbage-truck-driving positions are filled by white men, while black men are only assigned to carry garbage. Troy says he wants the owners of the business to give everyone the chance to be a truck driver.

The conversation then shifts to discussing a woman named Alberta. Bono asks Troy how he thinks one of their fellow co-workers is “making out” with Alberta, meaning if he’s succeeded in having sex with her. Troy says their coworker is just as (un)successful as Bono and him—that he’s not had sex with her at all. Bono accuses Troy of eyeing Alberta more than other women, and of buying her a couple of drinks. Troy says he was just being polite. Troy gets Bono to admit that, ever since Troy married his wife Rose, he’s never chased after women. Still, Bono says that he’s seen Troy walking around Alberta’s house more than once. Troy says that, just because he’s been around there, it doesn’t mean anything. Bono asks where Alberta’s from, and Troy says Tallahasee. They both comment on how attractive they find her physique.

As the two men continue to crudely discuss Alberta’s body, Rose enters from inside the house, walking onto the porch where Troy and Bono are seated. August Wilson writes a note in the script describing Rose as ten years younger than Troy, and having a devotion for Troy based on how she thinks her life would be without him: fraught with abusive men and their babies, partying and being on the streets, the Church, or being alone and frustrated. Wilson writes that Rose admires Troy’s spirit while either ignoring or forgiving his flaws, adding that she only recognizes some of them. Further, he writes that, while Rose doesn’t drink alcohol, she plays an important role in these Friday night “rituals” between Troy and Bono.

Rose asks the two men what they’re talking about, and Troy responds by saying that Rose shouldn’t concern herself, since it’s “men talk.” After embarrassing Rose by implying, in front of Bono, that he’s going to have sex with her later in the evening, Troy talks about when he first met Rose. He says that he told Rose he didn’t want to marry her, but just to be her “man,” and that Rose responded by saying that, if Troy wasn’t the marrying type, he should get out of her way so the marrying type could find her. Troy says that, when he returned to talk with Rose, he agreed to marry, but told her he was going to put a rooster in the backyard to act as an alarm system for strangers (other men) coming into their house. Troy says that, while he could watch the front door on his own, he was worried about the back door. However, when they first got married, he says, they didn’t even have a yard.

Bono chimes in and says that he and his wife Lucille’s first house also wasn’t in the best condition, saying that their outhouse let off a foul stench during the winter months whenever there was a breeze. Bono says that he wonders why he and Lucille remained in that house for “six long years,” but adds that he didn’t know he could do any better, and thought that “only white folks had inside toilets and things.” Rose replies by saying that a lot of people don’t know that they could be doing better than their current living situation.

Rose says that Cory has been recruited by a college football team, but Troy says that he doesn’t want his son getting involved in football, since “the white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with” it. He then says that Cory should go get recruited in a trade where he can make a proper living, like being an auto-mechanic. Bono says that, if Cory is anything like his dad, Troy, then he’s going to be good at sports. He claims that the only two men who have played baseball as well as Troy are Babe Ruth and Josh Gibson—that they’re the only two men who have hit more home runs than Troy. Rose adds that “times have changed” since Troy played baseball—“that was before the war,” she says, and times have changed since then. Troy asks how they’ve changed, and Rose answers that “they got lots of colored boys playing ball now.”

Troy then explains that, when he played baseball, his batting average was significantly higher than Seikirk, a player for the Yankees, and he implies that Seikirk enjoyed commercial success as a professional player only because he was white, while Troy, a better player, wasn’t hired to play because he was black.

Rose tells Troy that he’s going to drink himself to death, and Troy responds by saying “death ain’t nothing,” comparing it to a fastball (a kind of pitch in baseball) that’s easy to knock out of the park. Rose then says that she doesn’t understand why Troy wants to talk about death. Troy then tells Rose that she’s the one who brought death up in the conversation, and says that he’s not worried about death: “I done seen him,” he says, “I done wrestled with him.” Troy says that he asked “Mr. Death” what he wanted, and looked him “dead in the eye,” without any fear. Rose then gives Troy’s story a context in real life by mentioning that he had pneumonia. Troy continues, saying that, right before he fought Death, he grabbed Death’s sickle and threw it as far as he could, and then they wrestled for three days and three nights. Troy concludes that Death had grown tired and given up, vowing to return someday for him. Troy says that, as long as he can keep up his strength, he’ll try to make it as difficult as possible for Death to take him.

Lyons enters the scene, and Wilson writes a note in the script describing him as thirty-four years old, a son by Troy’s previous marriage, and wearing trendy clothing. Wilson adds that, though Lyons thinks of himself as a musician, he’s more caught up in the idea of being a musician than in “the actual practice of the music.” Lyons, he writes, has come to borrow money from Troy, and he is unsure how much his exotic lifestyle will be criticized and ridiculed, even though he’s certain that he’ll be successful.

Lyons rejects Rose’s invitation that he stay for dinner, saying that he found himself in the neighborhood and thought he’d stop by for a moment. Troy, however, says that Lyons just came by because he knew it was his father’s payday. “Since you mentioned it,” Lyons then says to Troy, “let me have ten dollars,” promising to pay Troy back. But Troy says he’d rather die playing blackjack with the devil than give Lyons ten dollars.

Troy then claims to have seen the devil, saying that the devil sold him furniture when he couldn’t get enough credit. The devil, appearing at his doorstep in the form of a white man, promised to give Troy all the credit he wanted if he’d pay interest on it. Troy says that he asked for three rooms worth of furniture and that he told the devil to charge whatever he wanted. He concludes that he’s sent the devil 10 dollars every month for fifteen years; even though Troy’s probably paid off the interest by now, he says he’s afraid to stop paying. Rose says Troy’s lying, and that he got the furniture from a local vendor.

Lyons asks Troy again for ten dollars, and Troy hassles him, asking him why he isn’t working. Lyons tells Troy that he can’t find a decent job as a musician, and Troy says that he could get his son a job as a garbage collector, but Lyons says that that isn’t the job for him. Troy then claims that the reason he has money and Lyons doesn’t is because he isn’t living “the fast life” trying to play music. Lyons replies that he stays with music because it gets him out of bed in the morning—it’s his passion—and that he and Troy are two very different people. Finally, Rose convinces Troy to give Lyons the money, and Lyons leaves shortly after. Troy says to Rose and Bono that he doesn’t understand why his son doesn’t go out and get a decent job and take care of “that woman he got”—Bonnie, Lyons’s girlfriend.

The first scene ends with Troy telling Bono that he loves Rose “so much it hurts,” and that he “done run out of ways of loving her,” so he has to rely on the “basics.” He tells Bono not to come by his house Monday morning because he’s “still gonna be stroking”—having sex with Rose.