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Gabriel
Jan 27, 2013 15:00:50 GMT -5
Post by stephaniemi116 on Jan 27, 2013 15:00:50 GMT -5
After finishing the play, I'm having trouble figuring out where Gabriel fits into the story or what his role is in everyone else's character development. I'm also trying to figure out how he can be connected to Frederick Douglass's narrative.
Is Gabriel the symbol for the pending fight between good and evil? Could he be, for the Douglass, the sign that says that a good change will come in due time, and that the slaves will see their own fighting day?
And what is his role in Fences? What do his physical and mental problems mean for the time period and the message of the play as a whole?
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Gabriel
Jan 27, 2013 22:41:05 GMT -5
Post by clarele112 on Jan 27, 2013 22:41:05 GMT -5
Gabriel emphasizes many problems black people face after their physical freedom. One of the problems is discrimination. Gabriel is arrested by the police for "disrupting peace" and was released only after Troy paid money. If a white man had done the same thing Gabriel did on the street, he would not have been arrested. Also, the only reason Troy was able to have a decent living was because Gabriel was injured in the head during the war. Without Gabriel, he would not been able to own a house. Therefore, this shows how hard it was for black people to live decently as the only way Troy could "have a roof on his head" was by getting money for Gabriel's metal plate on his head.
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Gabriel
Feb 2, 2013 14:41:53 GMT -5
Post by sophiapa116 on Feb 2, 2013 14:41:53 GMT -5
I definitely agree that Gabriel's arrests are discrimination as a harmless white man singing on the streets would not be arrested. Going back to Gabriel's role in the play, I think Gabriel has the most confining fence/boundary around him (his mental disability); however, he seems the most free and pure. He is not held back by the reality of the African American situation in the 1950s. He is not weighed down by his bitter past, like Troy, and is able to seize the present and dream of a future in opening Heaven's gates.
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