Act One: Scene One
Summary Act One: Scene One
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Summary
It is Friday, Troy and Bono's payday. Their responsibilities as garbage collectors are done for the day. Troy and Bono reach Troy's house for their weekly ritual of drinking, catching up on each other's lives and sharing stories. Their dialogue begins in the middle of a conversation as they reach the dirt front-yard of Troy's house where the entire play takes place.
Troy recounts a story about a co-worker named Brownie who lied to their boss, Mr. Rand about having a watermelon in his hands, and trying to hide the watermelon under his coat. Both Troy and Bono think that Brownie's embarrassment about the watermelon was stupid. Troy has asked Mr. Rand, their boss, why the black employees aren't allowed to drive the garbage trucks, but only to lift the garbage. Bono is eager to hear the latest news of Troy's conversations with Mr. Rand and the Commissioner of the union about his complaint. Troy says that Mr. Rand told him to take the complaint to the union the following Friday. Troy isn't afraid of getting fired.
Bono transitions from the topic of Troy's complaint at work to the subject of Alberta, a woman who hangs out at Taylor's, a bar Troy and Bono like to frequent. Bono does not ask Troy directly whether or not he is having an affair with Alberta. Troy insists that he hasn't "eyed" women since he met his wife, Rose. Bono agrees. But Bono pushes the issue further by revealing to Troy that he has seen Troy walking around Alberta's house when Troy is supposedly at Taylor's. Troy gets mad at Bono for following him around. Bono asks Troy what he knows about Alberta. Troy tells Bono that Alberta is from Tallahassee, revealing that he knows something about her.
Rose comes out of the house. Rose and Troy tell Bono about the ways Rose has changed Troy for the better as a married man. Rose tells the men that Troy and Rose's son, Cory, has been recruited by a college football team and the college coach is coming to visit. Troy was a baseball player in the Negro Leagues but never got a chance to play in the Major Leagues because he got too old to play just as the Major Leagues began accepting black players. Troy does not want Cory to play ball, but to learn a trade. When Troy exclaims that it was unfair to prohibit anyone who was good enough to play in the Majors from playing and then takes a long drink, Rose reprimands him saying, "You gonna drink yourself to death." Her comment throws Troy into a long epic story about his struggle in July of 1943 with death. Troy turns the time when he was sick with pneumonia in Mercy Hospital into a fanciful story about his fight with a character named Death. Even as Rose provides the real story to Bono, Troy continues telling his tale.
Lyons, a son Troy had before he met Rose, shows up at the house as he has tended to do on many Fridays in the past because Lyons knows it is Troy's payday. Lyons is a jazz musician. He asks Troy if he can borrow ten dollars. Troy continues his saga about Death, changing the times and situations in which he met Death and the Devil. This includes the time a door-to-door salesman that Troy claims is the Devil sold him a layaway plan to buy furniture. Lyons thinks Troy's belief that he has seen the Devil is as ridiculous as Troy thinks it is for Lyons to pursue music. Troy puts down the way Lyons was raised and Lyons accuses Troy of knowing little about the way he was raised because Troy was in jail for most of Lyons' childhood. Lyons and Rose convince Troy to give Lyons the ten dollars. Lyons abruptly decides to leave after receiving the money. Bono decides to go home to Lucille and the pig feet she made for dinner. Troy embarrasses Rose by telling Bono how much he loves his wife and brags that on Monday morning when it is time for work, he'll still be making love to her.
The first scene of Fences is also the longest scene in the play, possibly because Wilson uses this first scene to foreshadow several important elements of the plot and introduce elements he will repeat or contrast later in the play, enabling him to create a sense that the characters and time have changed. Wilson forces the audience to immediately acclimate to the world of the play by gathering information from Troy and Bono's conversation. The exposition in this first dialogue informs that Troy and Bono are close friends who work together. Bono agrees with Troy's negative opinion of their co-worker, Brownie, and shows that he sticks up for Troy at work, a sign he is a loyal as well as attentive friend.
