Troy, Tragic Hero In Fences, By August Wilson

Fences, written by August Wilson, is a play about Troy, the protagonist, who works as a garbage-man in the 1950s. He picks up garbage with his friend, Bono, and successfully fights for the position of ‘truck driver’ instead of ‘garbage carrier.’ Troy comes home from work each day to his son, Cory, whom he loves; he [Troy] tries to protect Cory from disappointment by preventing him [Cory] from joining the college football team. This intervention in Cory’s life ultimately leads to Cory’s hatred of his father Troy. In addition to Cory, Troy loves his wife, Rose, however, he sleeps with another woman, Alberta, which severs his relationship with Rose. Because of these relationships that Troy builds throughout the play, Fences is, indeed, a modern,

American tragedy according to the criteria laid out by Arthur Miller in his essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man.”
One of the reasons as to why Fences is a modern, American tragedy is because Troy is persistent in his desire to be the controlling male in his family. This character trait is described in Arthur Miller’s “Tragedy and the Common Man,” as he writes, “As a general rule, to which there may be exceptions unknown to me, I think the tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing— his sense of personal dignity”….“Tragedy, then, is the consequence of a man’s total compulsion to evaluate himself justly.” (Pg. 148-9) With these words, Arthur Miller defines tragedy as a person’s failure to succeed in a risk that he decides he deserves based upon his evaluation of himself. This definition of tragedy applies to Troy after he fails to help Cory. As Troy tries to convince Cory not to join the college football league, Rose replies, “Troy, why don’t you admit you was too old to play in the major leagues? For once...why don’t you admit that?”...“Times have changed from when you was young, Troy. People change. The world’s changing around you and you can’t even see it.” (Pg. 40) In this quotation, Rose explains to Troy that his reason for preventing Cory from playing sports is no longer reasonable at [this] point in time. Troy is extremely disappointed that, as a kid, the major leagues were not accepting black men onto sports teams until Troy became too old to be playing sports. Because of his prior setback, he tries to prevent Cory from joining the football team in order to protect him [Cory] from experiencing the same disappointment in the future. Despite Troy’s intentions, Rose explains to Troy that the major leagues are now accepting black men onto sport teams and that Troy should let Cory chase his dream of becoming a professional sports player. Troy however, maintains his decision and power over his kid despite Rose’s effort to convince him otherwise. Troy’s lack of reason in his bad decision ultimately leads Cory to dislike him. This negative relationship between Troy and Cory is a tragedy according to the criteria of Arthur Miller because Troy tries gain male dominance and fails.
Another aspect of a tragedy according to the criteria Arthur Miller lays out in his essay “Tragedy and the Common Man,” is the characteristic of coping with challenges to one’s dignity in an active way rather than in a passive way. In his essay, Arthur Miller writes,
In the sense of having been initiated in the hero himself, the tale always reveals what has been called his ‘tragic flaw,’ a failing that is not peculiar to grand or elevated characters. Nor is it necessarily a weakness. The flaw, or crack in the character, is really nothing— and need be nothing, but his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status. Only the passive, only those who accept their lot without active retaliation, are ‘flawless.’ Most of us are in that category. (Pg. 149)

With these words, Miller describes a tragedy as having a ‘tragic flaw’— the tendency for a person to face challenges to his dignity in an active way.

This aspect of Arthur Miller’s definition of a tragedy applies to Troy in Fences because of the way in which he responds to Rose after she finds out about Troy’s actions with Alberta. After Troy tells Rose about Alberta, she replies, “What I want to know...is do you plan to continue seeing her. That’s all you can say to me”….“Maybe you ought to go on and stay down there with her...if she a better woman than me.” (Pg. 65) In this quotation, Rose challenges Troy’s dignity, however, she is on the verge of forgiving Troy after he sleeps with Alberta. Troy however, actively changes her decision when he could have chosen to keep quiet and listen to Rose’s angry questioning. Despite this easy solution, Troy chimes into the conversation and actively tells rose that he likes going to Alberta because it is a break in his life at home. This active destruction that Troy causes in his marriage is a ‘tragic flaw’ which is a major factor in the tragedy according to Arthur Miller’s

