The Theme Of Hopes And Dreams In The Play Fences

291 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Fences introduction essay

Hopes and Dreams is a possible theme in the play Fences. In the play all Cory dreamed about was attending college and hoping to become a football player. However, Troy was not able to accomplish his dreams in wanting to become a pro baseball player so does not want Cory to experience what he did. He does not approve his idea in wanting to follow his dreams and instead of Cory chasing his dreams and pursuing his career his dreams, they were crushed by his own father.

Son inherits father’s quality also is another possible theme in the play. As Troy grew up his father was never there for him emotionally. However, despite all the damages his father caused, he was still able to provide for his family as well as Troy as he got older. Troy was able

Show More
Related

  • Exposing Boundaries in Wilson's Fences

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    Fences is a play that deals with boundaries that hold people back and the trials and tribulations of those who try or wish to cross them. The characters are African-Americans in a time before the civil rights movement, living in an industrial city. The main character, Troy Manxson, is a talented baseball player who never had the chance to let his talent shine, with restrictions on race and his time in jail as the main obstacles that held him back. He is now hard working and loves his family. However, he tends to exaggerate and has his faults, most prevalent a wandering eye when it comes to women. His wife, Rose, is younger than him and loyal, but she may not have known about all of his faults when she married him. At the beginning of the play, Troy has a son from a previous marriage, Lyons, and a son with Rose, Cory. Also appearing are Bono, Troy’s drinking buddy, and Gabriel, his brother.

    Read More

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

    1269 Words  | 3 Pages

    Troy?s relationship with his father was one, which produced much tension, and had a strong influence on Troy?s relationships with his loved ones as an adult. He had very little respect for his father because his father did not, in Troy?s mind, make his family a priority. At an early age, Troy?s father beat him ?like there was no tomorrow? because he caught Troy getting ?cozy? with a girl (549; I,4). Troy said that ?right there is where [he became] a man? (549; I,4). It was at that moment that Troy made the decision to free himself from his father?s power. Despite the fact that he did eventually escape his father?s wrath, the struggle with his father?s aggressive behavior and lack of love resulted in a coldness that resided in Troy?s heart toward life and love. His father did not care about his children; children were there to work for the food that he ate first. Troy describes his feelings toward his father by saying, ?Sometimes I wish I hadn?t known my daddy. He ain?t cared nothing about no kids. A kid to him wasn?t nothing. All he wanted was for you to learn how to walk so he could start you to working? (548; I,4). Although Troy had very little respect for his father and vowed to be nothing like him, many of his father?s harsh personality traits show up in his own personality. Despite Troy?s continuous attempts to push himself away from anything he had ever known about his father, the inheritance of such irrational behavior was inevitable because it was all he had ever known. The inheritance of this angry behavior was, in turn, the cause of his damaging relationships with his own family. Just as Troy endured his father?s cruel ways, Troy?s family is left with no choice but to try to learn to live with his similar ways.

    Read More

  • Troy and Cory Maxson's Relationship in Fences by August Wilson

    1240 Words  | 3 Pages

    The theme of August Wilson’s play “Fences” is the coming of age in the life of a broken black man. Wilson wrote about the black experience in different decades and the struggle that many blacks faced, and that is seen in “Fences” because there are two different generations portrayed in Troy and Cory. Troy plays the part of the protagonist who has been disillusioned throughout his life by everyone he has been close to. He was forced to leave home at an early age because his father beat him so dramatically. Troy never learned how to treat people close to him and he never gave any one a chance to prove themselves because he was selfish. 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 shape 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. The complication begins in Troy’s youth, when his father beat him unconscious. At that moment, Troy leaves home and begins a troubled life on his own, and gaining a self-destructive outlook on life. “Fences” has many instances that can be considered the climax, but the one point in the story where the highest point of tension occurs, insight is gained and...

    Read More

  • Character Analysis of August Wilson's Fences

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    Perhaps the most important and fulfilling relationship a man can be involved in is one with his own flesh and blood. At the beginning of the play, we learn that Troy has two sons, Lyons and Cory. Lyons is Troy's son by a previous marriage and Cory is Troy's son by his current marriage. Neither Lyons nor Cory share a close relationship with their father and Troy is mostly to blame for that.

