Since childhood people have been taught they have control of their future, but sometimes their futures are already laid out for them. Not by choice, but simply by social construct. Just imagine someone telling you what you can or cannot do simply based on something you have no control over? Or do you actually have control over your destiny? August Wilson answers the question for us in the play Fences written in 1985. August Wilson was born into the poor Bedford area of Pittsburgh PA in 1945, growing up through the 1950’s as an African American wasn’t an easy life. Blacks of the time often had opportunities taken away from them like playing in major league sports teams and limited education, also suffering through his parent’s divorce and a …show more content…
As stated earlier, Troy ran away from his abusive father at age 14 and then walked 200 miles to Mobile, Alabama. There he tried to find a job with no luck. Partly of course to the fact that back in the time racism was more prevalent in limited job opportunities for the blacks. Although, race was not the only factor in Troy’s unsuccessful job hunt. Troy was at the young age of 14, oftentimes job opportunities are saved for the adults and more experienced and since Troy was only 14 with no prior experience it makes him a bad candidate for getting hired. Another factor includes how scarce jobs were in the first place and his lack of education. As a result of not finding a job, Troy turns to …show more content…
This was Troy’s main argument. Jackie Robinson became a sensation in 1947 being the first black player in the major leagues. But, to the knowledge of readers, Troy was 43 in 1947, making him too old for the major leagues. Troy is unable to accept the changes and progression of the past 10 years. Yet back in Troy’s young years “he was excluded because at the time, black players were still not accepted.” And yes, that was not his fault. But, “it is easier for Troy to blame a system that discriminates against black players than to admit that he lacked the talent or the youth to play major league baseball.” He is constantly claiming how much talent he has in the book but if he was so talented than why isn’t he in the major leagues now? Clearly if he was more talented he could be in. He could be just like “that Puerto Rican boy Clemente. Don’t even half play him. That boy could be something if they give him a chance. Play him one day and sit him on the bench the next” until Corey intervenes and says “He gets a lot of chances to play, they got some white guys on the team that don’t play every day. You can’t play everyone at the same time.” Further proving the system is about talent and less and less about race as time goes
Troy was met with many hardships in his life that left him feeling like he needed to protect himself from the things that have hurt him and could hurt him. The fence that Rose told Troy to build symbolized the barrier that he puts up to protect himself from the things that have hurt him and could hurt him in the future. Troy uses the fence to symbolize the emotional separation and neglect he has towards his family; Rose and Cory in particular. The main reason why the fence took the whole play to complete is because Troy neglected it and spent his time with his mistress which symbolized his neglect towards his family. Cory brings this to attention when he tells Troy that he "don't never do nothing, but go down to Taylors'", which is obviously his mistress’s home (Henderson). This was Troy’s f...
Without Jackie Robinson entering the game of baseball, there may have not been a Muhammed Ali, Arthur Ashe, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, or even Tiger Woods. Of course the possibility of another African American taking the throne and leading the fight for African rights through the game of baseball is justified but Jackie’s timing in the movement was impeccable. So impeccable, that it empowered others to stand up in a time of oppression. “All of us had to wait for Jackie,” said pitcher Joe Black. Joe Black says it well, Jackie Robinson is more than an African American baseball player, he was the beacon of light that sprouted the growth of blacks in the game of baseball, and sports nationwide. Even President’s gave credit to Jackie’s accomplishments. President Ronald Reagan stated, “He struck a mighty blow for equality, freedom and the American way of life, Jackie Robinson was a good citizen, a great man, and a true American champion.” Once his career was over, he did not quit pushing for Black American success. He became a vocalist for Black rights and became an analyst for major league baseball. He was hired by ABC to go on television for miscellaneous things and was the first Black vice president of an American corporation, Chock Full O’ Nuts, and helped establish the Freedom National Bank. Jackie also joined the board
According to sparknots.com, Troy is the son of an abusive father. Troy's father, like many blacks after the abolishment of slavery was a failed sharecropper. Troy claims that his father was so evil that no woman stayed with him for very long, so Troy grew up mostly motherless. When Troy was fourteen, his father noticed that the mule Troy was supposedly taking care of had wandered off. Troy's father found Troy with a girl Troy had a crush on and severely beat Troy with leather reins. Troy thought his father was just angry at Troy for his
His period of trials and triumphs were significant to changing American perception for the Civil Rights revolution. By becoming the first African-American baseball player to play in the major leagues he brought down an old misconception that black athletes were inferior to white athletes. Successively his example would inspire those advocating for their civil rights, he lived out a message of nonviolence similar to the one Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. lived out. Despite the constant prejudice he faced in his sport, he was able to keep himself composed and never retaliate. Instead of fighting hate with hate, Robinson was able to gain the respect of his white peers for his calmness and his courage. In ending segregation in baseball before any other institution in America, Jackie Robinson demonstrated to American society that African Americans were to be treated with respect and dignity. Robinson was never afraid to speak up against injustices, on one occasion when a service station attendant refused to allow Robinson to use the restroom, Robinson protested by refusing to fill the bus’s 50-gallon tanks at that gas station (cite to pg 47). His protests are a foreshadowing of civil rights movements such as the montgomery bus boycott. Robinson’s moral indignation with the injustices in his world would serve to inspire
"Over the decades, African American teams played 445-recorded games against white teams, winning sixty-one percent of them." (Conrads, pg.8) The Negro Leagues were an alternative baseball group for African American baseball player that were denied the right to play with the white baseball payers in the Major League Baseball Association. In 1920, the first African American League was formed, and that paved the way for numerous African American innovation and movements. Fences, and Jackie Robinson: The Biography, raises consciousness about the baseball players that have been overlooked, and the struggle they had to endure simply because of their color.
