The first scene of the play presents Troy Maxson and Jim Bono. It is a Friday night. Both of them are talking and drinking in Troy’s backyard.
Troy works for the Sanitation Department. He is worried because he has asked his bosses why the colored men are only given the job of lifting the rubbish cans whereas the white men are allowed to drive the trucks. He wants that the colored men should also be allowed to drive the trucks.
It transpires that Troy is having an affair with a girl named Alberta. Bono asks him about Alberta. He scolds Troy because he is not completely faithful to his wife, Rose.
Troy tells him that he sees all the women. He takes it very lightly and does not think much about it. Troy says that Alberta is a Florida girl. He says that there are some healthy women in Florida. He adds that Alberta has a little bit of Indian in her.
Suddenly, Rose Maxson joins them. Troy recalls how she had won Troy for a husband though he was not ready to marry because he was not a marrying type.
Rose and Troy begin to argue about shopping at the A&P. She says that it is cheaper. She also says that they should shop at Bella’s because it is a part of their community.
Rose informs Troy that their son Cory is being recruited by a college football team. Troy does not like the idea. He wants Cory to leave playing football because he knows that the white men will never allow him to get anywhere with his game.
Troy says that Cory should become responsible and he should keep the job he has at the A&P. He wants the Cory should learn how to repair cars or do something through which he can make some money.
It transpires that Troy was a great baseball player in his youth, but it was the time before the days of Jackie Robinson and baseball’s integration. Troy could never make it to the big leagues because he was a black man.
Now Troy says that baseball did not do any good for him although he would have made it to the big leagues if he had been not because of his race.
Troy now really hates being a player in the past. He hates the sport.
Bono tells him that with the changing times, the sports have also changed and there are many African-Americans who are playing in the major leagues now. However, Troy is not convinced and he says that the colored people will never get the respect which the white players receive.
Rose believes that Troy has drunk a lot and she reprimands him for it. Troy shouts back and chides her. He shouts that neither Bono nor Rose can teach him anything about death. He tells them a story of how he caught pneumonia in the year 1941. He says that it was the month of July that year and he was taken to the hospital. He says that he struggled in the hospital for three days and finally won that wrestling contest with death. Troy says that he will not go very easily. He says that Death will have to fight with him to get him.
Lyons, Troy’s son form his previous marriage, enters the yard. He has come to ask Troy for some money.
It transpires that he is a struggling jazz musician. Troy understands that Lyons has come to him to ask for money. He begins to tease Lyons.
Lyons needs ten dollars, but Troy refuses to give the money. He teases him and tells him to take the money from his wife, Rose. Lyons tries to convince them that his girlfriend Bonnie is now working at a hospital and he adds that he will pay Troy back.
Troy informs them about buying his furniture on credit form a mysterious white man. He says that he has been paying that devil ten dollars every month for the last fifteen years.
Rose does not believe it and she tells them that it is a tall tale. Troy wants that Lyons get a job. He offers to find a job for him at his Sanitation Department.
Lyons refuses to work and says that he will keep making music because his life gets meaning from his music. Lyons tells his father that they are two different people.
Troy tells him that he does not have extra money because his brother, Gabe, has also left the house.
Eventually, Rose requests Troy to give Lyons ten dollars. After Lyons’ departure, Bono tells Troy that Lyons will be fine and he is still a young boy.
Troy tells him that Lyons is not a boy; he is thirty four years old. Troy informs Bono that he loves Rose so much that it pains him. He says that now he does not know how he should love her. He tells Bono not to come to his house early in the morning to tell him that it is the time to go to work.
The second scene of the play opens on Saturday morning. Rose is singing very softly. She is singing to Jesus that there will be fence all around her every day. She wants Jesus to protect her as she travels.
Troy is also present. Troy grumbles about the people who play the lottery and waste their money. He particularly does not like a black man named Pope who had won a huge amount of money in the lottery. That money he used to finance a restaurant. Troy believes that Pope has sold out the entire black community because he gives poor service to his black clients while caters to the white people in that restaurant.
