August Wilson's Fences is a play about life and an extended metaphor that Wilson uses to show the disintegrating 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 these dreams were not possible due to racism and prevailing attitudes. Troy Maxson is representative of many blacks and their "attitudes and behaviors... within the social mainstream of the late 1950s, in their individual and collective struggles to carve out a niche in the rocky social terrain of postwar America" ​​( 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, soon recognizes him, telling 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 differently affects Troy's relationship with his second son, Cory, who is a promising athlete. Sports provide the arena for ongoing conflict and foreshadow the feature that will ultimately lead to the fall of Troy. There is a constant fight between Troy and Cory because Troy won't let his son pursue his athletic dreams, instead telling him to keep his job after school. This stems from Troy's past, when he was a promising baseball player who was barred from playing because he was black. Troy's fears resonate with the new generation when he prevents his son from earning a football scholarship because of his past, even though the world was changing at the time, and people of color were expanding into... . middle of paper... ...: 2000. Web. 24 June 2015.http://www.jstor.org/stable/2903299?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contentsNadel, Alan. May all your fences have gates: essays on the play of August Wilson. University of Iowa Press, United States: 1994. Network. 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. Network. 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. Network. June 29, 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2901368?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contentsWilson, August. Fences. Penguin Books USA Inc., New York:1986.Wolfe, Peter. August Wilson: Twayne US Author Series. Ed. Franco Giorno. Twayne Publishers, New York, 1999.