Brownie's embarrassment over possessing a watermelon is a direct reference to racist stereotypical images of African Americans. Variety plays that portrayed stereotypical blacks played by white men in blackface, called minstrel shows, were the most popular form of American entertainment for over two hundred years. In caricature drawings and minstrel shows, African Americans were frequently depicted as lazy, child-like people who enjoyed nothing more than eating watermelons all day or stealing watermelons for pleasure. Troy and Bono think Brownie's embarrassment over having a watermelon was foolish on two levels. They think this because Brownie did a bad job of concealing the watermelon that was perfectly visible to everyone. The second reason is not conscious to Troy and Bono but to the playwright. Wilson is conscious that minstrel characters institutionalized the tradition of stereotypical black characters in American entertainment. Wilson turns this tradition on its head by writing his own realized characters in such a way that they indirectly refer to the stereotyping of blacks very early in the play thereby sending a signal to the audience that this play's project is in part to present characters who are three-dimensional. Troy and Bono are not ashamed to be black and have confident enough self-images that they would not be embarrassed to be seen with a stereotypical object like Brownie is with his watermelon. Too early to have the political-mindedness of Wilson characters inspired by the black pride movement, Bono and Troy nevertheless foreshadow issues that will emerge in the shaping of future African American identities.
Structurally, this first scene establishes patterns in the play to come. Bono and Troy's friendship is closest in this first scene and their language borrows words from each other more frequently in these first conversations. This is a technique playwrights have used for centuries to create the feeling that the characters are harmonious. Bono and Troy frequently use the word "nigger" as an endearing term, a common use of the word by African Americans who, like homosexuals who now embrace the term, "queer" to describe themselves, reverse an originally derogatory word used by a majority to denigrate a group into a word that the oppressed group uses for themselves with a positive connotation, lessening the power of its insult.
Bono and Troy's dialogue also foreshadows several plot elements. Concerned for Troy's family life, Bono inquires about Troy's relationship with a woman named Alberta. This piece of information foreshadows the inevitability that Troy will reveal his secret because Bono has been watching him closely and Troy is not covert at his sneaking around. Another conflict is planted in Act One, scene one when Rose informs Bono and Troy about the recruiter who wants to see Troy and Rose's son, Cory play football.
Setting the scene on Friday and returning to two more Fridays in following scenes allows Wilson to portray change. Lyons' entrance and Troy's complaint about his money borrowing will later provide laughs when Lyons shows up again. It will also establish Lyons as a trust-worthy, sympathetic character when Lyons makes good on his loan because he proves much more reliable than Troy's perception of Lyons in this first scene. When Bono and Troy no longer drink and laugh together on a future payday, we notice how far away from each other they've come since we first met them in the first scene that emphasizes the extent of the damage Troy's decisions have caused.
Act One: Scene Two
Summary Act One: Scene Two
Rose hangs laundry in the yard on Saturday morning. She sings a song asking Jesus to protect her like a fence. Troy and Rose talk about the numbers, or lottery game, that Rose and Lyons play. Troy tells Rose that everyone at work thinks he is going to get fired, but he does not think it will happen. Gabriel, Troy's brother shows up at the house with a basket. He sings a song about selling plums but he does not have any plums in his basket to sell. Gabe explains to Troy that he moved over to Miss Pearl's because he didn't want to be in the way. Troy tells Gabe he is not mad at him for leaving their home. Gabe is brain-damaged from a war injury and sometimes thinks he is the angel Gabriel. Gabe often refers to St. Peter as if he knows him personally. Gabe tells Troy that he has seen St. Peter's book for Judgment Day and Troy's name appeared inside. Gabe saw Rose's name too, but not the way Troy's name appeared. Gabe leaves Troy after he thinks he sees hellhounds around Troy's feet. As Gabe leaves, he sings a song warning Troy to get ready for Judgment Day.
Rose and Troy argue over what to do to help Gabe now that he has moved to Miss Pearl's. Troy displays some guilt for managing the money Gabriel receives from the government. Rose believes Troy did the right thing in taking over Gabriel's money. Rose reminds Troy about the fence she's asked him to finish building. Troy tells Rose that he is going to Taylor's to listen to a baseball game and he'll work on the fence when he gets back.
Act One: Scene Two
Moreover, Gabe reminds Troy of Troy's own sacrifices and inability to control his fate in certain aspects of his life. Troy is ashamed of his use of Gabe's money to buy their house, but without it, they would still live in poverty. Troy's manhood is bruised because he knows it cost the Maxson family part of Gabriel's brain to have what little assets they own. This sacrifice contributes to Troy's often-warped sense of duty. Troy feels that if he had been born white with the same talent he had in his prime, or if the Major Leagues had integrated, his family would live carefree. And even with his work ethic and years of commitment to the sanitation department, he has not been able to get a promotion because the union prohibits blacks from driving the trash trucks.
