The fence keeps people out, protects the house, prevents escapes, and might even hide a secret. Why do you have a fence? In the play Fences, each character has a different meaning for the fence. For example, Rose uses the fence to keep people in, Troy uses the fence to control access, and also uses the fence as an excuse to neglect his family and hide a secret. . Bono sees the fence as a way to keep people in and also to give new hope to the Maxson family by giving a reason why Troy should build the fence. The title of the piece is Fences; notice that the title is plural and not singular. Symbolically, this could mean that even though the play only refers to one fence, each character uses the fence in a different way; the title is therefore