Comparing The Struggle In Fences, The Piano Lesson And Black Bottom

August Wilson, a famous playwright during the twentieth century, wrote several plays that displayed life for African-Americans throughout that time period. The Pulitzer Prize winner has many plays that are still performed on Broadway today: Fences, The Piano Lesson, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Fences, specifically, expresses the struggle that the Maxson’s face to keep their family together through the many negative situations that they encounter. In the beginning, Troy Maxson and his friend, Bono, are sitting on the front porch drinking. Bono is aware about Troy’s affair with Alberta, warning him that he should stop before he ruins his marriage. When Troy’s wife, Rose, enters the porch from inside the house, Troy treats her with disrespect;

however, he does show compassion towards her by describing the love that he feels for her. Their son, Cory, is a star football player in high school with several college scouts looking at him; yet, Troy believes that Cory should find a job instead of playing football. Rose, attempting to keep peace in the family, continuously tries to make a compromise between Troy and Cory so that they can both be pleased. Eventually, Troy gets the woman that he is having an affair with pregnant. The news devastates Rose. When Alberta gives birth to the child, she dies. Although Rose ignores the fact that Troy is even in her life, she agrees to help raise the motherless child. Troy and Cory continue to argue as tensions rise; as a result, Troy kicks Cory out of the house. Afterward, Cory returns home from the military to discover the death of his father. Cory decides that he is not going to the funeral for the man that treats him so poorly; meanwhile, Rose insists that he attend. In the end, Troy’s brother, Gabriel, does a dance that opens the gates of heaven for Troy to enter. For a majority of the play, Troy displays a crude and vulgar behavior to the rest of his family, proving his lack of family values. Rose, on the other hand, uses an assertive manner in her attempt to hold the family together. Throughout the play, Cory not only seeks the approval of his father but also desires to stand up to his father’s oppressive rules. Ultimately, the Maxson family splits apart under all of the circumstances that they face.
Troy’s actions exemplify the neglect he places on his family, for he treats them as a job rather than caring for them like he should. Each time that Troy speaks to his wife, he asserts a sense of male dominance over her. While having a conversation with Bono, he tells her to “go on back in the house and let me and Bono finish what we was talking about. This is men talk. I got some talk for you later. You know what kind of talk I mean. You go on and powder it up”(1.1.83-85). Although Troy shows compassion to Rose, he repeatedly shows disrespect to her by referring to her as “woman,” giving her orders to follow, and publicizing their love life to his friend. Troy’s relationship with Cory proves to be tense at the least throughout the play; therefore, when Cory claims that his father does not like him, Troy’s aggression rages:
Like you? I go out here every morning. . . bust my butt. . . putting up with them crackers every day. . . cause I like you? You are the biggest fool I ever saw. It’s my job. It’s my responsibility! You understand that? A man got to take care of his family. You live in my house. . . sleep you behind on my bedclothes. . . fill you belly up with my food. . . cause you my son. You my flesh and blood. Not cause I like you!(1.3.179-184)
Rather than proving to his son that he genuinely cares about him, Troy delivers a harsh speech to his son declaring that because Cory is his son, he is obligated to take care of him whether he likes him or not. Moreover, Troy’s aggression and neglect extends in his marriage with Rose when he explains that he is not only cheating on her with Alberta but also is having a child with her. Troy explains, “I’m talking, woman, let me talk. I’m trying to find a way to tell you. . . I’m gonna be a daddy. I’m gonna be somebody’s daddy”(2.1.139-140). Through admitting his mistake to Rose, Troy shows no sympathy toward the situation; instead, he informs Rose that he is cheating on her in a profane tone of voice. Troy views his family more as a responsibility that he is required to provide for rather than be a caring father and husband.
Rose shows strength by standing up for what she believes is right; furthermore, she does everything within her ability to keep the family together.

At times, Troy treats Rose with disrespect by commanding her to follow his orders to no avail. Rose states, “Man, hush your mouth. I ain’t no dog. . . talk about ‘come here when you call me’”(1.4.36). Each time that Troy tries to treat her as inferior, she refuses to allow his masculine personality to take over her self worth. When Rose discovers that Troy is cheating on her with Alberta, she does not take the situation lightly. Instantly, she confronts Troy about how he is “always talking about what you give. . . and what you don't have to give. But you take too. You take. . . and don't even know nobody's giving!" (2.1.250-253). Rose informs Troy that he destroys the family that they have by choosing to sleep with another woman. Although Rose does not agree with Troy’s predicament, she agrees to take care of the child; however, she excludes the existence of Troy from her life: “I'll take care of your baby for you. . . cause. . . like you say. . . she innocent. . . and you can't visit the sins of the father upon the child. A motherless child has got a hard time. From right now this child got a mother. But you a womanless man”(2.3.8). In order to keep the family together, Rose chooses to take care of Troy’s child; meanwhile, instead of getting a divorce, she simply ignores that Troy exists in her life. Rose repeatedly stands up

for herself against the orders that Troy gives her, attempting to keep the family as functional as possible.
Cory desires to share a better relationship with his father; on the other hand, he wishes to stand up to his father’s brutal rules that he gives him.

Cory realizes that his father repeatedly criticizes each action that he takes; appropriately, Cory feels that his father does not care for him. Cory asks, “How come you ain’t never liked me”(1.3.156)? Because Troy always seems to either scold or ignore Cory, he feels that his father does not treat him fairly. In addition, Troy ends Cory’s dreams of playing football when he tells the coach that Cory cannot play. Enraged at his father, Cory claims that “you ain’t never gave me nothing! You ain’t ever done nothing but hold me back. Afraid I was gonna be better than you. All you ever did was try and make me scared of you”(2.4.130-133). Upset with his father, Cory explains that Troy continuously asserts unfair ruling that cause issues in Cory pursuing his dreams. Moreover, Cory fears the very thought of his father in his life. Each task that Cory takes on, he fears that his father will criticize the way that he lives; as a result, Cory holds an ambition to break

away:
The whole time I was growing up. . . living in this house. . . Papa was like a shadow that followed you everywhere. It weighed on you and sunk into your flesh. It would wrap around you and lay there until you couldn’t tell which one was you anymore. That shadow digging in your flesh. Trying to crawl in. Trying to live through you. Everywhere I looked, Troy Maxson was staring back at me. . . hiding under the bed. . . in the closet. I’m just saying I’ve got to find a way to get rid of that shadow, Mama.(2.5.119-125)
Living in fear while his father is in his presence, Cory’s shows an eagerness to rebel from a life where his father rules him, for the rules hold him back from many opportunities. Although Cory aspires to separate himself from his father, his ulterior goal to playing football is to gain the approval of his father through a common relationship of sports.
The Maxson family, already corrupt, eventually breaks apart do to all of the circumstances that they face. The main cause of many of their situations can be linked back to Troy, who somewhat provides for his family, yet, shows little compassion towards them. Conversely, Rose proves her love for the family by fighting through all the mistreatment that she receives, hoping that she can save the unstable household. Meanwhile, Cory not only seeks the approval of his father through sports but also longs to stand up to the unfair rules his father gives him. Eventually, unable to reconcile all of their problems, the family crumbles under the weight of the many corrupt occurrences.