Cory Maxson's Fences

458 Words1 Page

One of the in the book “Fences” is Cory. Cory Maxson lives in Pittsburgh with his family. His Mother Rose a housewife and his father Troy a garbage man. He is a senior in high school Cory is a smart young man. Cory knows in order for him to get recruited he has to keep his grades up. He knows where his priorities are and keeps them first. He knows he has to get his chores and work done before even getting on the football field. Cory is a son who acts first and thinks later. Cory puts his wants before his and his family's needs. To his father he seems irresponsible. Cory wants nothing more than to play professional football. Cory is exceptionally talented. Cory notices plenty of things regarding his father. He notices his dad is not allowing …show more content…

His father is taking away the only thing he loves. Cory’s Father could have been one of the greatest players ever in baseball, however in the 30’s African American’s were prohibited to play in the major leagues. Cory’s father does not want Cory to follow in his footsteps of rejection. Cory doesn’t deal with emotional pain well. When Troy told him he couldn’t play football his emotions were crushed. Cory didn’t want anything to do with his father. This caused their relationship to be even worse. It put more distance between. Troy Maxson is jealous that his son could have the chance to play a professional sport, but he was rejected because of racism. Not playing football brings Cory pain. All he ever wanted to do was play football since the play started. When Troy took that away from that made their relationship even worse. They now started to get into fights and argue more. When Cory had conflicts, he would resort to violence. Cory tried to fight Troy when he stood up to him while Troy was drunk. After he was proved to no be the “man in charge” he walked away and never came back. Cory is deeply affected by what others say,

Show More
Related

  • Troy Maxson Gender Roles

    1084 Words  | 3 Pages

    Troy Maxson adheres to traditional gender roles by being a dominant, decision making father in the household, and that essentially held Cory, his son, back and drove him away. We first see Cory being held back in football. Cory was a pretty good football

    Read More

  • Adversity In Fences

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a result of Troy being unable to find a place to live or a job he started stealing to get by. Eventually the situation escalated and he murdered someone in a robbery gone wrong; this led to him being sentenced to 15 years in prison. Prison is where he found his love for baseball. He became quite good with a bat and hoped that when he got out he could play professionally. Unfortunately due to the segregation of the MLB Troy was never able to pursue that career and he is resentful of the situation his whole life.This caused him to be a very bitter person for the remainder of his life and this also caused him to shoot down the hopes and dreams of his son Corey by telling him things like “...The white man ain’t gonna let you go nowhere with that football

    Read More

  • Troy's Jealousy In Fences

    470 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout the play, pieces of Troy’s background are exposed to the reader. It quickly becomes clear that he was a talented baseball player who could have played professionally if not for the color of his skin. Instead of going on to a successful baseball career, Troy was forced to move on with his life and settle down as a garbage man. Although this is not what he truly wants in his life, it provides stability for him and his family. Similarly to his father, Troy’s son, Cory, is a talented football player who is being scouted for college. However, instead of encouraging him, Troy constantly scolds him, telling him he has to find a ‘real job;’ Troy even tells the scout to leave. This is ultimately because of his jealousy towards Cory’s success in sports, and the fact that Cory possesses the life Troy dreamed of. Many feuds and disagreements are born between the father and son because of their different views.

    Read More

  • Troy's Battle with Anger in August Wilson's Fences

    1269 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...y as a responsible person. He overlooks Cory?s efforts to please him and make a career for his son, learned from his past with his own father, is responsible for the tension that builds between him and Cory. This tension will eventually be the cause of the lost relationship that is identical to the lost relationship that is identical to the lost relationship between Troy and his father.

