Troy’s speech directed to death is an example of the distance he wishes to attain through his fence, telling death “I'm gonna build me a fence around what belongs to me. And then I want you to stay on the other side” (85). Shortly after this, during a dispute with Cory over Troy’s role in their home and in Cory’s life, Troy tells Cory to “go on and get away from around [his] house” (98). To which Cory responds he will “come back for his things” which Troy informs him will be “on the other side of that fence” (99). The importance of this lies in the symbolic exile of Cory from Troy’s life.
Everyone makes mistakes and deserves a second chance, except those that never learn from their mistakes constantly repeating the same mistakes. In the play, “Fences” by August Wilson, the main character Troy Maxson grew up in a harsh environment full of racism and with no family. All these factors contributed to Troy’s personality, which is full of resentment for the world around him. Later in his life, he meets Rose, who shines a light onto Troy’s dark path and guides him to a new life. Troy and Rose get married and have a son named Cory.
Troy uses that as an excuse to validate having an affair on his wife, but when the universe catches up to him and he produces a love child, Troy is forced to confess to Rose.
He continues to swing at Cory, making a remark about him leaving the house if he makes it to three strikes. Troy began to feel very angry about Cory’s statement and that weakened the loyalty in their relationship, contrasting when Abigail threatens the girls to follow her direction and they build up a loyalty based on fear. “Proctor, breathless and in agony: It is a whore!
“Fences,” a play written in 1986 by American playwright August Wilson, set in the 1950’s in Pittsburgh,PA highlights the aftermaths of slavery as well as legalized discrimination and African American lives. The protagonist Troy Maxson (Father) spends his time telling his son Cory Maxson how to spend his future because Troy’s life was not up to his expectations due to misfortunes and mistakes made by him and not being able to play in the Major Leagues, but now works as a garbage collector. Troy prohibits Cory from playing Football and going off to college. Their relationships begins to deteriorate as he starts interfering more into his life. This play written by August Wilson, was a powerful and inspirational play and if a movie was ever made,
The physical fence was seen differently by everyone but Troy’s perspective was that, “the fence represents added restrictions placed upon him. Thus he half-heartedly erects one section of the fence at a time and completes the job only after accepting a challenge from Bono” (Shannon 203). The challenge goes back to baseball, meaning that Troy will put time into something if its competition based or to prove something. Bono is his best friend that he met in prison but he has shine a certain type of light on Troy. Troy doesn’t seem the type to have many friends because he can’t even convey his thought processes right to his family.
Interestingly enough, though, troy does not let the sting of the Jim Crow laws hold him back from fighting for equality, at work, later in his life. Since the motifs of baseball and death innately connected with Troy’s fight for equality, August Wilson appears to suggest how the fight for equality is not necessarily the only hope to fulfill the American
The play Fences, written by August Wilson, tells the story of Troy Maxson and his family during the 1950s. Throughout the novel, Troy attempts to gain power and control on people such as his wife Rose and his son Cory. In the play, Wilson uses Troy’s power struggle to develop him as a tragic hero and to enhance his theme of people isolating themselves from those closet to them. Troy can be seen as a hero who overcame great odds.
Troy constantly tries to get the last word with Bono, and treats him and what he says as unimportant. Bono tries to give friendly advice when he visits Troy to help him cut wood for the fence. Bono tells Troy that Rose loves him and that it’s a bad decision for him to be seeing another woman. Troy says “Hell, nigger, I don’t need nobody to tell me my wife loves me” (Wilson, 61). Although Bono is trying to offer Troy advice as a friend, Troy takes what Bono says as a personal attack.
Troy chose to escape his reality by having an affair that gives him some laughs and good time every now and then. However, despite the flaws in Troy’s character, he was a providing family man who wants to insure a better life of his sons than the one he had. Based on the play’s time period, which took place at the 50’s, apparently the main problem of Troy Maxson’s character was racism against African Americans at the time that had prevented him from achieving his dreams. Throughout the play, Troy expresses his dissatisfaction in several scenes with the other characters.
In the article "Baseball as History and Myth in August Wilson's Fences" by Susan Koprince, Susan says that "Troy's front yard is literally turned into a battleground during his confrontations with his younger son Cory" (Koprince 354). With each argument and conflict, Cory slowly characteristics change in the story. In the beginning of the story, he was a cheerful kid hopeful for his future. However because of the denial of pursing football and the constant back and forth between him and Tory, he becomes very bitter just like his father. This isn't a good thing because once Cory picks up his father characteristics, it forces him to see the world in a single perspective and that's not his full potential but an intentional effect from Troy's reactionary
In addition, Troy's son (with Rose), Cory, plays football; one time he decides to leave during the middle of a season, which causes conflict between him and Troy. Troy eventually kicks him out, which subsequently causes even more conflict between Cory and the family. Wilson's play is primarily about Troy's struggle
“A lot of parents will do anything for their kids except let them be themselves" -Banksy. In the play “Fences” ,Troy, Cory’s father does exactly this. He doesn’t allow his son to achieve what make him happy, which is playing college football. He thinks by doing this, he's doing what’s best for him. Because of this, Cory begins to bear a grudge towards his father.
This meant that all professional baseball teams were still not for black people from playing. In fences, the troy character is very negative just because, he suffered in his past. In Fences, August Wilson shows that troy is a villain because he is unfair to his wife, wants to control everyone, and mean with his son. In the fences, August describe how Troy is a villain because of the unfair to his wife.
Hell, I’m fifty-three years old and can do better than Selkirk’s .269 right now!” (Wilson, 1985, 1401). “Fences” indicated that Troy wouldn’t allow his son Cory to play football for college, because he didn’t want his son to go through the hurt and pain he went through because of racism. He thought that Cory would not have a chance at being successful at football due to being black, “I don’t care where he coming from.