Troy Maxson Character Analysis

In the powerful play Fences by August Wilson, tension can be found through characters like Troy Maxson, Corey Maxson, and Rose Maxson. Troy Maxson has gone through a life in a country where to be proud and black was to face pressure that could crush a man. Corey Maxson wishes to play football, however, his father wants him to get a job and do “labor work”. Rose Maxson is the wife to Troy Maxson they had a happy relationship until Troy has a child with a woman named Alberta? Troy is the main source of tension in the book. His action impacts the family and takes a heavy toll on his relationship with his family.

In the book Fences by August Wilson, the author chooses baseball to compare many of the struggles everyday people deal with in everyday society. August Wilson created some very relatable characters to portray the message of life and love Fences attempts to display. It is ultimately displayed in a quote by the main character Troy Maxson. Troy said “That’s all death is to me. A fastball on the outside corner” (10). In this quote, Troy even compares the end of life to a dangerous pitch that is hard to hit. It would seem as though Troy’s entire life revolves around baseball. This conclusion is displayed in the way Troy talks and in the way, Troy lives his life.

Troy's true intentions are to show his son that nothing comes easy. The ultimate flaw however is that Troy looks at the world in his perspective. Troy is trying to prevent Cory from going through the same harsh experiences as him but he is unintentional recreating the same obstacles which are preventing Cory from becoming the full potential of himself. Throughout the play, Troy is imposing his will on Cory and he is basically preventing him from exploring the world for himself. This causes Cory to have conflicts with his dad because they don't agree completely. 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

“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. Wanting to be able to move forward with his life and not be the same person as his father, he attends Troy’s funeral, as a way to make peace with their relationship.

Troy wants to control his family. When the Scene 1 Troy’s elder son Lyon’s has come to borrow some money as a loan, but troy criticizes him badly, but his sons rememorized him that in his childhood, his father is not there to complete his needs in his youth now he is too old. He wants him to get a good job, but Lyon’s think that nothing wrong with his music and he doesn’t want to get any jobs. ‘’ Troy offers Lyon’s sound advice, but Lyon response reminds Troy and witnessing the exchange that, as Lyons said ‘’ You and I are two different people, Pop,’ and that Troy’s prescription about life and work are a ‘’day late and the dollar short’ (119)(Wilson 19). ‘’ Lyons attitude represents that he doesn’t want to live like his father. He wants a comfort and the way of everyone’s in life; however, his father wants that he follows his rule and leave their dreams this shows how Troy is a

Troy was raised by a very dominate male figure who was abusive. His father would be little him and made him like he would not be able to overcome racism. Troy despised his father who was mean and never showed him any love. Although Troy feared and hated his father he would later realize he had traits similar to the devil himself. Troy has a job as a garbage collector and he

In the epigraph, August Wilson states that we do not always have to act out the sins of our fathers and that it 's possible to banish them with forgiveness. While Troy may not have forgiven his father, after he marries Rose, he doesn 't act on the sins of his father. Troy 's father didn 't teach Troy any positive traits directly, instead Troy adopted them in order to differentiate himself from his father and to live a better life. Troy learned the value of hard work from his father and all the time he spent working on the farm when he was younger and he lives by that trait. He takes care of his family because he knows it 's the responsible thing to do no matter what. Troy 's father didn 't care about the children or his wife, so Troy does his best to care for Cory and Rose. However, like his father, Troy takes care of the family because he 's obligated to, not because he feels any particular affection to them, similar to the way his father didn 't abandon him because he had nowhere to go. He explains this to Cory saying " You live in my house...sleep you behind on my bedclothes...fill you belly up with my food...cause you my son. You my flesh and blood. Not 'cause I like you! Cause it 's my duty to take care of you. I owe a responsibility to you"(Wilson 38)! While this quote shows that Troy is taking steps to be a better father, he 's not without his flaws. Troy cheated on Rose and had another child out of infidelity, ruining their family and affecting Rose

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

Troy is controlling and often verbally abusive to his family members because he lacks a sense of control in other areas of his life, he is unable to achieve his dream of becoming a pro-baseball player or advance in his career and this makes him feel inadequate. Troy’s wife Rose represents a stereotypical mother and dutiful wife role. Rose has two disadvantages in her life because she is not only African American, she is also a woman and in some ways she is the wife you would expect during the 1950s era. Rose however, is not weak minded because she recognizes how times have changed and this what makes Troy and Rose so drastically different throughout the play. Their contrasting ideologies represent two different aspects of the “African American Experience” by showing a major question many African Americans faced during the 1950s and that is: “are times really changing?.” Troy and Rose’s son, Cory represents the younger generation and the new opportunities that are beginning to be offered to

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.

One thing that Letzler and I agree with is that throughout the entirety of the play, Troy is misinformed with a lot of information about baseball and particularly the players that Troy claims that he superior to, and how he should have a shot at the Major Leagues. The prime example is when Troy and his son Cory are arguing and Roberto Clemente’s name is dropped in conversation. Troy tells Cory that Clemente does not play because Puerto Rican, and not a Caucasian man (Wilson 477). Upon further research, I confirmed that Clemente was indeed hurt for that season because of his back (Thornley). This was

Menson (233) writes to explore an interesting story about Troy, who had his dreams of becoming baseball player deferred. The author also exposes on some issues facing Troy including the 15-year wait to see his wife Rose. All these deferments come as a result of Troy’s incarceration. Menson-Furr (227), explains how Troy acquired his house and the plight of his sons, Cory and Lyons, during World War II. The fact that, Troy stopped his son, Cory, from playing football exposes the elements of an arrogant parenthood (Menson-Furr 222). On the flip side, Cory’s refusal to heed his father directives, tells a story of disrespectful children of the old time. The author as well talks about the facts of marriage between Troy and Alberta. In the final bit,

It shows that even though Troy was an African American he got to live his life in the American Dream. For a period in his life he did get the better, richer, and happier part of life as the American Dream is explained. Even though his time living the American Dream was cut short, he still got to experience some of the best times in his life. His ability to dare and strive throughout the Negro leagues made him into a better person in the end. This is an amazing example to strive after in life. Even though his dream of doing what he loved was cut short, he still got to experience it, the American

Calpurnia is seen both by Atticus and the reader as more than just a housekeeper and a cook; she is a part of the family and fills in the role of a mother to Jem and Scout by helping raise them alongside Atticus. Atticus deeply cherishes Calpurnia’s efforts of taking care of the children. With her doting attitude, yet, strict disciplinary, Calpurnia treats both Scout and Jem as she would her own children. Furthermore, this following quote proves that fatherhood is indeed an arduous and burdensome role as Atticus says these following words. Without Calpurnia by his side, Atticus would have found fatherhood even more of a demanding role without a wife by his side to help support and take care of the family, as well as raise his children to grow