Blog Entry 7

There are many things in the story that caused the characters to not be able to do certain things due to a barrier or a fence. There are situations or accomplishments that the characters wanted to do or desired to do and love to do but couldn't because of other priorities that were at hand.
Troy was supposed to be a professional baseball player. He was in the Negro League but was unable to join the Major League. Being a black baseball player at that time wasn't being accepted especially in the Major League. That was a fence that Troy had to experience. He wasn't able to play in the Major Leagues because of the fence that was put between whites and blacks. The community and society as a whole built up this fence separating white people and black people. Being segregated with whites going to a different school as blacks or drinking from a different water faucet was making this fence stronger so Troy was not able to pursue his dream due to this barrier or fence. This fence even brought trouble to his job where he couldn't be  a garbage man and driving a truck instead of handling the trash. He did win the case however which broke one of the fences that was built.
There is a fence that separated Troy and Cory being father and son. Cory is in the process of being recruited by a college to play football. He wants to continue playing high school to be recruited but his father Troy isn't allowing it. He wants to have Cory continue working at the grocery store which he currently quit working at so he could play. Troy even says "Your first chore is to help me with this fence on Saturday" (1, iii, 25). To me, Troy doesn't want his son to be able to do things that he wasn't able to do himself. This fence is getting into their relationship as father and son but it is also conflicting with Cory's future which he has a great deal of succeeding at. I believe that Troy is jealous of his son. That Cory is given this opportunity of succeeding and living the life that Troy wasn't able to do. Troy feels this resentment and jealousy over his son. But it also could be where Troy is so used to having this fence up of segregation with society so he believes it will always be like that and his son will not be recruited because of his color and is therefore making sure that his son is working so he can make money. Rose also sees this change of when society back in Troy's lifetime is different from Cory's current one by saying. "Times have changed from when you was young, Troy. People change. The world is changing around you and you can't even see it" (1, iii, 118).
I also believe the meaning of fences in the play comes from Troy and Bono building this fence for Troy's wife Rose. She admits that she is building the fence to keep her family close. She knows that her family is being torn apart and she is doing everything to keep this family together even by raising the baby that Troy had with another woman who passed away during childbirth. This family is dealing with my fences and that fences for this play's title suits well.

Blog Entry 5

Hamlet comes home to hear of his father's death. He is so shocked and surprised because his death was very sudden. He thought highly of his father, the King of Denmark, and said he was a beloved king. Once Marcellus and Horatio tell him that he has seen a ghost that looks like the late King of Denmark, Hamlet immediately wants to know more. He wants to go and visit this ghost whether or not it is a good ghost or a demon. I wouldn't want to go see any ghost if i was put in Hamlet's situation but he wants to go and see it. Hamlet goes and speaks to this ghost that is in fact the ghost of his dead father and learns that his death was a murder. "Haste me to know't, that I with wings as swift as meditation or the thoughts of love may sweep to my revenge" (I, v, 29-31).
He finds out that his father was poisoned by his uncle while he was sleeping in the garden. The ghost tells him to kill his uncle to revenge for his death but Hamlet isn't sure if its the right thing to do. "And shall I couple hell?" (I, v, 93). Couple in this text means to engage in a contest against. So Hamlet isn't sure if he should be in competition in a sense with god and kill his uncle or wait for what hell will bring on to him. Maybe in fact his father's death was meant to be due to the sins he did while alive. Hamlet didn't want to interfere with heaven or hell. Hamlet also brings up another dilemma saying "Ill wipe away all trivial fond records all saws of books, all forms, all pressures past that youth and observation copied there" (I, v, 99-100). To me, Hamlet is looking back in his youth and childhood and is realizing that if he avenges his father's death, he will no longer be a child. The innocence of being young will be wiped away and forgotten once he fulfills this act. He later does promise to the ghost that he will kill his uncle.
Hamlet is dealing with a lot right now including his mother's actions and behaviors and how it affects him. He disagrees with the marriage of his uncle and his mom saying it is too soon after his father's death. He even says that the marriage is based on lust comparing his uncle to a satyr which is an animal of part man part goat which is known as a symbol of lust. His mother, the Queen, went from loosing her husband, crying and mourning his death to rejoicing and celebrating her marriage with Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet when talking to the ghost gets angered and describes his mom as "A most pernicious woman! O villain, o villain, smiling damned villain!" (I, v, 105-106).
Hamlet seems to be going delusional. He is saying things that don't make sense and is just completely changing his demeanor. He is having difficulty being able to kill his uncle. Hamlet i believe is putting on a show. He is having people believe he is indeed going crazy and insane as a result of all the events evolving around him. I think he is doing it to throw people off so when he does kill his uncle, then it would be a shock to Denmark that the newly king got killed.