There are always some heroic characters in literature since they give reader and audience hope and courage. Fighting for justice, saving the innocent and fearing no danger are among the many traits of heroes. However, heroes are not always flawless. Some faults will eventually lead to their downfalls. The term for this description is known as tragic hero. Troy, a fifty-three-years old garbage man, from the book Fences by August Wilson, is not a typical tragic hero because most of the tragic heroes are noble born like Oedipus from the play Oedipus the King by Sophocles. Nevertheless, Troy is a heroic character because he assumes responsibility to his family, and fights for equality between blacks and whites. Although he lives in low social status, his sense of duty, honesty and braveness makes him a hero. The major flaw Troy possesses is obstinacy: he refuses to take others’ advice, causing his son Cory turning against him and his wife Rose growing apart from him. The breakdown of his family makes his life a tragedy.
Troy is a fighter of equality between blacks and whites. He strives for it by asking his boss Mr. Rand “Why you got the white men driving and the colored lifting” (1.1.2); when his friend Bono and his wife are afraid he will get fired. He himself is also aware the fact that his query might lead to job losses. He is acting so irritable that Rose asks him to “stop worrying about what happened at work yesterday” (1.2.23). Pursuing equality for blacks by demanding the same job as white workers, he demonstrates integrity. Knowing what the consequence might be of this pursuit but still fighting for it, he proves himself as a brave man.
Troy shoulders the responsibility of a man. As the only male who works as a full time em...
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... way to work it out” (2.1.63). He believes that he is capable of balancing his marriage and the affair. However, the situation does not go the way Troy expected: because of his mistress’s pregnancy, he has to reveal the extramarital relationship to his wife Rose: “I’m gonna be a daddy. I’m gonna be somebody’s daddy” (2.1.66). On account of obstinacy, Troy refuses to admit his fault and apologizes but asks Rose to take care of the baby, causing a marriage crisis. Rose tells him “This child got a mother. But you a womanless man” (2.3.79). By saying this, Rose takes her stand: she will take care of the baby, but not stand for what Troy does. Ignoring Bono’s advice, Troy’s stubbornness makes Rose to break with him.
Nobody is perfect. Some people have insignificant shortcomings that would not affect their life; but others have major flaws, which might cause big issues.
...e he ruined his marriage by cheating on her. Rose takes care of Troy’s newborn baby Raynell because she believes that Raynell needs a mother figure in her life and not a worthless man; she then kicks Troy out of the house. After Troy dies, Rose forgives him. Rose married Troy after he was released from prison. Troy knows that he is unsuccessful in accomplishing what he wanted for him and his family. Troy is a garbage man who feels that the white man kept him from doing a lot of things that he wanted to do in life. Troy does not have many goals in life. Troy is in own little world and does not like to be judged.
Troy was secretly having an extramarital affair with a woman named Alberta. Troy’s friends all knew the truth, but Troy continually denied any involvement with Alberta. Troy’s best friend, Bono, however, managed to convince Troy what he was wrong for continuing the affair. Troy then came clean to Rose, telling her he was going to be the father of a child Alberta was pregnant with. Rose became heartbroken. She told Troy, “I been standing with you! I been right here with you, Troy. I got a life too. I gave eighteen years of my life to stand in the same spot as you. Don’t you think I ever wanted other things? Don’t you think I had dreams and hopes?” (1606). Rose had given up her entire life to be with Troy. However, Troy never once apologized. Troy continually defended himself, and he went as far as to justify himself. Troy claimed Alberta was an escape for Troy. Troy stated, “It’s just… She gives me a different idea… a different understanding about myself. I can step out of this house and get away from the pressures and problems” (1605). Rose was hurt, however, and Troy never apologized nor stopped seeing Alberta. He continued to live in an illusion that he could keep both his family and his secret life separate. However, Alberta later died in childbirth. Her daughter, Raynell, was to be raised by Troy and Rose. Troy effectively destroyed his marriage because of his excessive pride. He refused to believe he was in the
they have seldom ever talked about and Rosa stands up to Troy realizing that he is
