Some people are so miserable with their own lives that it spreads to those around them. This applies to the main character of Fences, Troy Maxson. A lot of events lead Troy to be dissatisfied with his life. Due to extreme racism, Troy wasn’t given the same opportunities as white men. Troy played baseball for the negro leagues, but by the time the major leagues started to accept black people, he was too old. Troy had to steal to survive and he ended up murdering someone which landed him fifteen years in prison. After prison he met his wife Rose, and worked as a waste collector. He was unhappy with his job because only white men could drive the waste truck. All of these events lead to Troy being dissatisfied with his life and taking it out on …show more content…
those around him. The theme of August Wilson’s play Fences is how one’s dissatisfaction with life can poison the lives of others. Troy first spreads his misery to his son, Cory.
Cory was recruited by a college football team, but Troy was strongly opposed to the idea. Rose even tries to change Troy’s mind by saying, “Why don’t you let the boy go ahead and play football, Troy? Aint no harm in that. He’s just trying to be like you with the sports” (Wilson 1736). Troy responds with, “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 1736). However, Troy was never given an opportunity like Cory was, it was possible for him to make it big in football. Troy quickly ruined Cory’s chances by telling the coach that he couldn’t play football anymore. The college recruiter was told not to come. It seems that Troy is jealous of Cory because he wanted nothing more then to play baseball in the major leagues. Myles Webber confirms Troy’s jealousy by saying, “But in Fences, amid a chorus of voices instructing Troy that times have changed—and among mounting evidence confirming as much—Troy appears to be a petty tyrant made irrational by envy for his son’s opportunities (670). It was wrong of Troy to keep Cory from a great opportunity just because he wasn’t given the same opportunity. Troy’s dissatisfaction with his life was taken out on
Cory. Troy then continues to show his dissatisfaction with life by cheating on Rose. Troy feels empty, he is longing for something more then what he already has. Troy starts seeing another woman named Alberta. Troy’s best friend Bono knows about his affair because he’s been following Troy around. Bono confronts Troy by saying, “But what you gonna do when she find out? What you got then? If you try to juggle both of them . . . sooner or later you gonna drop one of them. That’s common sense” (Wilson 1747). Troy reveals to Rose that he is going to be a daddy, but with another woman. He thought it was time for Rose to know, and in response she says, “Well, I I don’t want to know, goddamn it!” (Wilson 1750). It seems as if Rose would prefer to be oblivious to the situation because the heartache is too much. Rose asks Troy, “What I want to know . . . is do you plan to continue seeing her. that’s all you can say to me” and, Troy replies with, I can sit up in her house and laugh. Do you understand what I’m saying. I can laugh out loud . . . and it feels good.it reaches all the way down to the bottom of my shoes. (Pause.) Rose, I can’t give that up” (Wilson 1750). Alberta fills an emptiness inside of Troy that Rose cannot. Six months pass by and Rose is telling Troy that she wants him to come home after work. Troy says to Rose, “I’m going to hospital to see Alberta. She went into the hospital this afternoon. Look like she might have the baby early. I wont be long” (Wilson 1752). Soon enough the telephone rings and Rose answers it. Rose says, “Troy . . . that was the hospital. Alberta had the baby” (Wilson 1753). Troy is getting ready to leave until Rose tells him that Alberta died giving birth. Some audience members think Troy deserved this karma. David Letzler recognizes Troy’s karma in his analysis by saying, “Troy’s abrogation of his well-earned discipline loses him not only the fruits of his adult life’s work but damages those about whom he cares most, fragmenting his family and causing Alberta to die giving birth to their illegitimate child (308). Troy gave into his selfish desires without thinking of the consequences of his actions. Act two scene three of play ties into Troy begging Rose to help take care of his newborn daughter. Rose comes out with a strong response, “Okay, Troy . . . you’re right. Ill take care of your baby for you . . . cause . . . like you say . . . she’s innocent . . . and you can’t visit the sins of the father upon the child. A motherless child has got a hard time. (she takes the baby from him) from right now . . . this child got a mother. But you a womanless man” (Wilson 1755). Rose is strong for not abandoning the innocent child, and standing up to Troy. Troy also lost his best friend, Bono. He stopped coming by Troy’s house due to them not seeing each other at work and because of Troy’s chaotic actions. Troy became lonelier then ever before. Troy’s dissatisfaction with his life poisoned those around him. Troy ruined Cory’s opportunity to play college football under a scholarship. They never got along after that incident. Troy betrayed Rose by getting Alberta pregnant. He lost Alberta because she died during childbirth. He lost Rose because he was unfaithful and refused to stop seeing Alberta. Rose left Troy, but became a mother to his child. Troy also lost his best friend due to his selfish actions. Troy tried to find happiness, but he did it without thinking of the consequences. Some audience members feel sympathy for Troy due to his past, however, some find his actions inexcusable.
Everything in August Wilson’s play Fences, can be related to or is a fence of some sort. The main character, Troy Maxson, is a retired negro league baseball star whose whole life revolves around fences. Fences is completely driven by this idea of metaphorical and physical fences. Pride and alcohol are the fences that really cloud Troy’s views. His son, Cory, has fences in this play as well. All these fences intertwine to create a story that addresses many of society's problems.