Troy's inability to control his fate undoubtedly influences his adamant response to Cory's dream to play college football. Troy's experience has been that even when you try your best and sacrifice what you have to give, the rules do not always apply in your favor as a black American. Similarly, Troy has taken from Gabe what is rightfully his money for his own use.
Act One: Scene Three
Summary Act One: Scene Three
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Summary
Cory comes home from football practice on Saturday afternoon. Rose tells him that Troy was upset about Cory leaving the house without doing his chores or helping him with the fence. Cory tells Rose that every Saturday Troy says he needs his help with the fence but he never ends up working on it. Instead, he says he goes to the bar, Taylor's. Cory goes inside to eat lunch and do his chores. Troy comes home, supposedly from Taylor's, but can't remember the score of the game. He unsuccessfully flirts with Rose, and then yells at Cory to come outside and help him with the fence. Troy reprimands Cory for going to football practice instead of doing his chores.
Cory and Troy work on the fence. Cory asks Troy if they can buy a television. Troy would rather buy a new roof because it would insure their future security. Cory thinks it would be fun to watch the World Series on TV. It would cost two hundred dollars. Troy makes a deal with Cory that if Cory comes up with one hundred dollars, Troy will match him with the other half and they will buy the television together. Troy and Cory have a friendly argument about the status of black players in the Major Leagues. Troy will not admit that Hank Aaron is changing the game and that Roberto Clemente's coaches give him plenty of chances to bat. Troy finds weakly argued excuses to deny that baseball is treating black players fairly and changing for the better. Troy disappoints Cory by not agreeing to sign the permission papers for Cory to play college football. A coach is coming from North Carolina to recruit Cory, but even with the knowledge of how far the coach is traveling to see his son, Troy will not change his mind. Troy wants Cory to work at the A&P supermarket instead of going to football practice. Cory breaks the news to Troy that he has already given away his job at the A&P during the football season. Mr. Stawicki, Cory's boss, is keeping Cory's job for when the season ends. Cory begs Troy to change his mind, but Troy refuses and demands Cory get his job back.
Cory asks Troy why he never liked Cory. Troy responds by explaining his belief that his role as a father is to provide shelter and food and the gift of life to a son and nothing more. Troy demands that Cory speak to him respectfully with the word "sir," and gives Cory the third degree, making Cory treat him with a military-like respect. Rose asks Troy why he will not let Cory play football when Cory is trying to follow in his father's footsteps. Troy explains that when Cory was born, he decided he would not allow Cory to pursue sports in order to spare Cory from a fate like his own. Rose tries to get Troy to admit that he was too old to play for the Major Leagues and that times have changed since the years Troy was prohibited from the Major Leagues because of the color of his skin. Troy will not agree with Rose. He tells Rose that he is trying to give everything he has to his family and he can't change or give anything else but his hard work and responsibility. Troy feels that his financial support is more than enough.
Mirroring the first scene in the play, Troy and Bono arrive at Troy's house to drink and talk after work on Friday, their payday, two weeks after Act One, scene one. Troy has won his case against the commissioner's office. He has been given a promotion that will make him the first black garbage truck driver in the city. Lyons shows up and asks if Troy wants to hear him play jazz that night. Troy calls jazz, "Chinese music" because it is foreign and unfamiliar to his ears and he does not understand it. Lyons and Bono tease Troy because he does not know how to drive and he cannot read. Lyons surprises Troy by paying him back the ten dollars he borrowed from Troy two Fridays ago.
Gabriel shows up at the house too and continues to talk about how he will be responsible for opening the gates to heaven on Judgment Day. Bono and Troy remember their dead fathers and their childhood experiences of becoming men when they left home in the south and moved north. Lyons benefits from the stories, learning details about his father's life that he has not heard before.
Cory comes home enraged after finding out that Troy went to the high school football coach, Coach Zelman and told him that Cory may not play on the team anymore. Cory displays his first aggressive verbal attack on Troy by saying that Troy is holding him back from his dreams because Troy is afraid that Cory will be better than Troy. Troy warns Cory that his in subordinance is a strike against him and he better not "strike out."
Act One: Scene Four
Summary Act One: Scene Four
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Troy and Bono's fathers are representative of the phenomena in African American culture that took place after slavery was abolished and after promises made by the Reconstruction era failed to provide the necessary infrastructure to help the homeless, impoverished, dislocated blacks assimilate to the free-market culture and economy. Bono describes his father as having the "walking blues," a condition that Bono blames for his own fear of having children. Bono uses this term to describe his father's behavior during the Great Migration, when thousands of blacks chose to walk to a new life in a free city north of where they lived in slavery or slave-like conditions of sharecropping. Many blacks walked on foot from the south to a city in the north, some even going as far as Canada. Even if Bono's father wasn't part of this movement north, he represents the effects of this history.
