The Role Of Adversity In August Wilson's Fences

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In the play Fences, the flawed and complex character Troy grew up facing racism and adversity due to his skin color. The play portrays Troy’s tough personality through the way he talks to his family and speaks of the societal challenges he grew up around. He recalls his past, where his dream of becoming a professional baseball player was crushed because of his racial background. This led to Troy being forced to pick the career of a garbage collector to support his family. His past traumatized him enough to ensure that his son, who wants to pursue his passion for football, will not experience the same failure. Metaphorically, the characters put up “fences” to protect their dreams, relationships, and themselves, which results in restricting their …show more content…

Troy is fearful that his son, Cory, will undergo the same setbacks in football. Additionally, the play highlights the unfairness in professional baseball by depicting the prolonged struggle of making it to the Major Leagues as an African American who was equally or more talented. Troy explains, “I have seen a hundred niggers play baseball better than Jackie Robinson. I’m talking about if you could play ball then they ought to have let you play. Don’t care what color you are” (Wilson 1294). Troy’s past experiences shape his belief that it is vital to have a trade job instead of the unreliable path of football. The second reason Troy believes that having a trade is the only career option is because of the stability of the job. Given the prevalent discrimination, especially during the 1950s, numerous jobs were unreliable if an individual was not white. Employers often refuse to hire black people or offer them low pay, making it difficult to obtain financial security and reliable employment. Troy insists that it is important for Cory to have a trade job to secure employment in a field that will never fail

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