criteria.
Arthur Miller also describes the fear that comes with lack of ability to change the environment as a major component of a tragedy. In his essay, he writes, “….From this total examination of the ‘unchangeable’ environment — comes the terror and the fear that is classically associated with tragedy.” (Pg. 149) With these words, Miller describes a tragedy as the ‘fear’ of not being able to change the environment. This aspect of tragedy applies to Troy because he feels stuck due to his race. As Troy tells Cory to work in the A&P rather than become a professional football player, he says, “The white man ain’t gonna let you get nowhere with that football noway. You go on and get your book-learning so you can work yourself up in 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.” (Pg. 37) In this quotation, Troy portrays his anger towards racism. He believes that Cory will not succeed as a professional football player because, as a child, he does not succeed as a professional sports player. Although times have changed since Troy’s childhood, he still refuses to believe that there is an improvement in equal rights. Racial discrimination is not completely abolished however, Troy maintains his stubborn outlook on the matter and prevents Cory from pursuing his dream due to his [Troy’s] vision that his past difficulties have not changed. This position of Troy’s is a tragedy according to the criteria of Arthur Miller; there is this cloud of fear that comes with Troy’s believing that the environment has not improved its racist views.
Another major part of a tragedy according to Arthur Miller is the mere possibility of a positive outcome in a tough situation.

In his essay, Arthur Miller writes, “The possibility of victory must be there in tragedy. Where pathos rules, where pathos is finally derived, a character has fought a battle he could not possibly have won”….“But tragedy requires a nicer balance between what is possible and what is impossible. And it is curious, although edifying, that the plays we revere, century after century, are the tragedies. In them, and in them alone, lies the belief—optimism, if you will, in the perfectibility of man.” (Pg. 151) With these words, Miller describes a theoretical positive result as necessary in a tragedy. This definition of a tragedy applies to Fences due to Troy’s capability of fixing his failed relationship with his son from a woman other than Rose: Lyons. Later on in the play, Troy has a baby, Raynell, with Alberta. This baby is Troy’s chance to raise his child from another woman differently than the way in which he had raised Lyons. He simply sees Lyons when Lyons needs money, however, he does not have a stable relationship with Lyons. Before Troy dies of a heart attack, he says, “She’s my daughter, Rose. My own flesh and blood. I can’t deny her no more than I can deny them boys. (Pause) You and them boys is my family. You and them and this child is all I got in the world. So I guess what I’m saying is… I’d appreciate it if you’d help me take care of her.”

(Pg. 73) In this quotation, Troy admits that he wants to take part in raising Raynell. He wants to do for Raynell what he fails to do for Lyons. Despite his desire to fix his past actions, he dies of a heart attacks soon after Raynell is born and therefore, he is no longer able to raise her. Although he fails to fix his mistakes, this potential of a positive turnaround for the protagonist leads Fences to be categorized as a tragedy according to Arthur Miller’s criteria.
Tragedy, according to Arthur Miller, is defined by four distinct components that he describes in his essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man.” The first component of a tragedy according to Arthur Miller is the failure of a person to gain a sufficient sense of dignity. This component is portrayed in Fences when Troy tries to maintain his position in his argument with Cory. Troy tries to prevent Cory from playing sports professionally and he remains persistent in the argument however, Rose tries to explain to Troy that he is, in fact, wrong; he should allow Cory to play football. The next component of a tragedy according to Miller is the ‘tragic flaw,’ which he defines to mean as the tendency for a person to remain active after someone challenges his dignity. This aspect of tragedy is displayed in Fences when Troy actively ruins his relationship with Rose because she questions him after he sleeps with Alberta. The third component of tragedy according to Arthur Miller is the fear that comes with a stagnant issue in the environment. This fear is portrayed in Fences when Troy refuses to admit that society has improved their racial positions. Finally, Arthur Miller believes that a tragedy must have the potential for a positive outcome in a difficult situation. This positive outcome that Miller writes about is displayed in Fences when Troy decides to change his past fatherly mistakes with Lyons and improve his fathering skills with his new baby Raynell. Despite his change in mindset, he dies before being able to raise Raynell. Because Fences, a play written by August Wilson, contains the four components of a tragedy according to the criteria laid out by Arthur Miller in his essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man,” it can be categorized as a tragedy.