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Historical context of fences essay
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A tragic hero is a honorable or admirable character who carries heroic qualities. Unfortunately this character is destined to a horrible fate. The play Fences is written by August Wilson. The story takes place in Pittsburgh and the main character is Troy Maxson. Troy is a sanitation worker who once dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player but was denied the chance because the major league did not allow blacks at the time. Troy is generally a stubborn character as shown throughout the play. However, many would believe that Troy is favorable. Even though Troy is a harsh character who has hurt the people who love him the most he is considered to be a tragic hero because he had to fight against forces that were much greater than him. …show more content…
To begin, Troy’s experience with life says a lot about how he is considered to be a tragic hero.
When Troy is just fourteen he runs away from home. Troy does so because of the relationship he shares with his father. Many could infer that this relationship is much like the one between Troy and his son, Cory. However this is not the case, Troy was actually said to be in a abusive relationship with his father. When his father catches him with Canewells daughter he immediately begins lashing Troy with his belt. Troy starts to run away. But, When Troy understands what his Father is really trying to do he is alarmed and begins to turn back and confront him. This is shown when Troy begins talking to Lyons stating, “When I see the matter of it was, I lost all fear of my daddy. Right there is where I become a man… at fourteen years of age. Now it was my turn to run him off” (52). Unfortunately the outcome makes Troy the man he is in the story. Because Troy fights his father he has no other choice but to leave his home. As stated in the text, “Both my eyes were swollen shut. I layed there and cried. I don't know what I was gonna do. The only thing I knew was the time had come for me to leave my daddy’s house” (52). Troys fight against his father makes him admirable because it shows his past experiences and how he has progressed as a …show more content…
person. Besides struggling to live a happy life, Troy is also the one who provides for his family. Troy works in the sanitation department and he is known as the dominant worker in his home. Troy explains in the text, “I do the best I can do. I come in here every Friday. I carry a sack of potatoes and a bucket of lard. You all line up at the door with your hands out. I give you the lint from my pockets. I give you my sweat and my blood” (40). This demonstrates the hard work Troy goes through to support his family and why he is considered to have a dominant role in the family. Even so, it is not so simple for him because he does not have the same freedoms or opportunities that whites posses In addition, Troy's baseball career also has an impact on how he is a tragic hero.
Before Troy became a father and had a loving wife he had a dream of becoming a professional baseball player. Unfortunately he was denied the chance because they didn't permit blacks to play professionally. This of course has prolonging effect on Troy's life. So much so that he refuses to believe Cory when he explains that they are allowing blacks to play. For instance, “If they got a white fellow sitting on the bench.. You can bet your last dollar he can't play! The colorderd guy got to be twice as good before he can get on the team (34).” It is showed how Troy’s love for baseball and how he was affected by being denied influenced him emotionally. It is also showed when he gets into an argument with Rose and begins using baseball as an example of his
feelings. In Conclusion, When reading the play “Fences” it is easier to recognize Troy's harsh attitude,prejudice ways, and why he suffered such an unpleasant fate. But it also shows that in reality he is trying his best to discipline his child, to provide for his family, and be an exceptional father. Even though he does have trouble doing so, his efforts show how he is considered to many a tragic hero.
As a result of Troy being unable to find a place to live or a job he started stealing to get by. Eventually the situation escalated and he murdered someone in a robbery gone wrong; this led to him being sentenced to 15 years in prison. Prison is where he found his love for baseball. He became quite good with a bat and hoped that when he got out he could play professionally. Unfortunately due to the segregation of the MLB Troy was never able to pursue that career and he is resentful of the situation his whole life.This caused him to be a very bitter person for the remainder of his life and this also caused him to shoot down the hopes and dreams of his son Corey by telling him things like “...The white man ain’t gonna let you go nowhere with that football
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.
Troy claimed, “I don’t want him to be like me! I want him to move as far away from my life as he can get” (1588). Even though Cory tried to explain to his adamant father that sports were becoming accepting of blacks, Troy maintained nothing had changed, even in the face of evidence. Rose tried to convince Troy on Cory’s behalf, “Times have changed from when you was young, Troy. People change. The world’s changing around you and you can’t even see it” (1589). Cory tried to remind his father there were many black baseball players such as Hank Aaron in the major leagues, however Troy maintained, “Hank Aaron ain’t nobody” (1586). Cory listed several others, but Troy could not comprehend times really had changed for the better. Eventually Troy kicked Cory out of the house for disrespecting him, and Cory gratefully left knowing while he wouldn’t play football anymore, he would still be better than his father. Troy’s pride in his worldly knowledge got in the way of Cory realizing his dreams; this caused Cory to lose all respect and love for his
Losing the respect and company of people was one of the few things that caused him to feel some form of remorse for what he did to Rose. However, Troy did nothing to fix the problems he created, except to drink and pretend he was still respected. It becomes especially clear that nobody respects Troy when Cory blatantly says “I ain’t got to say excuse me to you. You don’t count around here no more” (II iv, 85). Although nobody else says it as obviously as Cory, most characters realize Troy’s failure. Even though he may have provided for his family in the physical sense, Troy neglected them a great deal emotionally. This once again proves that Troy is unsuitable to be a proper father for Cory and a respectable husband for
Even though Troy does not physically abuse his children like his father did to him, he verbally abuses them. He treats Cory very callously and unjustly. In a way, Troy is taking out his frustrations of having an unsuccessful baseball career by not allowing Cory to pursue his dream to play football. Troy crushed Cory’s dream. In Act One, scene four, Cory expresses his misery. “Why you wanna do that to me? That w...