Bono and Troy and Lyons and Cory share the commonality of a similar struggle. All of these men grapple with their identities in relation to their father's life choices. Bono, afraid of wandering like his father, and disappointing a child because of a lack of commitment to the child's mother and family, does not repeat his father's shortcomings. Bono is a devoted husband who perhaps regrets his lack of children because not having them was a decision he made based on his fears of inheriting negative traits of his father. Troy inherited useful yet unfortunate traits from his dad. He gained a terrific sense of responsibility to his family from his father, whom he respects more than his mother (who left their home), but he learned little about love from his father. Troy's father expressed love only as duty and Troy repeats this philosophy with Cory. Lyons grew up largely without Troy who was in jail when Lyons was a child. Lyons feels confident that his choice to be a musician while not practical, is a freedom that he should enjoy when so many generations before him were forced into life decisions. Lyons and Troy differ on this point because Lyons was a product of his mother and his generation, and Troy had little chance to influence his identity. The lack of a paternal presence in Bono, Troy and Lyons' lives shaped their view of themselves and their life choices.
Act Two: Scene One
Summary Act Two: Scene One
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Summary
Cory hits the baseball tied to the tree in the yard. When he sees Rose, he tells her that he isn't quitting the football team. Rose agrees to talk to Troy on Cory's behalf when Troy comes home from bailing Gabriel out of jail. Gabe was arrested for disturbing the piece. It cost Troy fifty dollars to bail out Gabriel. Troy and Bono believe that the police arrest Gabriel often because it is easy for them to take him and it makes them a quick fifty dollars. Bono and Troy work on the fence together. Bono complains that the wood is too hard and difficult to saw through. Bono asks Troy about his relationship with Alberta again. Bono says that he they have "done got tight," or closer to one another. Troy denies Bono's accusation. Cory joins them and cuts through the wood easily.
Cory and Troy do not understand why Rose wants a fence built. Bono does know why, and explains to Troy and Cory that Rose loves her family and wants to keep them safe and close to her love. Bono tells Troy and Cory that people build fences for two reasons: "Some people build fences to keep people out…and other people build fences to keep people in." Bono does not mention Troy's mistake of having an extramarital affair in front of Cory but shares his opinion on what Troy should do through his explanation of the fence. Bono implies that Troy should respect Rose's love and be loyal to her love instead of pushing her and Cory away from him.
When Cory goes into the house to look for a saw, Bono confronts Troy more explicitly about his affair. Troy finally admits to Bono that he is indeed having an affair with Alberta. Bono wants Troy to stop the affair before it's too late and Rose finds out. Bono bets Troy that if he finishes building the fence for Rose, Bono will buy his wife, Lucille the refrigerator he has promised her for a long time. Bono decides to go home and not help troy with the fence anymore.
Rose asks Troy about what happened with Gabe at the station. Troy tells Rose about the fifty dollars and a hearing in three weeks to determine whether or not Gabe should be recommitted to an asylum. Troy explains to Rose that Gabe was arrested "for howling and carrying on" after he chased some kids away who were teasing him. Troy and Rose argue over whether or not Gabe needs more supervision.
Troy suddenly tells Rose that he is going to be a father to a child of another woman. Gabriel shows up at the house and interrupts their important conversation. Rose becomes upset and outraged. She cannot believe that she has been loyal to Troy for eighteen years and he has done this to her. Gabriel senses that Troy has done something wrong to Rose. Gabe compliments Troy on helping him earlier that day at the police station. Troy expresses to Rose that he spent time with Alberta to escape. Rose believes she has been a good wife and mother and so Troy should have stayed with her. Troy selfishly conveys to Rose that he used Alberta to get away from the pain of his stagnant career and life goals. Rose rebuts his excuse by asserting that she invested her whole life in Troy, even when she knew he wasn't going anywhere. Rose feels just as stuck as Troy but she hasn't hurt Troy the way is hurting her. Rose accuses Troy of being selfish and of taking and not giving. This makes Troy very upset and he grabs Rose's arm. Rose yells at Troy because he is hurting her arm. Cory hears the noise from inside the house. He comes outside and surprises Troy by grabbing him from behind. Cory punches Troy in the chest, knocking Troy to the ground. Both Troy and Cory are surprised at Cory's actions. Troy lunges at Cory but Rose holds him back. Troy collects himself and yells at Cory instead of hitting him. Troy tells Cory that he just committed strike number two, and leaves the yard.