His relationship with his son, Cory explains how he does not want his son to end up like him. Yet, he sabotages Cory’s dream of playing football and refuses to sign the permission slip. Troy was a coward who was all about showing his family what a real man is like but had an affair with Alberta and ended up ruining his family. In view of the fact that he ruined his family Cory lost all respect for his father and is overturned how Troy could do that to Rose. Having someone to look up to and having someone truly care about you is a great feeling especially if it’s your parent. Unfortunately, Cory only had one true parent which was his mother, Rose, she stuck through everything and thought positively throughout the bumps their family
Apples never fall far from the tree. After Troy Maxson dies, Rose states to Cory that
Hamlet. Romeo. Othello. These men not only star in some of Shakespeare’s finest plays, but they are all classic examples of tragic heroes. A tragic hero is one who is courageous and admired but who has a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. Othello was one of the greatest military men of the time. He was highly respected among his superiors for both his military prowess and level headed nature. This was a man who could be in the heat of a battle and would remain collected. Though this great hero also had great shortcomings. Othello was naive, jealous, and concerned with public appearance. Othello is truly a dynamic character. As the play continues and his jealous increases, Othello gradually changes from a flawless military general into
A tragic hero can be defined as literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. A well known novel in American Literature is The Great Gatsby which displays an example of a tragic hero. The author of the book, F. Scott Fitzgerald, portrayed an example of a tragic hero through the main character of the novel named Jay Gatsby. In the book Gatsby tries to accomplish the American Dream by gaining wealth and doing everything in his power to be with the love his life Daisy Buchanan. His whimsical ways granted him wealth and allowed him to be in the arms of his lover Daisy but, it also leads him to death. Jay Gatsby can be considered a tragic hero because he has a tragic flaw and because his misfortune was not wholly deserved.
First off, she was submissive to Troy because she felt he gave her opportunities to live a better life. He gave her the chance to have a husband and a son: the family she always wanted. Rose feels a sense of responsibility towards Troy because of this. What Troy does not do, however, is give her the chance to her raise her child. Cory was mostly raised and influenced by his father. It is clear that Troy controlled Cory’s life, responsibilities, and punishments, while Rose’s thoughts and ideas were overshadowed by Troy’s wishes. For example, while Rose pushed for Troy to let his son play football, Troy had the final say. As hard as Rose pushed for Troy to allow their son to do what made him happiest, Tory is relentless and refuses to listen to Rose at all. She is silenced by his dominance. As the marriage progressed, Rose tries harder and harder to make their relationship work; she even had Troy build a fence around their yard as a metaphorical attempt to keep their family together. This is Rose’s final attempt of having a perfect family and love. She is afraid of losing what matters most to her, her family, and this is her way of keeping them close. This dynamic lasted for eighteen years, until Troy cheated on Rose and got another woman pregnant. His true character shows through in this scene, because instead of trying to apologize for what he did, he tries to justify his actions. He is even close to getting physically violent with her. Rose will not accept his excuse. For the first time in eighteen years Rose stands up for herself and does not back down until her voice is heard. Rose finally realizes that Troy only has power over her because she lets him. From this moment, she refuses to be a part of his life anymore. She does, however, agree to raise his child, Raynell, after her mother dies in childbirth. Troy, on the other hand, will no longer be a part of her
In his classic work "Poetics" Aristotle provided a model of the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, the tragic hero is more admirable than the average person. This results in the tragic hero being admired by the audience. For the audience to accept a tragic ending as just, it is crucial that the tragic hero be responsible for their undoing. At the same time though, they must remain admired and respected. This is achieved by the tragic hero having a fatal flaw that leads to their undoing. One of literature's examples of the tragic hero is Achilles from Homer's The Iliad. However, Achilles is different from the classic tragic hero in one major way - his story does not end tragically. Unlike the usual tragic hero, Achilles is able to change, reverse his downfall, and actually prove himself as a true hero.
