Rose, in the Midst of Changes Sion Kim College

Rose, in the Midst of Changes

In the course of an enduring history of segregation in the United States, there 1950’s was one of the times when African Americans actively fought for equal rights. Many African American men, such as Martin Luther King Jr. who is famous for the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-56), played a crucial role. African American women, who were under a dual burden, were also going through changes, although not as visible as men’s. August Wilson, an American playwright, wrote Fences in 1986, which portrays an African American family living in 1950’s. Rose, one of the main characters, is the wife of Troy, who is a black garbage truck driver. Rose has to support her talkative but authoritative husband who always complains of his failed dream as a baseball player and grudgingly blames segregation for his failures. She has to act as a mediator in the conflicts between her husband and her son. She even has to put up with Troy cheating on her and later even asks her to raise the out-of- wedlock child. Rose matches up with other African American women in the 1950’s because she sacrifices herself, she is not sexually protected, and yet she is independent.

Rose is sacrificial, like other black women. Even though...