    Read More

  • Troy Maxson Flaws In Fences

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    August Wilson brings out the struggle of Troy Maxson in his play, Fences. All those that matter to him end up feeling this struggle, for it remains constantly inside of him. As it overcomes Troy the respect and love that he was previously given dwindles to nothing. Troy’s actions and failure to fix them makes his true character known. Troy Maxson’s flawed nature is shown when he fails his family by giving way to his selfishness and the traits of his father.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Journeys In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through out the story you see this over and over again. It also had several other theme’s that where very evident in the novel. The first theme you see in the novel is the need for human contact. Characters in this novel wanted a friend or you could say a listening ear. Some of them settled for complete strangers because they could not find that in the people that they were close to. The Impossibility of the American dream is the second theme. Each character had a dream that they never fulfilled. They all wanted the American dream but never achieved it and the American dream is different for

    Read More

  • Father and Son in Death of a Salesman, and Fences

    962 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...s the more sympathetic of the two. The struggles that Willie experienced got the better of him. Willie overworked himself and could not offer much because of his low income. In addition, Willie received no help from his two sons, and even lost his job. Willie’s constant hardship in maintaining his home caused him to end his life. On the other hand, Troy did not have it as difficult as Willie did. Troy received help in paying for his home, and unlike Willie, Troy received a promotion that further made him more financially successful. The relationship between father and son could be difficult. The struggles that both Willy and Troy experienced is what caused them to have expectations. Undoubtedly, Willie had to endure more hardships because of the lack of help.

    Read More

  • Fences, by August Wilson

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    Should a neglected, discriminated, and misplaced black man living in the mid 1900s possessing a spectacular, yet unfulfilled talent for baseball be satisfied or miserable? The play Fences, written by August Wilson, answers this question by depicting the challenging journey of the main character, Troy Maxon. Troy, an exceptional baseball player during his youth, cannot break the color barrier and is kept from playing in the big leagues. That being his major life setback, Troy has a pessimistic view of the world. His attitude is unpleasant, but not without justification.

    Read More

  • The Impossible American Dream in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

    1258 Words  | 3 Pages

    A dream is a deep ambition and desire for something; everybody tries to reach their dreams no matter how far away they may seem. The characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s stories strive for nothing less than “The Great American Dream”. This is the need to be the best of the best, top of the social ladder, and to be happier and more successful than anyone has been before. Fitzgerald writes about this American Dream that every character has but can never achieve; the dream is kept unattainable due to obstacles, the disadvantages of being low on the social ladder, and also the restrictions of having a high social status.

    Read More

  • Analyzing 'Fences' by August Wilson

    773 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Fences, August Wilson introduces an African American family whose life is based around a fence. In the dirt yard of the Maxson’s house, many relationships come to blossom and wither here. The main character, Troy Maxson, prevents anyone from intruding into his life by surrounding himself around a literal and metaphorical fence that affects his relationships with his wife, son, and mortality.

    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

  • Conflict in August Wilson's Fences and How it Affects the Work

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    life in the mid to late twentieth century and the strains of society on African Americans. Set in a small neighborhood of a big city, this play holds much conflict between a father, Troy Maxson, and his two sons, Lyons and Cory. By analyzing the sources of this conflict, one can better appreciate and understand the way the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work.

    Read More

  • How Is Troy A Tragic Hero In Fences By August Wilson

    1443 Words  | 3 Pages

    The play “Fences” by August Wilson it is divided into two acts. Act one is composed of four scenes and Act two has five. In Act one the play begins in 1957, Troy and Bono share a bottle of whiskey and tell stories to each other. Troy’s wife informs him that there son Cory is being recruited to play college ball. This is where the play starts to get it shape, Troy gets very angry at this idea of his son playing college ball he gets angry because he does not want Cory to go through the same thing that he had to deal with trying to become a pro ball player in a very segregated time. In Act two you see Troy start to fight with himself and “Death” it starts from an argument with his wife Rose but then Troy comes to find out about Alberta’s death

    Read More

  • Masculinity In Fences

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    Troy tries to control everything because he is the man and puts food on the table for his family. Troy feels as if he provides for them he can also tell them to do whatever he wants to, but his family think otherwise. For example In act one scene one page five troy

    Read More

  • Fences as Metaphor in Fences by August Wilson

    419 Words  | 1 Pages

    As with most works of literature, the title Fences is more than just a title. It could be initially noted that there is only one physical fence being built by the characters onstage, but what are more important are the ideas that are being kept inside and outside of the fences that are being built by Troy and some of the other characters in Fences. The fence building becomes quite figurative, as Troy tries to fence in his own desires and infidelities. Through this act of trying to contain his desires and hypocrisies one might say, Troy finds himself fenced in, caught between his pragmatic and illusory ideals. On the one side of the fence, Troy creates illusions and embellishments on the truth, talking about how he wrestled with death, his encounters with the devil, later confronting the d...

    Read More

More about The Theme Of Hopes And Dreams In The Play Fences

Open Document