Broken Bonds: Father-Son Relations in Fences

Fences by August Wilson paints a picture of African-American life in the 1950’s. The play is dramatized by the father-son relationship between Troy and Cory, which is complex, perplexing, and ultimately emotionally destructive. Sport is theoretically supposed to be a means of father-son bonding and a way to bring fathers and sons closer together. However, in this play sport acts as a barrier between Troy and Cory and prevents them from ever having a close relationship. Troy is unwilling to allow Cory to live the life he imagines, and his restraint on Cory’s pursuit of playing collegiate football creates a relationship full of tension and hurt between the two. Despite Cory’s attempts to escape from the burden of his father’s motives, he ends

up living a bitter life where his father is permanently present and a hindrance to his dreams. When Cory follow’s Troy’s path in sports, Troy denies Cory the opportunity to play college football due to his own selfish pride, his desire to protect his son from despair, and his bitter view of African Americans in college and professional sport based on his own experiences.
Troy frames his disapproval as wanting to spare Cory from a destiny like his own, but in reality it was partially because he did not want Cory to be more successful in sport than he was, which is shown in Act I, Scene 4 when Cory says, “Just ‘cause you didn’t have a chance! You just scared I’m gonna be better than you, that’s all”. Troy refuses to see Cory's potential because he is bitter about the end to his baseball career and accepting Cory’s potential to succeed in football would mean accepting his own failures in baseball. Troy’s pride was further displayed through the fact that, by not allowing Cory to pursue college football, he was trying to show Corey that he was in control and had the power to ruin Corey’s life. On the other hand, I believe Troy was somewhat trying to protect Corey from the racism that existed in sport in the 20th century.