Troy declares that his son Cory is lazy. Rose informs him that Cory has already gone to football practice. Troy shouts that he went away because he did not want to work on building the fence in their yard.
Troy says that Cory has never done any work in his life. Rose tells him to get another cup of coffee to freshen up his mood.
Troy says that he has to take the blame for the faults of the other people.
After a while, Gabriel enters the house. Gabriel or Gabe is Troy’s brother. He happens to be mentally disabled. He had suffered a head injury in the Second World War. The doctors fixed a metal plate in his head.
Now Gabe believes that he is Archangel Gabriel. He always carries a trumpet on a string around his neck. He tells Troy that St. Peter has written Troy’s name in his book in heaven. He says that he is ready to blow the trumpet to declare the coming of heaven to earth. It is obvious that Gabriel behaves like a child.
To earn some extra money, Gabriel sells fruits which he carries in a basket. The people feel sorry for him and buy some fruits and give him a few quarters. He is very proud of the money he earns in this way.
Gabe has a notion in his mind that Troy is always angry with him for some reason, but Troy does not agree with it. He asks Troy whether he is angry because Gabe has moved to Miss Pearl’s house. He tells Troy that he left the house because he did not want to be in Troy’s way. He says that he is not mean. He declares that he is proud of his room and the freedom he has got.
Rose gives Gabe breakfast, but Gabe tells them that Aunt Jemimah cooked him a whole mess of flapjacks. He refuses the breakfast.
Gabe shows his quarters to Troy and tells him that he will buy a new horn to announce that heaven’s gates are opening. He tells Troy that he can hear the hellhounds and he says that he will chase the hellhounds away. Suddenly, he thinks that he has heard the noise and he runs off to chase it.
Rose is worried about Gabe. She believes that he is not eating properly in his new room. Troy declares that he has done all that he could for Gabe. He does not want Gabe to be sent to a state hospital. Troy is really worried about Gabe’s independence. He wishes Gabe a very peaceful life after the tragedy in the Second World War.
Troy reminds Rose that with the three thousand dollars which they had taken from Gabe they bought the house in which they live. It is obvious that Troy feels guilty over using Gabe’s money for buying this house. Troy’s intentions were not bad because he really wanted to take care for his brother. He wanted to provide his brother a place to live in.
Since Gabe now does not live with them and he had to pay for the room he lives in, it is another source of Troy’s guilt. Troy tells Rose that it was only because of Gabe’s monthly disability checks that they were able to live comfortably.
Troy gets up and goes out of the yard. He walks towards the house of the Taylors to listen to the ball game on radio.
The third scene of the first act opens after four hours. Rose is outside, hanging laundry on the line. Cory comes back home after his football practice. Rose warns him that Troy is angry with him because he does not even do his chores.
Cory wants to know whether Rose has informed Troy about his football recruitment. Rose tells him that she did not inform Troy, but she says that Troy does not say much about it.
Rose tells Cory to go inside and finish his chores and prepare lunch.
Suddenly, Troy enters the yard from behind and startles Rose. He loves her very much and often shows his affections very openly. He begins to make some comical sexual advances towards Rose, but she tells him to go on and adds that she is not studying him.
Troy loudly calls for Cory. He takes a wooden board and begins to saw it to construct the fence. When Cory comes into the yard, Troy asks him why he has not finished his chores before he left the house that morning. Cory remains silent. However, he picks up a board and begins to saw it.
Cory asks Troy whey they do not have a television. Troy does not believe that his son has asked it. Cory insists that everyone has got a television and they get lots of things on television. They watch baseball games and several other things. He says that they could watch the World Series on television.
