Marginalizing the Traditional Black/White Struggle: Optimistic Black Community in August Wilson’s Fences

The present study sheds light on August Wilson’s dramatic craftsmanship in regard to his play Fences.  It shows how Wilson manages to concretize on stage the marginalization of the traditional Black/White struggle.  As shall be shown in the study, the playwright gradually unfolds various points of views held by the black characters regarding their white counterparts through the play’s central character Troy Maxson.  Fences is basically a social drama which deals with family problems such as the father-son relationship, husband-wife relationship, social identity and the role of the individual in society.  But what the audience / reader cannot overlook is the absolute presence of the black characters   in the play and the total absence of the white characters on stage. The present   paper also intends to show that   the ‘off-stage’ white characters make a powerful impact which influences the lives of black characters in Wilson’s Fences.  The so called long-standing Black/White struggle and enmity is replaced by Black/Black social life, and the great desire of the black community to make a progressive and better life.