Fences Family Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Act.Scene.Line)

Quote #7

Troy: "How he [Troy's daddy] gonna leave with eleven kids?...No, he was trapped and I think he knew it." (1.4.109)

Here Troy figures that his father saw his family as a trap. It seems Troy very often feels the same way. His sense of duty to his family keeps him locked in a job he hates. In many ways, Troy has repeated the path of his father.

Quote #8

Bono: "Some people build fences to keep people out...and other people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She loves you." (2.1.32)

Bono seems to think that Rose is having Troy and Cory build the fence because she senses that her family is falling apart. She knows tensions between Troy and Cory are about to explode. She might also sense that Troy is having an affair.

Quote #9

Rose: "And you know I ain't never wanted no half nothing in my family." (2.1.102)

Rose is especially upset at the news of Troy's illegitimate child because of the family she comes from. More than anything, she wanted a traditional home, with one father and one mother. Now, though, Troy's shenanigans have destroyed that for her after eighteen years of stable family life.