The movie ‘Fences’ has three main characters: Troy Maxson, Cory Maxson, and Rose Maxson. However, I believe characters such as Lyons Maxson, Jim Bono, and Gabriel Maxson play extremely important roles in the movie also. Therefore, I will speak on all six.
August Wilson’s play Fences was written in 1983. Fences is the sixth play in Wilson’s Pittsburgh cycle. Pittsburgh is important because it represents a better life for blacks; it provides them with jobs and helped them to escape the poverty and racism of the south after the civil war. It represents promises and promises that were broken. I feel like Fences represents the struggles Troy and his family faced because of their complexion and their constant disappointments as black people.
Parenting is crucial to the development of a child. In the play “Fences”, it is evident that Rose is a more capable parent than Troy. When Lyons, Troy 's oldest son from his previous marriage, comes to visit, he 's immediately greeted with a motherly kiss and is offered supper by Rose. On the other hand, Troy states, “You was in the neighborhood cause it 's my payday.” He believes Lyons only comes around for money and treats him with hostility. Although by blood, Rose and Lyons aren 't related, she shows more affection and understanding towards him than Troy does. Another instance where Rose shows better parenting skills than Troy is when it comes to raising Cory. Similar to how Troy was, Cory is portrayed as very sport oriented, he wants a
After lots of arguing relating to the state of their relationship, Troy selfishly explains, “Rose, you’re not listening to me… It’s not easy to admit that I been standing in the same place for eighteen years” (70). In fury, Rose responds, “I got a life too. I gave eighteen years of my life to stand in the same spot with you. Don’t you think I ever wanted other things? Don’t you think I had dreams and hopes? What about my life? What about me” (70). Rose, rightly so, is enraged when Troy defends his actions by saying he has been stuck his whole life with her, when she has gone through the same thing. The only difference, however, is that Rose stays loyal to her family even when things are not going great, while on the other hand Troy looks out for himself for his own benefit, at the expense of his family. Troy puts himself above his family, as he was well aware that having an affair like he had would most certainly break up his family. Despite trying to defend his actions with the hardship he’s gone through, his whole family has gone through the same difficulties aswell– but he only looks out for himself. Troy’s selfish decision to make a baby with Alberta causes harm on his entire family because of the loyalty shown to him by Rose, despite not being happy at all
In the fences, August describe how Troy is a villain because of the unfair to his wife. Troy lives with his wife, Rose and Son Cory. The little kid
In Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club, the different stories show how the different characters develop and progress. Rose Hsu Jordan begins “Half and Half” as someone who clearly lacks of conviction as she allows everyone but her to make decisions. Throughout “Without Wood”, however, Rose Hsu Jordan begins to learn, with the help of her mother, how to speak up. In both stories, Rose Hsu Jordan’s development transforms her from a timid and passive girl, to an assertive woman who doesn’t allow others to step on her. Nonetheless, this change was brought upon not by an event, but rather, it was brought upon by Rose’s mother. An-Mei is responsible for transforming Rose from a timid and passive woman into one with an actual “voice”.
The inspirational play, “Fences” was a drama written by August Wilson that sets the setting in the 1950’s. During this time period, segregation was prevalent and deeply affected many African American communities. The struggles faced by these African Americans were very evident within the characters in the story, specifically Troy. Troy, the protagonist, and patriarch of the family fail to accept reality. Through the use of tragic flaw, Wilson reveals how pride can lead to self-destruction.