    Read More

  • Pride In The Play Fences

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    This became a fence because of Troy’s pride and particular vision for Cory. Troy wants him to go and just work to get a life while Cory wants to go play football and see what happens. This fence just keeps on getting bigger with every fight they both have. It puts an emotional barrier between Troy and Cory which makes it so all their conversations turn to football and anger. This fence left such an impact on Cory that after Troy dies he says this, “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....I'm just saying I've got to find a way to get rid of that shadow, Mama.” (Fen. 2.5.81) He is talking to Rose in this scene and basically says he needs to find a way to get rid of his dad in his life. He never had a good relationship with his father and wants to forget about it. Throughout Cory’s life football was a dream that he wanted to pursue. Troy never allowed that and it pushed Cory’s life in an entirely different

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Pride In August Wilson's Fences

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    Troy claimed, “I don’t want him to be like me! I want him to move as far away from my life as he can get” (1588). Even though Cory tried to explain to his adamant father that sports were becoming accepting of blacks, Troy maintained nothing had changed, even in the face of evidence. Rose tried to convince Troy on Cory’s behalf, “Times have changed from when you was young, Troy. People change. The world’s changing around you and you can’t even see it” (1589). Cory tried to remind his father there were many black baseball players such as Hank Aaron in the major leagues, however Troy maintained, “Hank Aaron ain’t nobody” (1586). Cory listed several others, but Troy could not comprehend times really had changed for the better. Eventually Troy kicked Cory out of the house for disrespecting him, and Cory gratefully left knowing while he wouldn’t play football anymore, he would still be better than his father. Troy’s pride in his worldly knowledge got in the way of Cory realizing his dreams; this caused Cory to lose all respect and love for his

    Read More

  • Character Analysis of August Wilson's Fences

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the play Fences, by August Wilson, we are introduced to several of the Troy Maxson's family members. We soon learn that because of Troy's personality traits, he is unable to sustain a healthy relationship. Troy is a father, a husband, and a brother, and unfortunately, he makes it impossible for any of those numerous relationships to thrive.

    Read More

  • Fences by August Wilson

    659 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the differences that complicate their relationship is that they have grown up in completely different time periods. A great deal has happened between the times when Troy was growing to the time period that Cory is growing up in. This issue itself causes many other concerns. For instance, Cory is a very talented athlete. He would like to play football in college and would probably receive a scholarship for it. However, Troy does not want Cory to play football, because he himself was once let down by a sports experience. Troy use to be the baseball star for the "Negro Leagues." However, his athletic ability was no longer superior when the Major Leagues started accepting blacks. As a result of this, Troy tells Cory that he does not want him to pla...

    Read More

  • The Deceitful Fence

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even though Troy does not physically abuse his children like his father did to him, he verbally abuses them. He treats Cory very callously and unjustly. In a way, Troy is taking out his frustrations of having an unsuccessful baseball career by not allowing Cory to pursue his dream to play football. Troy crushed Cory’s dream. In Act One, scene four, Cory expresses his misery. “Why you wanna do that to me? That w...

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast We Wear The Mask And Richard Cory

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    The irony in the poem portrays the theme that looks can be very deceiving. Richard Cory was the perfect man, or so it seemed. No one saw what was going on underneath his perfect disguise. In the beginning of the poem we learn that Richard Cory is perfect and rich. Through his suicide, we learn that even Cory, a perfect man, was not as content as he seemed to others. The common people had a distorted view of Cory. They thought Cory was happy because he was wealthy and came across as perfect when in reality, he had faults and suffered. His appearance was deceiving as he hid his suffering with a mask- his looks, his riches, and the way he kept himself. Since he appeared to be of a higher class and richer than the common people, it would seem as though he would have no problems. Arlington emphasized how Corey had everything with his use of repetitiveness using “And” at the beginning of each line describing Cory’s characteristics. The common people judged Richard Cory based on what they saw, assuming he had the perfect life with everything he had, rather than who he was as a person. In “Cory”, there is no mention of Cory’s life on a personal level. The moral of this is not to judge a person by their looks, but rather who they really are because who they really are can be

    Read More

  • The Relationship Between Fences By August Wilson

    896 Words  | 2 Pages

    Though Troy's actions toward his children are harsh and unfair, but this is not all Troy's fault. He was raised in a time when jazz music and African-Americans playing on professional sports teams just didn't happen. He was a product of his era just as his father before him. Parents can only raise their children the best way they know how, and for Troy this was all he had. As Troy told Cory “Who the hell say I got to like you?”, parents aren't forced to like their children. Sadly, Cory resented his father even after his death. We are all children, and we must learn not to resent our parents because of their actions, but to accept them and understand why they are the way they are. (Wilson 1304).

