Troy Tragic Hero

Tragedy is a literary genre utilized by authors in order to depict melancholy or sorrowful events that the tragic hero causes. Noted American playwright Arthur Miller, in his article entitled, “Tragedy and the Common Man”, depicts the criteria a character must fulfill in order for him to be considered a ‘tragic’ one. Following the criteria outlined in this article, Troy Maxson, the protagonist of August Wilson’s Fences, embodies what it means to be a tragic character. The way he judges himself, his tragic flaw and what that leads to, and the possibility that Troy’s tragic life could have instead resulted in victory all define him as a tragic character, as delineated in Arthur Miller’s article.

When Troy evaluates his baseball abilities to be

Miller writes, “The flaw, or crack in the character, is really nothing-and need be nothing, but his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity, his image of his rightful status.” (p. 149). With these words, Miller describes that a tragic character is one who is active, and not passive, when they feel that someone is disrespecting their dignity. Troy demonstrates this trait when Rose starts to yell at him for cheating on her. Rose starts to walk back into the house after fighting with Troy when Troy yells, “ I done give you everything I got. Don’t you tell that lie on me.” (p. 98). Troy is extremely angry and frustrated with Rose because although Troy has committed the sin, Rose is not understand his reasoning for committing it. She continues to tell him that he has done the wrong thing by cheating on her, but Troy just takes her response as a shot at his dignity, and he therefore gets exceptionally mad at Rose. Additionally, because he feels as though his dignity is being undermined, Troy is not able to apologize to Rose for what he has done to her. This reaction is a clear depiction of Troy’s tragic flaw because Troy is not able to deal with someone confronting him for his wrongdoing, rather he must protect his dignity thereby reacting with anger before thinking about the