Summary Act Two: Scene One
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Bono's poignant observation of why Rose wants the fence built contributes to Bono's success in pushing Troy to admit the truth about his affair. Troy's confession to Bono causes a disturbance, or a major reversal, in Troy's behavior and leads to the rising action escalating in Troy's admission of his affair to Rose. Until this moment, Troy has lived in denial about his affair, allowing himself the luxury of believing in and escaping to a world of illusions with Alberta, separate from his real-life responsibilities and disappointments. By announcing out loud to Bono the truth, Troy begins to make real the betrayal he has committed to himself. Unfortunately for Troy, his timing is too late. Alberta is pregnant; creating another realized form of his betrayal that will not be erased. Troy and Rose argue about Gabe's recent arrest and decision to move out, driving the rising action forward and steeping Troy and Rose in the unsatisfying bickering of their failing relationship. Rose's involvement in Gabe's life also expresses how closely linked Troy's family is with her own life, a stark contrast to the lover, Alberta who is a stranger with no familial duties. Troy blurts out to Rose the fact of his affair with Alberta in a double dose of shocking betrayal. He does not first reveal his affair and then the pregnancy, but dishes both parts of his news at once saying to Rose, "I'm gonna be a daddy." Rose demands an explanation and Troy, still clinging to a world of illusions and selfish excuses, only provides Rose with indulgent reasons why he needed to be with Alberta, and never apologizes for his decision.
Rose and Troy's disparate outlooks on how to live their life come to a head here. When Troy explains that having the affair felt like he was achieving something instead of remaining stagnant in a dead-end career and failing relationships at home by describing the decision as stealing second, like the move in baseball, Rose snaps at Troy in an effort to ground him in the reality of his mistake. She says, "We're not talking about baseball! We're talking about you going off to lay in bed with another woman!" Troy continues to see the story only from his point of view with no comprehension of the effect his actions have on anyone but himself, even when his actions will soon bring a new life into the world and change the life of those who are closest to him forever.
Act Two: Scene Two
Summary Act Two: Scene Two
Summary
Rose has not had a conversation with Troy for six months, though he is still living in their house. Rose speaks to Troy for the first time by asking him if he is planning on coming home after work the next day, Friday. Troy has been going to Alberta's house every Friday after work, even though he still says that he goes to Taylor's. Troy tells Rose that he plans on going to Taylor's. Rose asks that Troy come straight home. Troy explains that he wants to have some time to himself to relax and enjoy life. Fed up with Troy, Rose warns Troy that she does not have much more patience for his behavior. Troy discloses hurtful news to Rose that he is actually going over to the hospital to see Alberta who went into labor early.
Rose matches Troy's bad news. Gabriel has been taken away to the asylum because Troy signed papers granting permission for half of Gabe's money from the government to go to Troy and half to the hospital. Troy is confused and hurt. He had thought that the papers he signed were the release forms to allow Gabe out of jail. He had made a mistake in sending Gabe away because he could not read the papers that he signed. Troy denies having signed the papers, but Rose saw Troy's signature on the document. Rose is furious at Troy for not signing the papers so Cory could go to college to play football and then signing the papers for Gabe to be locked up in a mental hospital. Rose warns Troy that he will have to answer to his misdeed. The phone rings and Rose answers it. Rose learns from the hospital that Alberta had a healthy baby girl but Alberta died during childbirth. Troy confronts the imaginary character, Death, out loud again. He challenges Death to come and get him after he the builds a fence. Troy dares Death to confront him "man to man," still confident that he would win.
Act Two: Scene Three
Summary Act Two: Scene Three
Summary
Troy brings home his motherless baby, Raynell. He sits on the porch singing a blues song about a man begging a train engineer to let him ride the train in hiding, for free. Rose decides that the baby is innocent and shouldn't be blamed for Troy's sins, saying, "you can't visit the sins of the father upon the child this child got a mother, but you're a womanless man." She takes in Troy's baby as her own child, but refuses to honor her partnership with Troy.