Troy asks Cory how much a television set costs. Cory answers that they can buy a television for about two hundred dollars and it is not a big amount. Troy laughs and says that no it is just two hundred dollars. He raises his finger towards the leaking roof of the house and tells his son that they have not been able to have it repaired for ten years. He says that when the snow comes it will seep inside.
Troy asks Cory whether he knows how much that roof costs. Cory does not know. Troy says that it cost two hundred and sixty dollars. He says that his son is thinking about a television, but he is thinking about that leaking roof.
Cory complains that his Pop is not really as poor as he makes out to be. Troy informs that he has only seventy three dollars and twenty two cents in his bank. Cory suggests buying a television on credit, but Troy rejects the idea. He says that if they miss one payment, they will come and snatch the television right out of their house.
Eventually, Troy tells Cory to arrange one hundred dollars and then he will give the remaining amount. Cory tells Troy that he will show his Pop that he can earn the money.
Cory does not stop here and he begins to talk about Pittsburgh’s baseball team, Pirates. Troy is not interested in the Pirate because the team has all white players except for one Puerto Rican boy named Clemente.
Cory tells his Pop that there are several black players such as Hank Aaron and Wes Covington who are playing in the big leagues. For all that, Troy dismisses the idea.
Troy is still proud of his baseball skills and he tells his son that he can still hit forty three home runs just like Hank Aaron right now if given a chance. Cory insists that Troy could not. Troy describes his past achievements. He tells Cory that he does not want to talk about baseball anymore.
Troy asks Cory whether a school is recruiting him to play football. Cory admits. He tells Troy that he will have to sign the permission papers so that Cory could be recruited by the school.
Troy begins to think why his son is not doing his regular job at the A&P. Cory tells his father that Mr. Stawicki has told Cory that he will hold Cory’s job and he can continue after the football season. Cory says that he is going to work weekends now.
Troy tells Cory that he does not want anyone to come to his home to talk to him about signing the papers for permission. He says that the white men will not let Cory reach anywhere with football. He tells Cory to go and study and keep working at the A&P. He continues that Cory should learn how to repair cars or build houses or something else to earn his livelihood.
Cory is completely distraught. He tells Tory that his job has already been given to someone else at the A&P.
Troy calls him a fool. When Cory does not call Troy ‘sir’, there is a contention. Troy shows his authority over his son. He shouts at him and orders him to listen to him as long as he is in Troy’s house.
He orders Cory to add ‘Sir’ at the end of his sentences when he speaks to Troy. He says that he works hard to provide for the family. He tells Cory to go back to the A&P and try to get his job back.
Cory goes out. Hearing their heated conversation, Rose comes back. Troy tells her that he does not want his son to be like him and he wants his son to move as far away from Troy’s life as he can get.
He actually wants his son should move away from sports, but Rose requests him to calm down. She tries to convince Troy that he was not accepted in the Major Leagues because he was too old to play. She tells her husband that their son is doing everything for Troy. She tells him that the world has changed, but Troy is not ready to listen to her.
Troy tells Rose that he is giving his everything to support his family. He says that he is giving all that he has and he can’t give more than that.
The fourth scene of the first act begins after two weeks. Cory is present in the room. Suddenly, the phone begins to ring. Cory answers the phone. He talks with a friend about his football spikes. Cory is getting late because he has to watch a football game.
Rose, his mother, requests Cory to clean his room before he goes. She does not want his father to know that he is out watching football. Cory leaves the house without doing his chores.
Later in the day, Troy and Bono enter. They are talking about Troy’s confrontation with his boss, Mr. Rand. Troy informs that he had gone to the labor union with his complaint that he was not being allowed to be a garbage truck driver. Bone told him at work that he could be fired for that. It transpires that Mr. Rand had been forced to allow Troy to drive the truck.
Troy calls his wife and begins to tease her. He tells her that she is supposed to come when he calls her. Rose shows a bit of anger but Troy tells her that he once had a dog named Blue. He says that the dog also used to get uppity like Rose.