Troy 's hatred of his father acts as a catalyst for many moments in Troy 's life, in negative and positive ways alike. Unlike most fathers, Troy 's father didn 't leave him with a material possession such as a house but instead left him with emotional baggage that crippled the earlier and later parts of Troy 's life. From the beginning, Troy 's father was abusive to his mother and all of his siblings. Troy and his family worked hard on their father 's farm and endured his bitterness towards being a sharecropper. Troy states that his father was greedy and would put his own personal needs above the needs of the family. This, in turn, caused Troy 's mother to abandon him, leaving him without love from a parent or anyone to show him the correct way to treat females, a sin that affects his relationship with Rose as an adult. His father 's treatment of Troy made Troy believe there was more to his suffering than what was humanly possible "The gal jumped and run off...and when my daddy turned to face me, I could see why the devil had never come to get him...cause he was the devil himself"(Wilson 52).This metaphor used by Troy, adds a certain weight to the gravity of his situation as a teen. His father wasn 't just cruel but was the devil, a symbol of pure hate and all evil. The way Troy 's father treated him would cause Troy to run away at a young age and would be forced to steal and rob. This caused
Troy’s inability to commit to building his fences despite his repetitive speaking of how he is going to finish his fence shows how his isolation from his wife stems from his inability to truly commit to his wife even though he always told her he loved her. He wanted to protect his wife from the truth that he cheated on her and has a baby on the way with her but the fence prevented true communication with his own wife. Troy's inability to see the change in civil rights during his time period because of the fence led to the isolation of his mindset towards African American rights and the straining of his relationship with his son. His struggle to be accepted into playing professional sports alongside white men lead to preventing his son from playing professional football despite the changing times in civil rights. Without isolation from change, his relationship with his son could possibly be a happy one. Robbery to help family and stop cory football to help family, hide cheating help family. all fail
This created Troy’s character. Even though Troy seems to be hold a wall in-front of himself, he really cares about his family. If his family would have acknowledge that they understood his actions and loved him regardless before his death, Troy’s actions would not have been as brutal as they were when they did not say anything.
In the play Fences by August Wilson, Troy Maxson, a middle-aged man who works as a garbage man, behaves in a way which helps define the play as a tragedy according to Arthur Miller’s essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man.” In order for a play to be classified as a tragedy according to Miller, it must have a character who has a tragic flaw- he actively advocates for himself when he believes he is receiving unfair treatment, a trait which Troy displays when he demands a job as a truck driver. Additionally, Miller states that a tragedy must have a character that strongly desires to be free, a feature that Troy exhibits when he tells his wife, Rose, about his affair with a woman named Alberta. According to Miller, a tragic character will also sacrifice
Rose shows compassion and care with her relationships that she has with others, especially as a parent. ‘Fences’ play a big role in Rose's life because the fences she chooses to put up help her stay happy with her life even if she has to fence out someone she used to love. Rose loves her family so much she wants to put up a metaphorical fence around her family. She wants to actually build a fence around her family's house to keep her family safe and to stay close to her loved ones. Rose also puts up a fence to hide her true feelings about Troy but eventually after finding out about the affair, Rose takes down her fence of feelings for Troy and shows him how she truly feels about him. After Troy's baby, Raynell, was born Troy asks Rose to help raise the baby because he can’t do it on his own. However Rose puts up a temporary fence of being independent, choosing not to raise the baby because it is not her child. Eventually, Rose takes that fence down because of how kind hearted she is and takes the baby in as her own but does not allow Troy to really be apart of her life
Troy Maxson has done it all. He has wrestled with Death, rose a family, played a sport he loved, and became one of the first African-American drivers. At first glance, he seems happy and content in his life. Though, in August Wilson’s book Fences, Troy’s self-centeredness, which can be tied into his past, causes him and many others near him trouble as his adventure through life progresses. These are all traits of a tragic hero, and Troy is a great example of one.
She requested that Cory and Troy work on building a fence in the backyard. Rose hopes that the fence will keep the people she loves close to her and protected from the harshness of the world. Unlike Troy, Rose is a realist who has love and high hopes for Cory. When Rose evesdrop on Cory and Troy, she overheard their argument about football, and talks to Troy after Cory leaves. Troy explains to Rose why he will not allow Cory to play football and tells her that she’s been mothering Cory too much. She then tells Troy that Cory wants to make him proud, and all he wants to hear from his father is “Good job, son.” (19). To make matters worse, Troy has been having an affair with another women named Alberta. He later admits to his wife that he slept with someone else and got her pregnant (30). Troy argues with Rose about why he did it. He justified his actions by saying “She gives me a different idea, a different understanding about myself. I can step out of this house and get away from the pressures and problems, be a different man.” Meaning that Troy feels trapped and Alberta is his escape from his real problems (31). With Alberta, Troy can live an illusion with no time and no worries. Rose is deeply hurt by the news and communicated to