The Iliad, the Greek epic documented by Homer that describes the battles and events of the ten year siege on Troy by the Greek army. Both Trojans and Greeks had their fair share of heroes and warriors, but none could match the skill and strength of the swift runner, Achilles. Achilles had the attributes of a perfect warrior with his god-like speed and combat abilities. However, even though he was Greek’s greatest warrior, he still possessed several flaws that made him fit the role of the Tragic Hero impeccably. Defined by Aristotle, a Tragic Hero is someone who possesses a high status of nobility and greatness, but must have imperfections so that mere mortals cannot relate to the hero. Lastly, the Tragic Hero’s downfall must be partially their own fault through personal choice rather than by an evil act, while also appearing to be not entirely deserved of their unfortunate fate. Achilles is a true Tragic Hero because he withholds all of these traits. Achilles proves to be a good man that puts his loved ones first, reveals his tragic flaws of pride and anger, shows dynamic qualities as a character when his flaws are challenged, and has a moment of clarity at the end of his rage. Achilles truly exemplifies the qualities of a Tragic Hero.
This is the reason why Troy fights against his family and himself, because he feels like he is the only one who can protect them. To Cory and Rose, Troy is destroying the family because of his stubborn thoughts but to Troy he is saving the family from falling apart and this distrust causes the family to eventually fall apart. Troy really does try his hardest to be a good father and is bothered by the fact that Rose and Cory do not see it as him trying to protect them but more of him destroying the family. This hurts Troy because his family is his everything they are what he “fights” for he works day end and day out to put food on the table and try to give them a life he thinks the deserve. August Wilson in “fences” Troy says, “ I love this woman, so much it hurts. I love her so much… I done run out of ways to love her.”(1.1) Wilson uses to show how much Troy actually cares for his wife, to Troy Rose is his everything, she is the light in his darkness, she try’s to guide him back to a sane man. Another Way Wilson shows how much Troy loves his family is when Troy is talking to his family and says that “ You all line up at the door, with your hands out. I give you the lint from my pockets. I give you my sweat and my blood…”(1.3) Troy is saying that he will give them everything until he has absolutely nothing but the lint from his pockets. He will go out of his way to make
A tragic hero can be described as a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is
A tragic hero is the character whose actions deeply affect the other characters and who creates a series of events that eventually lead to the character’s downfall and the downfall of his loved ones. Such a hero possesses a flaw in character that influences his actions and thinking and especially his judgments. In logically determining who the hero in Julius Caesar is, one simply must find the one character who fits the above guidelines. Marcus Brutus is the only one, and, thus, he is the tragic hero.
In the world today people consider a hero to be someone like Superman or Spider-Man. In the dictionary a hero is considered or defined as a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for their brave deeds and noble qualities. Though a hero is thought to be free of mistakes they all have tragic flaws like everyone else. A tragic flaw is explained by Aristotle’s definition, which says that: a tragic hero as a character of great reputation and prosperity whose misfortune is not due to depravity or vice, for the hero is a virtuous man or woman but to an error in judgment resulting from a tragic flaw. Sometimes this flaw is an excess of virtue. In The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare people are arguing over who is the perfect tragic hero Julius Caesar or Marcus Brutus. They both fit the criteria of a tragic hero, but Marcus Brutus proves to be the better and more fit of the two.
The concept of tragic hero is very important in the construction of tragedy. It is the main cause of pity and fear. The tragic hero is a character between the two extremes; he is neither virtuous nor evil. At the same time, this character is better than the ordinary men or audience, he has some good qualities. Moreover, as a tragic hero, he is moving from happiness to misery by his downfall at the end. In fact, this downfall is caused by an error or a flaw in his character not by a vice or depravity. Another feature in the tragic hero is that he has good reputation and he is a man of prosperity. It can be said that Oedipus is a tragic hero because he has all the previous mentioned characteristics and the whole play is a classical application of this concept.