Rose recalls how Troy would sing about that dog and his son, Cory, would also sing with him. Troy tries to recount a verse of the song about his dog.
After a while, Lyons enters. Troy tells him about a story he has read in the paper. It transpires that the police had raided Sefus’, one of the clubs where Lyons plays his music.
Lyons tells his father that he was not involved in the gambling there. Troy tells him that they arrested some rogues there.
Rose informs Lyons about his daddy’s promotion. She tells him that he is a garbage truck driver now.
Bono tries to tease Troy saying that it would be a good thing if Troy knew how to drive. Troy is confident that he will fix everything and he can drive the truck.
Troy is confident that his son Lyons has come there to ask for more money. To Troy’s surprise, Lyons pulls out a ten dollar bill and tries to give it back to Troy.
Troy tells him to put the money in the bank. He does not accept the money back. Rose takes the money.
Suddenly, Gabriel enters and tells that the judgment day has arrived and they should be ready. He gives a rose to Rose.
Lyons begins to talk with Gabe. He asks Gabe whether Gabe has been chasing hellhounds and fighting the devil. Gabe confirms that he has been doing that.
Lyons asks Troy whether Troy would like to come down and hear Lyons play his music. Troy answers that he does not like that Chinese music. He says that it is noise.
Troy and Rose talk about Cory’s recruitment once again. Lyons asks the name of the school where Cory is going to be recruited.
Troy informs Bono that he had visited the A&P and talked to Cory’s boss. He says that Cory has been lying to him about getting the old job back.
Lyons intervenes and tells Troy that Cory is now growing up and attempting to fill the shoes of his daddy. At this point, Bono tells them the story of his own father. He says that his father was a drifter, searching for the New Land. He says that his father never stayed in one place long enough to be actually called Bono’s father.
Troy remembers his own father. It transpires that Troy’s father was a sharecropper. He had raised eleven children on his own. It also transpires that Troy’s mother had left when he was quite young. She never came back.
His father knew only farming, but he was a very responsible father. He made it sure that his children had a roof over their head and food in their mouths. He provided for the family.
Troy tells them that when he was fourteen he had started flirting with Joe Canewell’s daughter. He says that one afternoon he had left fields early and gone to the river and begun fooling around with the girl by the river.
He says that his father found him at the river and began to beat him with leather straps. His father chased him away.
Troy discloses that his father later tried to sleep with that girl. Having seen his father with the girl, he began to fight with him.
He says that his father beat him again and he fell unconscious. When he opened his eyes, his old dog Blue was licking his face. After that incident, Troy left his father’s house. He says that it was a long time before. He lost touch with the family, except for his brother, Gabe. He now hopes that their father is dead.
Lyons is surprised to know all this about his father. He tells Troy that he never realized that Troy had left his home at the age of fourteen. Troy tells him that he walked two hundred miles down to Mobile when he was fourteen years old. At Mobile he got a ride with a group of black men who were going to Pittsburgh.
Troy tells Lyons that those black men thought that they were going towards their freedom, but when they reached Pittsburgh they found the conditions even worse than the conditions on the farm.
Troy says that it was difficult to survive in Pittsburgh, so he started to steal. Once, while he was trying to rob a man, he was shot in his chest. He says that he killed that man with a knife. He was sentenced to fifteen years of imprisonment for his crime. He discloses that he met Bono in the prison. He learned to play baseball in the jail. He says that he met Rose after many years.
Lyons invites Troy to his club to hear his music, but Troy does not agree. He gives several excuses.
After a while, Lyons leaves. Troy puts his arm around Bono and tells him that he has known Bono longer than he has known anyone else in the world. He says that a man can not ask for more than that. Troy expresses his love for Bono and Bono reciprocates the feeling. Bone leaves too.
When Cory enters the house, he is quite upset. He seems to be angry when he throws his football helmet on the ground. He informs Rose that Troy met his coach and told him that Cory would not be able to play or get recruited. He says that the coach did not allow him to play. He says that it was his one chance.