To begin to understand Troy, we must observe the tumultuous relationship between Troy and his father. Troy's father was most likely born into slavery, or at least slavery-like conditions. This means that his father probably never had a true family of his own, as his brothers, sisters, and parents would not have lived together. Troy's father had little experience in having and maintaining a family-like atmosphere in their home, and this reflects greatly upon Troy. Unfortunately, this was often the case in early African-American culture as the Reconstruction failed to help them from becoming homeless and impoverished.
Troy has a right to be angry, but to whom he takes his anger on is questionable. He regularly gets fed up with his sons, Lyons and Cory, for no good reason. Troy disapproves of Lyons’ musical goals and Cory’s football ambitions to the point where the reader can notice Troy’s illogical way of releasing his displeasure. Frank Rich’s 1985 review of Fences in the New York Times argues that Troy’s constant anger is not irrational, but expected. Although Troy’s antagonism is misdirected, Rich is correct when he observes that Troy’s endless anger is warranted because Troy experiences an extremely difficult life, facing racism, jail, and poverty.
Troy is the son of an abusive father. His father was hardly around to raise him. When he was around, he made him do chores and if he didn’t do them he would beat him. One time, after Troy tied up the mule, just as his father told him to, he went off to the creek with a girl to “enjoy himself.” The mule got loose, and his father found out. His father came looking for him. When he found them at the creek, he had the leather mule straps; he started to beat Troy. Troy was naturally scared so he ran away. He looked back at his father and realized that his father didn’t care about beating him, he just wanted the girl. Troy came back; he ripped the straps out of his father’s hand. He then started to beat his father with them. His father, not afraid of Troy, beat up Troy. Troy was left there, his eyes were swelled shut. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t go back to his father’s house, so he went to another town 200 miles away. This is when Troy became a man at the age of 14.
This obstacle was racism. At that time, black people were segregated from the whites. They had to use different bathrooms, water fountains, and were not allowed to be on professional sports teams. This wasn’t very smart of the professional sports teams since many professional ball players were worse than the black ball players. Some black and very talented ball players include, Jackie Robinson, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and many others. Even though some managers realized that these were talented ball players, they still didn’t sign any black players to the teams. “The Kansas City Monarchs threatened to sue Rickey.” (Robinson 36). The Monarchs were upset that Rickey signed Robinson onto the team. The racism at this time in America was so bad that teams would sue the Dodgers and threaten Jackie if he stepped foot on the field. Some teams, like the Phillies, would let him play, but then curse him out and call him terrible names. In addition, a couple of teams were so scared of playing with a black man that they forfeited professional games! Jackie faced many obstacles on the way to reaching his ultimate goal of breaking the color
Troy claimed, “I don’t want him to be like me! I want him to move as far away from my life as he can get” (1588). Even though Cory tried to explain to his adamant father that sports were becoming accepting of blacks, Troy maintained nothing had changed, even in the face of evidence. Rose tried to convince Troy on Cory’s behalf, “Times have changed from when you was young, Troy. People change. The world’s changing around you and you can’t even see it” (1589). Cory tried to remind his father there were many black baseball players such as Hank Aaron in the major leagues, however Troy maintained, “Hank Aaron ain’t nobody” (1586). Cory listed several others, but Troy could not comprehend times really had changed for the better. Eventually Troy kicked Cory out of the house for disrespecting him, and Cory gratefully left knowing while he wouldn’t play football anymore, he would still be better than his father. Troy’s pride in his worldly knowledge got in the way of Cory realizing his dreams; this caused Cory to lose all respect and love for his
Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play Major League Baseball. This was not an easy task for him to do. People judged him and didn’t like him by the color of his skin. Jackie Robinson said “The hate mail piled up” (Robinson). That shows that no one cared to give him a chance to play in the Major League. The innocence of young kids had a great inspiration on Jackie Robinson because they didn’t care about his color they just wanted him to play good. Jackie Robinson was “proud to be a part of a significant breakthrough” (Robinson) in breaking the color barrier. Even though Jackie Robinson has been through
People might say that Racism is a part of life in history and you have to deal with it, but it fails the support because back in the day, there was a thing called the middle passage and was very harmful. The middle passage was where people chained slaves to the bottom of a ship and barely fed them and they also went to the bathroom on themselves. The theme is racism is not acceptable and can cause a lot of issues between human beings. Jackie Robinson was a person who was humble and treated all humankind equally.
Troy is a very self-centered individual. He is only concerned with issues regarding him. For instance, he wants to be able to drive the trash trucks at his job like the white men do. In Act One, scene one, Troy tells Bono that he talked to his boss, Mr. Rand, about driving the trucks. “How come you got all the whites driving and the colored lifting?” (1332). If things in Troy’s life aren’t going the way he wants them to, he makes himself into the victim and searches for sympathy from others. In addition, if he ever does something erroneous, he never accepts responsibility, never admits his wrongdoing and no matter how much anguish he causes someone, he never apologizes for it.
Alan Nadel argues that the object of the fence in August Wilson’s play, “Fences” symbolizes a great struggle between the literal and figurative definitions of humanity and blackness. The author summarizes the play and uses the character Troy to explain the characterization of black abilities, such as Troy’s baseball talents, as “metaphoric,” which does not enable Troy to play in the white leagues as the period is set during segregation (Nadel 92). The author is trying to use the characters from the play as examples of black people during the segregation years to show how people of that time considered black people not as literal entities and more like figurative caricatures. Stating that these individuals were considered to be in a kind of limbo between human and object. Nadel’s thesis is easy to spot, and is actually pointed out directly on page 88 of the text. It reads that August Wilson’s play actually investigates the position of black persons as the metaphorical “fence” between humanity and property, arguing that the effects of this situation interacts within the “context of white [America]” so that a wider range of people are able to view the internal struggles of the black community.