Tragic Hero In Fences, By August Wilson
A tragic hero is a character in a literary work whose hamartia, or tragic flaw, causes their downfall. They usually hold a high status in the society they reside in, and their peers love them. They are the cause of their downfall, but there is always a lesson behind it. A tragic appears in the dramatic play, “Fences”, by August Wilson. The protagonist, Troy Maxson, defines this role. He is a 53-year-old African American in the 1950s, with a questionable history. He has a family, loves to talk about baseball, and knows how to solve problems whenever.
Troy is the patriarch of his family. He has two sons from two different marriages, a disabled brother who he sometimes takes care of, and a friend named Bono, who visits occasionally. Troy is an
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As a former Negro League player, he makes metaphors to life and death with baseball. “I’m gonna[sic] tell you what your first mistake was. See....you swung at the ball and didn’t hit it. That’s strike one. . . . Don’t you strike out!” (Wilson, p. 58). He refers to strikes as if you get closer to death. Baseball represents his life, and he himself has struck out a few times.
As said before, Troy knows how to take care of his family. However, when it comes to most situations, he handles it based on his past. He believes that because he was black, the Major League would not let him on the team. This is seen in a conversation with his son, Cory. Cory wants to play football, but Troy wants him to work at a grocery store called the A&P. Troy ‘knows’ Cory would not really play football anyway even if he got onto the team. “I decided seventeen years ago that boy wasn’t getting involved in no sports. Not after what they did to me in the sports.” (Wilson, p. 39). He feels that everything he does is correct, which contributes to his character as his hamartia.
Troy can be recognized as the tragic hero in “Fences”. He has good people around him, being inspired by him and loving him, but the way he handles his life and his decisions are not the best. It ultimately leads to his death because he is the reason why everything turns on
Similarities Between Hammon And Willy Loman
809 Words | 4 PagesThe stories Death of a Salesman and Fences are both show how a tragic character should be. In Fences, Troy Maxson's traits and actions go against Aristotle's criteria of being a tragic hero. Because of this Troy Maxson can not be considered a tragic character. On the other hand, Willy Loman is different because he is a tragic character. Willy Loman fits many of the criteria of Aristotle.
Tragic Hero In Fences
1105 Words | 5 PagesAncient greece evoked many things, and one of them was tragic hero. Tragic hero is someone who can be noble, tragic flaw, reversal of fortune, suffers, recognition, and catharsis. Noble, is someone that is important, they have a high status, and hold an official title. Reversal of fortune is when someone’s life is good at the beginning and ends up being bad or someone life is bad and ends up good. Suffering, is someone who is feeling pain and hurting.
Baseball Quotes In Fences
910 Words | 4 PagesTroy tries to use baseball metaphors to explain why he cheated on her. He said “I just might be able to steal second. Eighteen years I’ve been wanting to steal second” (70). In order to try to explain himself, Troy uses baseball analogies. This doesn’t do much for Troy’s defense, but it shows us what Troy does when he’s put in a corner.
Troy Maxson Flaws In Fences
811 Words | 4 PagesHis relationship with Bono shows this clearly. For it always appears as though Bono only listens and comments in their conversations. It is rare that he brings up a new topic, and when he does Troy is sure to make it go in a direction he wants it to. Rose has to be the worst victim of Troy’s selfishness because Troy never even considers her feelings or how he might hurt her. He also ignores the responsibility he owes her in being her husband, all because he wanted to indulge himself with another women.
August Wilson Selfish Quotes
549 Words | 3 PagesIn Fences, by August Wilson, Troy’s selfishness makes him a tragic hero because it causes him to make decisions that hurt not only himself but ultimately the people who he loves most. Troy’s inner selfishness is the sole reason for his affair with Alberta, and it is what eventually triggers the split in his family. When trying to stop the metaphorical bleeding caused by his affair, Troy characterizes himself with Rose as “we”, to which Rose responds with, “All of a sudden it’s ‘we.’ Where was ‘we’ at when you was down there rolling around with some godforsaken woman?
Character Analysis Of Troy In Fence By August Wilson
884 Words | 4 PagesThis 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.
August Wilson Fences Symbolism
1516 Words | 7 PagesTroy’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.
August Wilson Fences Literary Analysis
883 Words | 4 PagesHe persistently criticizes and neglects his two sons, which thus draws them away from him. Troy pushes Lyons away by refusing to hear him play his "Chinese music". He also scars hisrelationship with his other son, Cory, by preventing him from playing football and rejecting his onlychance to get recruited by a college football team. Also, Troy states that Cory's things will "be on theother side of that fence" when he kicks Cory to the street. Through this scene Troyacknowledges the fence as an actual, physical divide between him and his son.
The Importance Of The Father In August Wilson's Fences
1457 Words | 6 PagesTroy '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.
Parenting In Fences Vs. Troy
393 Words | 2 PagesParenting 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.
Troy Maxson In The Movie Fences
2169 Words | 9 PagesThe 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. Troy Maxson (53), is an African American garbage collector.
Troy's Unsympathetic Character In Fences By August Wilson
970 Words | 4 PagesTroy not only disapproves of his son Cory playing football, but he also disagrees with his oldest son Lyons aspirations of becoming a musician. We see this when Troy states “get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living”. Instead of focusing on sports, he believes Cory should pick up a trade that can provide an income for his future. Cory is a talented athlete just like his dad, but due to Troy’s dreams being shattered by the white man, his outlook is tainted. Although Troy is predominantly aggressive, he is attempting to protect Cory from the same disappointment he once endured.
Troy Maxson Character Analysis
1222 Words | 5 PagesTroy 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.
The Theme Of Love In 'Fences' By August Wilson
985 Words | 4 PagesBrother, Gabriel. He shows the father and son complex in the relationship between Troy and Troy’s son, Cory. And finally he shows true friendship in the relationship between Troy and Troy’s best friend, Bono. Wilson masterfully crafts the novel to show many different types of relationships in a short three acts.
How Does August Wilson Use Language In Fences
1010 Words | 5 PagesHe has a softer tone in the dialogue with Rose which shows that he does care about Cory. He is tough on Cory because he doesn’t want his son to experience the same things as he, as a black male in the mid-century, endured. He believes that a sturdy hand will lead his son in the right direction and prepare him for a harsh world. Troy tells Rose, “He’s got to make his own way. I made mine.
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