Society has a way of “shutting” people out of everyday activities based on superficial differences. The idea of exclusion can be dictated by gender, race and even class. In the playwright, Fences, and the short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, both authors portray a story that involves a form of exclusion. In these pieces of literature, the authors’ use of literary themes and devices addresses the issue of race and gender exclusion that was predominant during their time. Fences by August Wilson, is a play that depicts the life of a small African American family during the 1950’s. Discrimination during this time period is very prevalent and inevitably is the main conflict of the play. Troy, the main character and the sole provider of the household, mentions throughout the play about his exclusion from baseball because of his race. His unfortunate experience causes him to have a bias opinion about his son, Cory, participating in college football. “I told that boy about that football stuff. The white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that football (Wilson,1159).” Although Cory has talent and is being recognized by a college recruiter, Troy refuses to allow Cory to join the team because of his past experience.…show more content… The setting is during the 1950’s when race exclusion was foremost. This time period automatically set the stage for racial discrimination to be discussed in the play and Troy’s disapproval of his son playing football and his occupation further exemplifies the setting. Fences and The Yellow Wallpaper both addresses gender exclusion. In Fences, Rose, was subjected to housewife roles. Her opinion was never taken in to acco unt for important decisions. In The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator was belittled as a wife and was limited to bed rest because of her condition. In brief, these literary works uses the theme of racism and the subordination of women to discuss
