The fence stands unfinished through most of the play and is completed only after Alberta has died. What does Troy's finally finishing it register?

Bono explains that some fences keep people out and others keep people in. In relation to Rose, that distinction makes the fence chiefly a figure for what?

When Troy imagines fencing in what belongs to him after Alberta's death, how has the fence's meaning shifted?

Cory's final break with Troy occurs at the family home rather than in a public space. What does that setting do for the fence motif?

Raynell tends a garden inside the fenced yard in the final scene. What does that image add to the fence's accumulated meanings?

Which reading of the fence does the play itself most clearly reject?

Troy tells Cory that feeding him and putting a roof over him is his job, not proof that he likes him. As a theory of fatherhood, this position does what?

Troy's refusal to let Cory pursue football reveals what gap between Troy's self-image and the play's evidence?

When Troy finally tells Cory to leave the house, what does the choice reveal about his fathering?

Troy criticizes both Lyons's music and Cory's football. What shared assumption drives those judgments?

Troy brings the infant Raynell home after Alberta dies. What does that act expose about him as a father?

Troy often casts conflict in baseball terms, including his clashes with Cory. What does that figurative habit reveal?

Troy's account of his own father is brutal, yet he also says that father provided for his children. What inheritance does this create?

Cory and Raynell sing the song about Blue in the final scene. What does the play make of the children singing it?

Gabriel's injury money helps make the Maxson house possible. How does that fact complicate Troy's provider identity?

Cory first refuses to attend Troy's funeral, then changes course. What inheritance is he struggling with?

Raynell is born from Troy's betrayal but raised by Rose. What does that transfer suggest about inheritance in the play?

Rose agrees to raise Raynell and, in the same speech, calls Troy a “womanless man.” What does that pairing show?

Troy insists on providing for his family while betraying Rose with Alberta. What does the play stage through that contradiction?

The conflict over Gabriel's hospitalization complicates Troy's moral authority because it connects family duty with what?

After Troy's betrayal, Rose remains in the household but withdraws as wife. How does that decision weigh duty against love?

Which question about Troy does the play leave open rather than answering definitively?

Gabriel's final ritual seems to open heaven for Troy, but the scene remains theatrical and strange. What ambiguity does this preserve?

Troy's speeches to Death can sound heroic, evasive, or both. What does the play leave unsettled about them?

By the end, Cory resembles Troy in anger yet resists becoming him. What question about Troy's legacy remains open?