Separation And Reconnection In August Wilson’s Plays

As a black American playwright, August Wilson bears the responsibility of makingthe voice of his people heard and presenting their own version of the African Americanhistory. However, history just acts as a context and Wilson focuses more on the blackculture on the historical contexts than the historical stories. Therefore, in his ten plays, laterknown as the “20th Century Cycle”, each set in a different decade of the20th century,Wilson explores the living conditions of the black community in the white society.Different from the southern areas, these northern cities appear to provide more chances forthose black people who aspire to live a better life.During their pursuit of so-called material success, they leave behind their traditionsand values, which undoubtedly will lead to their physical estrangement from their familiesand community and psychological betray of their southern root and black culture. Thisthesis attempts to research into the separation of these black people from the families byanalyzing Fences and Jitney!, the conflicts in the black society by studying Ma Rainey’sBlack Bottom, Seven Guitars and The Piano Lesson, and the betray of their culturaltradition by analyzing Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. And at the same time, the thesispoints out the disorientation and identity crisis of the black people in the white society.Though making efforts to participate in the society at the cost of forgetting who they reallyare, the blacks enjoy nothing desirable but rejection and segregation. Going through thespiritual struggles between being assimilated by the white society and preserving their ownculture, the African Americans recognize that the right way to live in the white-dominatedsociety is, as Wilson emphasizes again and again in the20th Century Circle, to seekreconnection with their real identity by embracing their culture and tradition and facingsquarely their own past.