Cory and Troy begin an argument about the job at A&P. Cory tells Troy that he is afraid that Cory is going to be better than Troy.
The second act of the play begins the following morning. Cory is standing close to the tree in their hard. He tries to hit a baseball with a bat, but fails. His swing is not as perfect as Tory’s.
When Rose enters the yard, Cory informs her that he is not going to leave the team. Rose informs him that his father want to the jail to bail Gabe out. It transpires that Gabe had fallen into some trouble.
Cory reenters the house. At the same moment, Bono and Troy enter the yard. They are complaining about the police. It transpires that Troy has paid fifty dollars bail money to get Gabe out.
Troy resumes his work on the fence. Bono helps him. Bono complains about the hard wood. He says that Troy should have used a soft wood. Troy tells him that the wood is good and it might last forever.
Bono begins to scold Troy about Alberta again. Troy resist Bono’s chiding. Cory comes back and helps Bono cut that hard wood. Cory tells Bono he does not understand why his mother needs a fence. Troy also agrees with Cory and asks angrily what she wants to keep out with the help of the fence.
Bono tells them that some people make fences to keep certain people out and some people make fences to keep themselves safe inside the house.
Bono eventually requests Troy to hold on to Rose. He is obviously trying to tell him to end his affair with Alberta. Bono says that he does not want to see Troy mess up.
Troy defends himself, telling Bono that he never wanted to look for anyone other than Rose but Alberta came to him and stuck onto him and he could not shake her loose. He says that he is not avoiding his responsibility, but he says that he can’t leave Alberta either.
After Bono’s departure, Rose enters. Troy informs her about Gable’s problems. She tells him that it would be better if they put him in a hospital. Troy does not agree because he wants to see his brother free.
When Troy and Rose are alone, he tells her that he has to confess something. He begins to explain vicariously his affair with Alberta. He eventually tells Rose that he has a child with that woman.
Rose does not believe her ears and she is stunned to hear it. In the meantime, Gabe enters the house. He has a rose in his hand. He tries to give that rose to Rose.
Rose wants to know why Troy has done that to her after eighteen years of their marriage. While they happen to be conversing, Gabe keeps in interrupting them. He tries to show them the quarter that he has earned. He tells about Troy and informs Rose how Troy came to rescue him from the bed men downtown. Rose tells Gabe to go inside and have a piece of watermelon. Gabe enters the kitchen.
Rose tells Troy that after so many years of their marriage, he has done it to her. She says that she might have expected it to happen five or ten years before but not now.
She is obviously very angry with Troy. She tells him that she has been a good wife to him and she has done everything a wife should do. She says that she had been living with him for eighteen years now to see this day. She is surprised that after eighteen years he has fathered a child by another woman. She says that her whole family is half.
Troy understands his wife’s emotions and he tries to be realistic about the happenings. He tells her that he is unable to do anything now. He says that they can talk that out, but Rose is quite furious.
Troy in a way tries to press Rose. He tells her that Alberta provides him a different sense of himself. He says that he can easily go out of that house and leave all the pressures and problems behind to be a different man. He tells that he has been a responsible head of the family.
He tries his best to persuade her by presenting several baseball analogies. He says that he has stayed with her for eighteen years. Rose can’t say anything except that he should have stayed with her in bed.
Rose begins to talk about her dreams and her hopes. She says how she suppressed all her dreams and feelings. She was with him even bad times. She tells Troy that it is true that he provides for them, but he also takes from them in return.
Now Troy gets angry and tells her that he has done everything for his family. He suddenly grabs Rose in a threatening manner.
Suddenly, Cory enters the yard and holds Troy from behind. He hits Troy on his chest. Both Cory and Troy are completely stunned. Now Troy moves towards Cory, but Rose interferes. He is ready to strike Cory but he controls himself.