    Read More

  • An Overview of 'Fences' by August Wilson

    367 Words  | 1 Pages

    This makes Troy the antagonist in the story because he is not only hitting up against everyone in the play, but he is also hitting up against himself and ultimately making his life more complicated. The discrimination that Troy faced while playing baseball and the torment he endures as a child shaped him into one of the most dynamic characters in literary history. The central conflict is the relationship between Troy and Cory. The two of them have conflicting views about Cory’s future and, as the play goes on, this rocky relationship crumbles because Troy will not let Cory play collegiate football. The relationship becomes even more destructive when Troy admits to his relationship with Alberta and he admits Gabriel to a mental institution by accident.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Fences And The Great Gatsby

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Sometimes I wish I hadn't known my daddy. He ain't cared nothing about no kids.” (50). Troy and Cory have a misunderstanding on what to do for Cory’s next step in his life for college. Troy wants Cory to stop playing football so he can just have the job and be at school. Troy does not want Cory to have any other distraction from the two. Cory is being recruited by a college, everyone in the house is happy for him except his father. The relationship between Troy and Cory is bitter and stressed mostly because Troy is trying to treat Cory the same way he was treated by white people in sports and how he was treated by his father. Troy feels that Cory is disobeying his rules or what he tells him not to do which is to stop playing football. Which counted as strike one. Strikes were warning of disobeying rules told by Troy. If someone gets three strikes from Troy, they will be removed from the house. Life for Troy as a kid was a struggle, living on a farm with ten siblings and a father who barely cares for his kids. His father just wanted his kids to learn how to walk so they can get the working and help around the farmhouse. Before Troy even thinks about leaving his home as a fourteen-year-old, his mother already left because she did not feel comfortable around Troy’s father “evilness”. So, once she left that influence Troy to think about leaving his home which he did because his father kicked him out the

    Read More

  • Masculinity In Fences

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever had the opportunity to do something great but someone held you back? Also have you ever had someone that tried to control everything you do and everyone around you? If so you can relate to the book “Fences” By August Wilson. Fences is about a African American man Troy that is trying to keep food on the table for his family, and raise his kids as best as he can. Troy has a wife name Rose two sons named Cory, and Lyons and has a brother named Gabe. In Fences expect to see what seems like a happy family on the outside but in the inside everything is not as good as it seems. Masculinity/Manhood is an important theme in Fences because it shows how true takes care of his family but also shows how controlling and arrogant he can be, and it also helps show August Wilson’s way of saying a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

    Read More

  • Father Son Relationships In Fences

    1697 Words  | 4 Pages

    Although it seems as though Cory is determined to escape from what his father wants, he still takes the same path his father went on. This ironic situation is shown when Troy says "I don’t want him to be like me! I want him to move as far away from my life as he can get” (Wilson 481). Throughout the play, Cory is also trying to pursue this individuality, but ends up trying to chase after his dreams in a sport just like Troy. Cory faces a battle inside him as he tries to form a unique identity separate from his father; however, Troy is resistant to Cory's attempts at individuality. Troy's efforts to restrain Cory from being an individual character makes Cory take on drastic measures, such as verbal and physical violence, in an effort to become the person he wants to be. Troy restrains Cory from pursuing his dreams so much that it builds up to a point where Cory points out the truth that Troy is so afraid to hear; “Just cause you didn't have a chance! You just scared I'm gonna be better than you, that's all" (Wilson 493). Sports acts as a barrier between them from ever becoming close, even though they are both interested in them. This confrontation results in Troy counting numbers until Cory

    Read More

More about Cory Maxson's Fences

Open Document