The Relationship Between Troy And Children In The Play 'Fences'

Throughout history children have been depicted as a reflection of how their parents act, react, and think. However Kids can also affect their parents, kids can entirely change how a parent’s attitude. In the play “Fences” this is seen in Troy’s children, Cory and Lyons, as well as in Troy himself with him and his father. Cory and Lyons reflect multiple attributes of Troy. Cory is more successful compared to his brother Lyons, Cory is a proud young man with a very bright future, his high school football career didn’t go very far but, he joined the Marines. Lyons on the other hand is a wannabe Jazz musician mooching off of his girlfriend because his ambitions are too big for his talent to match, he eventually turns to crime after losing everything

Troy and his father’s relationship was not a very healthy one. Troy’s father was a horrible one, Troy states “Sometimes I wish I hadn’t known my daddy. He ain’t care nothing about no kids.” (Wilson 991), this exemplifies how Troy will be affected as his father never truly cared for his existence. According to Troy his father only wanted kids to work, “All he wanted was for you to learn how to walk so he could start you working.” Troy also tells us that his father was a selfish and evil person even going as far as to call him “the devil himself” (Wilson 992). On page 991 Troy depicts his father as an individual who is solely driven by his job and debt, “…getting those bales of cotton in to Mr. Luben… and find out he owe him money…” (Wilson). This father-son relationship does manage to get worse, Troy explains it as the day he became a man, to paraphrase Wilson: Troy skipped out on his work to go down by the river to lose his

The “Second Child Syndrome” has existed for centuries, where the first child gets pushed harder and harder to be the best they can be, to be better than their parents. The second child gets less cared for and pushed less, usually resulting in dead end jobs and crime. However, I feel these roles have switched between the half-brothers Lyons and Cory. Cory takes on the first born role and Troy doesn’t like that. The relationship between Cory and Troy is a volatile one. Troy and Cory both have their heart on their sleeves, both are not afraid for their opinion to be known. Troy and Cory also share the same love and passion for sports. Cory is a great athlete being scouted by colleges, Troy was a great baseball player in the Negro league, hitting a .486. However, Troy’s dream was ripped from his grasp, whereas Cory could have a future but Troy puts it to an end. Troy may be jealous his son could make it big in the NFL but won’t let him even give it a shot. Also the surprising facto that Cory has from Troy is the willingness to fight injustice. Troy fearlessly challenges that people of color can’t drive the trucks. Against it all Troy manages to convince them to let him drive the truck. Cory shares the same attribute with the scuffle with his Troy, when Troy is drunk Cory shows him absolutely no respect silently protesting his father and his decisions. Also when Troy was fighting with Rose, when