AUGUST, WILSON: Fences
To what extent does Gabriel provide comic relief in the play?
Gabriel, or Gabe, is Troy's brother. He's the only sibling Troy is still in touch with, though they grew up in a large family. Gabe suffered a traumatic head injury in World War II that left a metal plate in his head. Gabriel wanders around the Maxson family's neighbourhood carrying a basket and singing. He often thinks he is not a person, but the angel Gabriel who opens the gates of heaven with his trumpet for Saint Peter on Judgment Day.
Gabriel is the wise fool, a character who often sounds silly or nonsensical, but who often knows more about the characters around him than they know about themselves. When he talks to his brother Troy in riddles about hellhounds and St. Peter in Act I, Scene Two, Gabe seems to observe Troy's fates with clarity. He tries, in his playful language, to warn Troy of his tragic fate. When Troy dies, Gabriel prays for his brother to be received in heaven.
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