Act Two: Scene Four
Summary Act Two: Scene Four
Rose prepares for a church bake sale as Lyons arrives with twenty dollars to pay Troy back for a loan. Lyons and Cory chat. Cory has graduated from high school and Lyons missed the ceremony because he had a jazz gig. Cory is trying to find a job, indicating that Troy did not allow him to go to college to play football. Lyons and Cory agree that jobs are few and far between these days. Lyons suggests to Cory that he ask Troy for help finding a job. Rose, Lyons, and Cory leave the yard as Troy heads in to the yard after a day's work. It is Troy's payday.
Rose is more independent. Troy heats up his own food for dinner and Rose feels she can come and go without reporting to Troy when she is coming back or what she is doing. Troy drinks without Bono and sings a blues song to himself about an old dog named Blue. Bono stops by the house. They are no longer close friends. Bono and Troy do not work on the same trash route anymore now that Troy has been promoted to drive a truck in Greentree, a white neighborhood. Troy and Bono catch up with each other. They talk about their hopes for an early retirement and their wives. Rose is more religious now and more dedicated to her church. Troy invites Bono to stay and drink like old times, but Bono plays dominoes every Friday with other men at a man named Skinner's house. Troy and Bono acknowledge how each man made good on his bet; Troy finished the fence for Rose and Bono bought Lucille the refrigerator. Troy and Bono half-heartedly agree to meet up someday at Bono's house. Bono goes to his domino game. Troy continues to drink and sing by himself.
Cory comes back and steps over Troy on the porch without saying excuse me. Troy picks a fight with Cory. Cory isn't afraid of Troy. Troy asserts his manhood and role as father by forcing the respect issue with Cory who disrespectfully refuses to say "excuse me" to his father. Troy insists that Cory leave the house and provide for himself since he does not respect him as the man of the house and the breadwinner who provides for Cory. Troy flaunts how long and how much he has provided for Cory, but Cory refuses to give Troy much credit for the material things Troy gave him because Troy gave so little loving care to Cory and made him fear his own father.
Cory brings up Troy's recent failings with Rose and lets Troy know he disapproves. Troy again insists that Cory leave to be out on his own and goes as far to say, "You just another nigger on the street to me!" Outraged, Cory points out that the house and property from which Troy is throwing Cory out, should actually be owned by Gabriel whose government checks paid for most of the mortgage payments. Troy physically attacks Cory. Cory swings at Troy with a baseball bat but does not hit Troy because he would probably kill him. Troy taunts Cory and then gets the bat away from Cory in a struggle. Troy stands over Cory with the bat and kicks Cory out of the house with finality. Cory leaves, saying he'll be back for his things. Troy tells Cory that he will not let Cory inside, but that he will leave Cory's belongings on the other side of the fence. Cory leaves. Troy swings the baseball bat, taunting Death to try to face him. He has a renewed belief in his strength because he defeated Cory. Troy is ready for death but he will fight a hard fight when death comes.
Act Two: Scene Five
Summary Act Two: Scene Five
Seven year-old Raynell plays in the dirt of her newly planted garden, poking the ground with impatience. She has recently planted seeds but they have yet to grow. Rose asks Raynell to change her shoes to prepare for Troy's funeral. Troy has died from a heart attack when he was swinging a bat at the baseball that hangs from a tree in their yard. Cory returns home from the Marines in his uniform. Lyons also comes home to go to the funeral. His girlfriend, Bonnie, broke-up with him and he has been forced to do time at the workhouse because he was caught illegally cashing other people's checks. Cory is engaged to be married to a woman he seems to care about a lot. Lyons and Cory reminisce about Troy's saying, "You gotta take the crookeds with the straights."
Cory refuses to attend the funeral because he wants to rebel against Troy. Rose teaches Cory that not attending Troy's funeral does not make Cory a man. Cory attempts to explain why he has mixed feelings for Troy. Cory says to Rose, "Papa was like a shadow that followed you everywhere." Cory and Raynell compare their memories of Troy as a father. Raynell and Cory sing Troy's blues song about the old dog named Blue which Troy's father taught him originally.
Gabriel shows up, having been released or having escaped from the mental hospital. He has his trumpet in hand. Gabriel announces that it is time to tell St. Peter to open the gates of heaven for Troy. Gabe blows his trumpet but no sound comes out. He tries and tries but the trumpet will not play. Disappointed and hurt, Gabriel has a painful realization in his mind. He walks around, turning his frustration into an improvised dance, reminiscent of an African dance. Gabriel's dance climaxes as he makes a cry to the heavens, which, in response, open wide, perhaps in the form of a bright light shining on stage. Gabriel is successful. He says, "That's the way that goes." The play ends.