The second scene of the second act opens after six months. Troy is ready to walk out of their house but Rose tries to stop him. He tells her that she has not talked to him for months. She asks him whether he will be coming back home after the work the following day.
He tells her that he will perhaps cash his check and go to the Taylors’ to play checkers. Rose begins to shout that she can’t live in that condition.
Troy informs Rose that he is going to the hospital. Alberta is in the hospital. He informs her that she is having her baby.
Rose tells him that Troy has sent Gabe with the state authorities. She says that the state authorities have taken Gabe from Miss Pearl’s house and it happened because Troy ordered it. Troy protests but she says that she has done Gabe just like he had done Cory.
She tells him that he did not sign the papers for Cory but he signed for Gabe and sent him away. She tells him that he sent his brother away for half his money.
The phone begins to ring and Rose goes inside to receive the phone call. After a moment, when she comes back, she tells Troy that Alberta has had her baby in the hospital.
Troy asks her about the gender of the newborn. Rose informs him that it is a girl. Troy gets ready to go to the hospital. Before he tries to leave, Rose informs him that Alberta has died while delivering the baby. Now Rose is worried about Alberta’s burial.
Troy gets furious and he begins to shout that Death will not be able to take him easily. He says that he will fight with Death.
The third scene of the second act opens after three days. Rose is sitting on the porch. She has been waiting for Troy to come back home that evening.
After a while, when Troy comes back, he happens to be carrying an infant wrapped in blankets. Both of them stand silently.
Troy tells Rose that the baby is without its mother. Rose is still furious. Troy begins to talk to the baby but he makes it sure that Rose hears it.
Troy declares that he does not feel guilt for what he has done. He says that he felt it right in his heart.
He requests Rose to accept the baby because the baby is also family. Rose takes the child from him and says that the baby has got a mother, but Troy is now a man without a woman.
The fourth scene of the second act begins after two months. Lyons comes into the house. He calls Troy. He has come to return twenty dollars which he owes Troy.
In the meantime, Rose happens to be ready to go to church. She tells Lyons that Troy will come back soon.
While Lyons is leaving, Cory enters. Lyons says that he is sorry because Cory has missed his graduation. Cory informs Lyons that he is looking for a job. Cory picks the baseball bat form under the tree and swings it at an imaginary ball.
When Troy enters, Cory and Troy look into each other’s eyes. Troy enters the house, without saying anything.
He wants to know where Rose is going. She does not answer. Troy starts to sing the old song about his old dog. In the meantime, Bono comes into the house. He informs Troy that he can’t be with Troy now because Troy has been promoted and Bono is thinking of retiring in a few years’ time.
Troy informs Bono that he is also thinking of retirement. Bono tells him that Troy has an easier job now because driving a truck is not difficult. Troy tells him that it is not the same. He says that driving a truck is not like working the back of the truck. He says that he feels lonely while driving because there is no one to talk to. He says that he is retiring.
While Bono happens to be leaving, Troy says that he has heard Bono has bought a new refrigerator for his wife.
Bono agrees and says that he brought the refrigerator because Troy kept his end of the bargain and constructed his fence.
Troy seats himself on the porch. Cory comes into the yard. He wants to get past Troy who is sitting on the steps, but Troy does not let him go inside by blocking his way. Cory is frustrated. Troy tells Cory to say ‘excuse me’ in a polite manner. He pushes Cory back.
Cory shouts that he also lives in the house. He tells Troy that he is not scared of Troy and Troy is not important in that house now.
Troy gets furious and tells Cory that he is grown now and he should behave properly. He tells Cory that he is the owner of that house.
Cory is angry and he retorts that his father has only scared Cory and done nothing for him. He tells Troy that even Rose is scared of him. Troy gets angrier.
Cory is ready to fight with his father. He tells Troy that he had taken Uncle Gabe’s money which Uncle had got from the army and built the house they live in. He says that having built the house, Troy put Uncle Gabe out.
