Fences Gabriel Symbolism In Fences

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Fences
Gabriel Maxton is a brother to Troy Maxton. Troy Maxton has taken care of him since the Second World War which resulted to incapacitation of his head. This head injury made him think that he was in deed arch angel Gabriel as Troy took advantage of his disability compensation to get himself a house in which their family lives and on top of that he continues to earn some monthly monitory benefits checks as part of Gabriel`s settlement in order to pay his rent.
Gabriel Maxton plays a major role in the play fences by August as evidenced in Act one: scene two of the play. Gabriel Maxton gets to Troy`s house with a basket on his hand. He starts singing a song that touches on selling of plums but unfortunately he doesn`t have the fruits in the basket to sell. He goes on to explain to his brother, that he shifted to Miss Pearl`s house reason being that he didn`t want to be an obstacle in his life. Troy defends himself and tells him that he is not angry with him for staying with Miss Pearls and leaving his home. Gabriel Maxton thinking that he is angel Gabriel, always referred to St. Peters as if they knew each other intimately. He discloses to Troy that he had seen St. Peter`s Judgment day book and his name was there together with his wife`s Rose though they appeared in different pages. This statement triggered some hellhounds to be formed around Troy`s feet which made Gabriel quit immediately before hell broke loose while singing a song that warns his brother Troy to prepare himself for the coming judgment day. On leaving, Rose and Troy start arguing on what they could do in order to help Gabe (Gabriel) now that he had left to Miss Pearl`s house. This made Troy to feel guilty for taking charge of the money that his brother gets from the government while on the other hand raised his wife feels that Troy was justified for his actions.
Gabriel in the play fences helps in building the theme of absurdity especially in the lives of African Americans in America. The reason behind this clearly comes out whereby the government that is supposed to offer support to its citizens denies them those rights that they are entitled to as evidenced from the play. A good example is Gabriel himself. He was an army in the government and took part in the Second World War which contributed to her mental disability. Instead of the government taking the initiative of treating him, they only compensated him by giving him some cash and allocating some settlements each month for the purposes of paying rent. On the other hand his brother Toy Maxton was barred from playing or participating in the major leagues because he was an African even though he was good at playing baseball. Troy played excellently in the Negro leagues but his efforts were never appreciated as he was not permitted to join the white teams unlike his friend Jackie Robinson. The African Americans were alway...