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
There are many causes that molded Troy Maxson into the dishonest, cantankerous, hypocritical person that he is in August Wilson’s play, “Fences” (1985). Troy had an exceptionally unpleasant childhood. He grew up with a very abusive father that beat him on a daily basis. His mother even abandoned him when he was eight years old. In this play, Troy lies habitually and tries to cover himself up by accusing others of lying. He is a very astringent person in general. His dream of becoming a major league baseball player was crushed as a result of his time spent in jail. By the time he was released from jail, he was too old to play baseball efficiently.
Troy has a right to be angry, but to whom he takes his anger on is questionable. He regularly gets fed up with his sons, Lyons and Cory, for no good reason. Troy disapproves of Lyons’ musical goals and Cory’s football ambitions to the point where the reader can notice Troy’s illogical way of releasing his displeasure. Frank Rich’s 1985 review of Fences in the New York Times argues that Troy’s constant anger is not irrational, but expected. Although Troy’s antagonism is misdirected, Rich is correct when he observes that Troy’s endless anger is warranted because Troy experiences an extremely difficult life, facing racism, jail, and poverty.
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 anyone a chance to prove themselves because he was selfish.
Troy used be able to knock a baseball out of the park like it was nothing but he constantly "ends in disappointment" in his personal life. Just like most tragic heroes, Troy does whatever he thinks is right. Troy's relationship with his son Cory is a good example of how he misses the mark. Cory is a 17 year old boy, he’s a senior in high school, a respectful son, and caring nephew to his disabled uncle, Gabriel. Cory was accepted for a college football scholarship. Just like his father, Cory loves sports, and this is his one chance to go to college. Nonetheless, Troy is against Cory going off to play football. One of the
This goes far beyond him being unfair to Cory, but is also hinders Cory from meeting his full potential. The ability to continue with football would not only offer him scholarships, but the chance to even attend college. Troy’s inability to look past himself and to realize times have changed, hurts not only himself but his son too. These selfish actions begin to push Cory and Troy apart. This is the beginning of Troy’s figurative fence secluding him from his family.
In Wilson’s renowned piece Fences, the protagonist in Troy Maxson is faced with many hardships. He starts the play off seeming like a personable man who only wants to ensure his family is safe and provided for. However, as the play moves on, he turns into a person who does everything
The scene starts off with Troy and Cory building the fence. Then Cory leads his father into a conversation about being recruited for football and Troy refuses to give Cory permission to play college football, “Troy: I don’t care where he is coming from. The white man ain’t gonna let you nowhere with that football no way. You go on and get you book-learning so you can work yourself up that A&P or learn how to fix cars or build houses or something, get you a trade. That way you have something can’t nobody take away from you. You go on and learn how to put your hands to some good use. Besides hualing people’s garbage.” (Wilson 35). Troy’s only justification for why Cory is not allowed to play college football is his own beliefs that having a job that allows fair trade in currency is more beneficial than false promises of success coming from a white man. Troy uses the excuse of Cory acquiring a job over football because he does not want to see Cory succeed where he could not himself in the Major Leagues. Additionally,
August Wilson’s Fences highlights the struggles of the African American male living in the 1950’s through its main character Troy Maxson. Racially and emotionally, Troy is unstable in his environment. Because of his past, he tries to not see his mistake repeated through his son and lives through his marriage with another woman. Throughout the play, the audience can see the hardships that evolved through the lives of African American males and their families. Troy character was essentially restricted physically and morally due to being exposed to the barriers that made up his surroundings.
August Wilson’s Fences was centered on the life of Troy Maxson, an African American man full of bitterness towards the world because of the cards he was dealt in life amidst the 1950’s. In the play Troy was raised by an unloving and abusive father, when he wanted to become a Major League Baseball player he was rejected because of his race. Troy even served time in prison because he was impoverished and needed money so he robbed a bank and ended up killing a man. Troy’s life was anything but easy. In the play Troy and his son Cory were told to build a fence around their home by Rose. It is common knowledge that fences are used in one of two ways: to keep things outside or to keep things inside. In the same way that fences are used to keep things inside or outside Troy used the fence he was building to keep out death, his family, and his disappointments in life while Rose used the fence to keep those she cared about inside and help them bond.
He makes his point at the beginning of the play when Rose brings up Cory’s football recruitment and replies “I told that boy about that football stuff. The white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that football” (Wilson, 8). Troy feels that there is no point in Cory playing football because he does not want his son to be treated unfairly for his skin color. I also feel that Troy thinks about his past quite often with baseball since he is always bitter when the subject is brought up. For example, Cory tries to start a simple conversation about the Pirates game and Troy says “I ain’t thinking about the Pirates. Got an all-white team. Got that boy…that Puerto Rican boy…Clemente. Don’t even half-play him. That boy could be something if they give him a chance” (Wilson,
Troy Maxson may be the protagonist of the play Fences, but this play is an excellent depiction of how the protagonist isn’t always truly a good person. Troy Maxson is a fifty-three year-old, African American man who works for the sanitation department, lifting garbage into trucks. Troy is also a former baseball star in the Negro Leagues. Before the Major Leagues started accepting African Americans Troy’s career was basically over. Troy's character is the centerpiece that all of the other relationships in Fences gather around. Troy is husband to Rose, father to Lyons, Cory, and Raynell, and brother to Gabriel. Troy's years of hard-work for only meager progress depress him. Troy often fails to provide the love and support that would mean the
Troy and Cory have different views on life which causes them to disagree on practically everything. Cory wants his father to sign a paper that will allow a recruiter to look at him play football. Troy tells Cory that he needs to work instead of play, so he will not sign Cory’s paper. Troy is upset a...
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