Tragic Hero In August Wilson's Fences

Maxson, a combination of Mason and Dixon, a careful allusion to the line that stood between slaves and freedom. Yet, on either side of that line stood suffering and persecution for those slaves. Troy Maxson, central focus in August Wilson’s dramatic play Fences, embodies the ideals of the Mason Dixon line itself. His presence seems to promise freedom, yet being around him leads to endless suffering and oppression. Troy’s tragic heroic qualities create a centrifugal force of chaos and hatred that mauls characters that dare come near his pull. Troy is clearly presented as a tragic hero with a tragical flaw which itself causes tensions and sufferings in Troy’s family, particularly in his relationships with Cory, Rose, and Gabriel. Furthermore,

Troy’s tragic hero of a character completes a theme of generational perpetuation of racism through allusions to mortality and also provides criticism on the effects of the lack of a positive paternal figure in a family dynamic.
Tragic heroes are most easily identified by their tragic flaws, the trait that ultimately leads to the failure of demise of the hero. Troy’s tragic flaw reveals itself through his criticism of Jackie Robinson, saying how he knows teams that Robinson “wouldn’t even make.” Furthermore, this trait of blind, pompous arrogance is exemplified when Cory as his father(Troy), “How come you ain’t never liked me?” Instead of reassuring his son of his love, Troy bluntly responds with “Who the hell say I got to like you?” Here, Troy demonstrates his insensitivity to others. It does not matter if Cory had been searching for reassurance, Troy must demonstrate his superiority. This in turn, is the major cause of the father-son conflict between Cory and Troy. Troy’s mindset and view of the world is also key to his tragic flaw. Troy views others and the rest of the world through a filter of 1930s racism, even though the play is staged in 1957, right at the cusp of the Civil Rights movement. This is seen in his fear of the white man, who he projects as both the “salesman” devil and “ white robed” death, making an allusion to the Ku Klux Klan. This fearful mindset of racial madness drives Troy to rash and harsh decisions concerning his family, ultimately leading to their suffering.
Troy’s trafic flaws overflow inot the lives of Cory, Rose, and Gabriel who all suffer greatly from this intrusion.

Troy clearly demonstrates his racial madness when he precent Cory from being recruited into college football, claiming “ain’t nothing good gonna come from it.” Even though he had recently preached against this own view, saying if you were good, they should let you play, “don’t matter what color you are.” This pure hypocrisy prevents Corey from fulfilling his American dream of playing collegiate football and attending college. His agony is clear when he “throws his helmet down in the direction of Troy” and asks painfully “Why you wanna do that to me? That was the one chance I had.” Troy, unable to contemplate life beyond the metaphor of baseball tells Cory, “You swung and you missed, That’s strike one. Don’t you strike out!” His clear oppression of Cory, a result of his racial madness, causes immense suffering in Cory’s life, who is left wandering the streets looking for a job after he graduated high school. Rose also falls prey to Troy’s tragic flaws. His pompous arrogance led him to conclude after marrying Rose that he would never “get that third strike” even though he had been born “with two strikes against [him] before [he] even step[ed] up to the plate.” That arrogance also proves to be his downfall, leading him to believe he has been “stuck on first for 18 years.” His arrogance in turn led to his need for adventure with another woman who helped him believe he could “steal second.” Unbeknownst to Rose, a stork met Troy half way. Troy, having cheated on Rose, shows up with his daughter from another woman and asks her to take care of the baby whose mother died in childbirth. Rose disgruntled feelings are clear with her response: “this child have a mother now, but you a womanless man.” Rose separates herself from Cory in that she is authoritative and attempts to punish Troy for his flaws, yet even that punishment does not bring Troy out of his

reeking vat of arrogant racial madness. Gabriel, too, becomes stew in this vat of Troy’s. Troy, who is unable to lead, arrogantly signs a document concerning Gabriel that he had no ability to read. This condemned Gabriel to an insane asylum, but gave half of Gabriel’s earnings to Troy. As grand as he is at making them, Troy had no excuse waiting for this blunder.
Troy as a tragic hero also acts as a tool to express two of the works major themes: generational perpetuation of racism through allusions to mortality and social criticism of the effects of an ineffective, oppressive paternal figure. This generational perpetuation of racism is most clearly seen through Troy’s destructive relationship with Cory. Troy continuously symbolizes the American Dream in the very “white” dominated sport, baseball. Troy himself is barred from the Big Leagues because of his arrogant, loaded gun personality and tragic mindset. This is unknown to him as he understands himself to be better than Jackie Robinson and constantly insults the legend. In these acts, Troy aligns himself with the “House of Ruth,” which is highly white and seen to represent white ideals. This creates a paradox, Troy aligns himself with Ruth, but follows the ideals and perpetuation of racism so blatantly present in the black leagues and “House of Robinson.” It is through Troy’s complex understanding and interpretation of these two different mindsets that Wilson comments on racism. Wilson demonstrates the flaws o both sides, white and black, who both have seen their “Gardens of Eden” reduced to “small dirt yards” with fences built from the inside, built “to keep people in.” Troy, in his attempt at fatherhood, forces these ideals upon Cory primarily by preventing him from playing college football, but also by setting the example of the father figure who has no love for his son beyond that of food on the table and a roof over his head. Cory slowly gains strikes against him, whether he is defending his mother or assaulting his father. This father son tension comes to a point when Cory tells Troy, “You don’t matter round here no more.” Cory and Troy fight over the bat, but Troy triumphs yelling at Cory to get his “black a** out of here.” Cory had struck out. Yet, it is from this experience that Troy’s racism is sent down to his son. Upon Cory’s return to the “small dirt yard,” Cory is contemplating not going to his father’s funeral. But Rose talks some sense into him, saying, “You just like him. You got him in you good…You Troy Maxson all over again.” Through the suffering caused by Troy’s tragic flaw, Cory continues his fathers execrable tradition of racism. It is through this continuation of Troy’s character after his death that Wilson establishes the grim truth of generational perpetuation of racism. Yet, Troy’s death is a major turning point in the central characters family dynamics. It is through the juxtaposition of Troy’s family as he is alive with Troy’s family after his death that Wilson provides societal commentary on the presence of a negative father figure. Troy, through a series of poor life choices and arrogant attempts at parenting, causing family tensions that literally rip the family apart, leaving Troy a “womanless man” and Cory out of the house. But after Troy’s death, the family returns to a semblance of order. This is most clearly seen in the construction of Raynell’s garden. It is through this simple act of childhood that Wilson turns what has become the “small dirt yard” back into the Garden of Eden. Yet, it is without guidance from either the “House of Robinson” or the “House of Ruth,” showing that Wilson disapproves of both parties approaches and instead embraces the innocence of childhood and purity as the solution to the growing social problems of the time. The construction of the garden after Troy’s death also shows that it is Troy’s presence that is hardening the soil and preventing the growth of the garden. In this way, Wilson shows that the presence of a negative father figure results in subordination and oppression of family members resulting in a dysfunctional family dynamic.