As Troy begins to move towards Cory, the boy picks up the baseball bat from the ground. Troy gets hold of the bat and they begin to struggle over the bat. Troy is obviously stronger than Cory. He takes the bat. He is ready to swing the bat. He shouts and tells Cory to leave. Cory tells him that he will tell Rose. He says that he will come back for his things.
Troy tells him that he will throw his things on the other side of the fence. Cory leaves the house.
Troy again goes back to his seat and begins to curse Death.
The final scene of the play is set in the year 1965. It begins eight years after Cory’s departure from his home.
Troy is dead. This morning, his funeral is arranged. Almost no activity is taking place outside the house.
When the door of the house opens, Raynell appears and comes into the yard. From inside the house, Rose calls for Raynell and tells her to get dressed. Raynell tells Rose that she is checking whether her garden grew overnight. Rose tells her that it takes time and Raynell must give it a chance. Raynell continues to remain in the garden, poking it with a stick.
Suddenly, Cory enters the yard. He is in a Marine Corporal’s uniform. Now there is a kind of clipped sternness in his voice. Cory sees Raynell in the garden. He asks her if his mother is inside the house.
Rose rushes out of the house and affectionately embraces Cory. She has tears in her eyes. Bono and Lyons also come out and are surprised to see transformed Cory.
Bono tells Cory that he looks like his father, Troy, when he was a young man. Lyons loves Raynell and he dotes on her. Rose introduces Raynell to Cory. She tells Raynell that Cory is her older brother whom she has never met.
All of them come inside where Rose tries to force Cory to have breakfast, but he refuses to eat.
A brief conversation takes place between Cory and Lyons. It transpires that Cory is getting married.
Lyons informs Cory about his separation from his girlfriend Bonnie four years before. It was the time when Troy had retired from the Sanitation Department.
Lyons likes that his brother is in the military, and he encourages Cory to stay in the military. However, he tells Cory to retire early. He tells Cory that there is nothing for Cory in Pittsburgh.
Lyons informs Cory that he is in a workhouse now. He says that he had been caught in check cashing scheme. Lyons recalls Troy hitting the ball.
Lyons has his breakfast and Raynell comes there. She asks Cory whether he is going to sleep in her room. She tells Cory that her father, Tory, always said that it was Cory’s room. She tells him that some of his football equipment is still there in the closet in his room.
Rose comes out and sends Raynell in. She starts talking to her son. She shows Cory the rag that his still tied to the tree. She says that Tory was swinging at that rag with the baseball bat when he fell over and passed away.
Cory informs Rose that he is not going to attend his father’s funeral. Rose gets angry and she does not want to hear it again. Cory tells her that she can’t drag his father with him everywhere he goes.
Rose tells him to shed his anger and calm down. Cory is still living with the memories of the past and he somehow wants to get rid of Troy. Rose tells Cory that Troy is just like his father.
Rose informs Cory that his father wanted Cory to become everything that he could never become. Likewise, he wanted to make Cory everything he was.
She tells Cory that by adopting Raynell she got a chance to become a mother once again. She says that she wanted to have all those babies she wanted but never had.
Raynell comes out again and she asks Cory whether he knows about Blue, Troy’s old dog. She says that Troy always used to sing about his dog.
Cory and Raynell start singing that song together. The final verse of the song is about the funeral of Blue and it ends with Blue “treeing possums in the Promised Land.” Both Cory and Raynell are emotional.
Cory goes close to the tree. In the meantime, Gabriel comes there too. Lyons informs Rose that he knew that they will let him out of the hospital to attend Troy’s funeral.
Gabe tells Rose that now he is going to tell St. Peter to open the gates of the heaven. He brings his old trumpet close to his mouth and gets ready to blow. The trumpet has no mouthpiece. He tries hard and blows but no sound comes out.
Gabe suddenly tries to howl a song. The play ends with Gabe’s song and his yelling.