Re-reading August Wilson’s Fences: The influence of the Black Aesthetic and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

August Wilson’s Fences is perhaps the most controversial in his ten-play chronicle of the African American experience in the 20th century. The play’s conflict centres on Troy’s alleged highhandedness against his son and his extra-marital affair. The morality behind these issues has been the subject of debate since the play debuted in 1987, and the protagonist is generally believed to be a villain. This paper challenges this negative perspective, which is largely based on Western socio-cultural paradigms and logic, and provides an alternative reading of the play by reasserting the influence of the Black Aesthetic on Wilson, and by linking it to a specific African pre-text: Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Keywords: August Wilson’s Fences; African world view; Black Aesthetic; Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart; intertextuality