...eless, he essentially lived his life in a constant low point. Troy’s anger is undoubtedly misguided, but entirely permissible considering his hardships. The story of Troy Maxon begs the question: is it ever justifiable to pass judgment on someone without understanding his or her life story? After analyzing Troy’s struggle and resulting attitude, it seems that passing judgment is exceptionally risky. Without recognizing the early hardships of Troy’s life, it is easy to dismiss him and his cynical outlook. What can be learned from his story is evident. Never judge someone for his or her seemingly unwarranted attitude because there is a good chance it is completely defensible.
When Cory comes home after he finds out that troy told the coach to kick Cory off the football team he is furious. In his rage, there is an exchange of words and Cory says to troy “Just cause you didn’t have a chance! You just scared I’m gonna be better than you” (1:4). This comment really hits troy deep because baseball was a big part of his life and for him to be denied the thing in which he truly loved made him turn out the way he is now. To have his own son say he was going to be better than him not only make troy feel inferior to him but also making troy realize that Cory had a chance at something that he never had. Troy proceeds to tell Cory where his “mistake” was indirectly using baseball by telling him “See...you swung at the ball and - didn’t hit it. That’s strike one. See, you in the batter’s box now. You swung and you missed. That’s strike one. Don’t you strike out!”(1:4). This is one of the stronger analogies that troy uses in the play to signify more and more how baseball has made an impact on his
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.
Even though Troy had become blind to the changes of the past ten years, it was the ignorance that provoked him to deny Cory's chance at succeeding. Which is were we start to see the true relationship toward the two. Often we tend to see fathers use their sons to achieve the success they feel they have been denied to in the past. But Troy had no desire to live vicariously through his son, instead, their relationship began to result in a confrontation that turns into violence. After having been told by his own father that he was earning strikes, Cory grabs the baseball bat and intents to swings at his father. Which was the strikeout Troy had warned his son on? However the only thing that happened was that Cory swung twice, missed, thus making
In conclusion, Troy joke that baseball would always come first in his life; ironically, this comes true after considering, he tears his family apart being selfish, naïve and bitter due to the racial discrimination act done upon him. He puts baseball before his family, especially his wife and son. Troy is inconsiderate of his wife and kids when he thinks he is trying to help them by avoiding certain outcomes. However, death did take a toll of Troy, but did not go out without a fight; Troy actually struck out
Troy was met with many hardships in his life that left him feeling like he needed to protect himself from the things that have hurt him and could hurt him. The fence that Rose told Troy to build symbolized the barrier that he puts up to protect himself from the things that have hurt him and could hurt him in the future. Troy uses the fence to symbolize the emotional separation and neglect he has towards his family; Rose and Cory in particular. The main reason why the fence took the whole play to complete is because Troy neglected it and spent his time with his mistress which symbolized his neglect towards his family. Cory brings this to attention when he tells Troy that he "don't never do nothing, but go down to Taylors'", which is obviously his mistress’s home (Henderson). This was Troy’s f...
Later Troy and Cory get into a big argument in the front yard and Troy kicks Cory out of the house and looses his son’s respect. In the last scene Troy dies and is sent to heaven with Gabriel’s trumpet, he is forgiven and is redeemed as a flawed hero. In August Wilson’s “Fences” Troy is viewed as a tragic hero, to be a tragic hero one must have dignity, something to fight for, and a downfall, Troy is the perfect example of a tragic hero because he possess all three of these qualities.
This inability to change diversely affects Troy's relationship with his second son, Cory, who is a promising athlete. Sports provide the arena for the continuing conflict and foreshadows the characteristic that will eventually lead to Troy's downfall. There is a constant struggle between Troy and Cory because Troy will not allow his son to pursue his athletic dreams, telling him instead to keep his after-school job. This stems from Troy's past, when he was a promising baseball player who was prevented from playing because he was black. Troy's fears carry into the new generation when he prevents his son from pursuing a football scholarship because of his past, even though the world was changing at this time, and colored people were expanding into...
Although it seems as though Cory is determined to escape from what his father wants, he still takes the same path his father went on. This ironic situation is shown when Troy says "I don’t want him to be like me! I want him to move as far away from my life as he can get” (Wilson 481). Throughout the play, Cory is also trying to pursue this individuality, but ends up trying to chase after his dreams in a sport just like Troy. Cory faces a battle inside him as he tries to form a unique identity separate from his father; however, Troy is resistant to Cory's attempts at individuality. Troy's efforts to restrain Cory from being an individual character makes Cory take on drastic measures, such as verbal and physical violence, in an effort to become the person he wants to be. Troy restrains Cory from pursuing his dreams so much that it builds up to a point where Cory points out the truth that Troy is so afraid to hear; “Just cause you didn't have a chance! You just scared I'm gonna be better than you, that's all" (Wilson 493). Sports acts as a barrier between them from ever becoming close, even though they are both interested in them. This confrontation results in Troy counting numbers until Cory