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Racial discrimination theme in fences
Father son relationship in fences
Father son relationship in fences
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In August Wilson’s play “Fences” we see the life of Troy Maxson and the hardships he endured with his family. He is a African-American struggling man trying to raise a family, while while balancing his everyday life. Even as a hard working man, Troy lived with many faults. He was far from the perfect father or role-model for his sons. His wife Rose had to endure the pains that came with marriage and even had to take care of his illegitimate child Rayell that he had with another woman. Troy was still trying to be the best father and husband he could be, but struggled to express in a loving way because of his lack of commitment to his family. We learned about Troy’s tough upbringing when he begins to explain how he was raised and how it would The role of father is never an easy one. Troy wanted for his sons to be different than him. He didn’t want for them to end in the same path as he did. In Frank Pittman’s web article “Fathers and sons” he explains how important the father-son relationship is and how it shapes men. “Becoming Father the Nurturer rather than just Father the Provider enables a man to fully feet and express his humanity and masculinity. Fathering is the most masculine thing a man can do.” Not having a father figure where he could look up too greatly affected how on Troy would raise his sons. Troy didn’t want to be the father his dad was, but ended doing the same harm that his father did to him. With his Lyons, he never got the chance to raise him because Troy was in prison. The only way to support Lyons and Lyon’s mom was to steal and that cost him fifteen years. “They told me I killed him and they put me in the penitentiary and locked me up for fifteen years.” Cory, his second son, ended on the same path and decided to leave home to become his own man. “Tell mama I’ll be back for my things.” (Wilson 1282) Troy’s pride and inablilty in leading the correct way for his sons would cause them to turn away from him. Not only did he hurt his sons by not showing compassion, this would eventually lead to him cheating or his wife He didn’t want Cory to pursue sports because he felt that it wouldn’t lead him to better opportunities. He felt the same way about Lyons and his music. He felt both needed to work hard in school and get good paying jobs. With jobs already hard to find, he wanted both to quit their hobbies and do something real. “ The fact that African-Americans who are often concentrated in poor urban areas struggle to get jobs.” Even though he never expressed his emotions correctly, he wanted the best for Lyons and Cory. He gave them everything that he could give them, and instilled good values in both of them. It isn’t until Troy’s death that they both realize their dad was someone that who loved them. Their silence in the end with each other signifies the grief and love they both had for him even though he wasn’t the best father. “Cory nods. Lyons touches him on the shoulder and they share a moment of silent grief.” (Wilson
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...
Throughout the play it's easy to feel anger, pity, and respect towards him. Even though Troy pursues the wrong course in trying to help Cory, it's still apparent that he cares for his son in his fractured way. Troy's bad relationship with his son can be traced back to his own relationship with his father. Troy despised his father, who was mean and didn't show any love to him, but kept by his family due to a sense of responsibility, which is molded into Troy's character. He goes to work everyday to provide for his family even though, but he can't express the love to them that they crave. Without his good qualities to counterbalance against his bad ones, Troy would just be an evil antagonists intentionally ruining his families lives. But because Troy is made as a tragic hero we can learn more about the experience of living life as a black man, faced with lost opportunities due to discrimination and we can learn a lesson from his failure instead of paint him as a
In addition, Troy's statement, "That's all I got to give," shows his desperation with this cycle. He is beginning to see his family as a burden.
Troy should be remembered as a person that was tough but sometimes could be nice person if you followed the rules under his house. This all follows of him being a resposible man, He did do things that might have not seen right but it was because he had to keep order in his house, other wise everyone would do things that they wanted to do and wouldn't care what Troy thought of it. My father always taught me to live a great life and to take care of my family and i, i will do this in remberance of him and all that he taught me growing up, that life isn't easy but its ok, because you can get through
His father could have treated his children better, Troy, “Sometimes I wish I hadn’t known my daddy. He ain’t cared nothing about no kids. A kid to him wasn’t nothing. All he wanted was for you to learn how to walk so he could start you to working. When it come time for eating. . . he ate first.” (Wilson Pg. 1213). Troy grew up with an abusive father, it made him have no feelings towards his own kids and it plays a huge role in why he acts the way he does. Joe Canewell’s daughter and Troy were about the same age when they were enjoying themselves. His father caught him a whupped him like a slave. That’s when Troy tries to fight his father because his father tries to mess with the young girl. He woke up battered and broken from being unconscious and that when left
The theme of August Wilson’s play “Fences” is the coming of age in the life of a broken black man. Wilson wrote about the black experience in different decades and the struggle that many blacks faced, and that is seen in “Fences” because there are two different generations portrayed in Troy and Cory. Troy plays the part of the protagonist who has been disillusioned throughout his life by everyone he has been close to. He was forced to leave home at an early age because his father beat him so dramatically. Troy never learned how to treat people close to him, and he never gave anyone a chance to prove themselves because he was selfish.
As a result of Troy being unable to find a place to live or a job he started stealing to get by. Eventually the situation escalated and he murdered someone in a robbery gone wrong; this led to him being sentenced to 15 years in prison. Prison is where he found his love for baseball. He became quite good with a bat and hoped that when he got out he could play professionally. Unfortunately due to the segregation of the MLB Troy was never able to pursue that career and he is resentful of the situation his whole life.This caused him to be a very bitter person for the remainder of his life and this also caused him to shoot down the hopes and dreams of his son Corey by telling him things like “...The white man ain’t gonna let you go nowhere with that football
During the play, Troy speaks about how his father never set a good example, showing why Troy isn’t a very good father to Cory. When talking about his father and himself, Troy states, “... I could feel him kicking in my blood and knew that the only thing that separated us was the matter of a few years” (Wilson 172-173). This shows that Troy is starting to become the person that he hated so much in his past. In society, an expectation from men is that they be strong, independent, and emotionless. But sometimes, people take it too far.
This is the reason why Troy fights against his family and himself, because he feels like he is the only one who can protect them. To Cory and Rose, Troy is destroying the family because of his stubborn thoughts but to Troy he is saving the family from falling apart and this distrust causes the family to eventually fall apart. Troy really does try his hardest to be a good father and is bothered by the fact that Rose and Cory do not see it as him trying to protect them but more of him destroying the family. This hurts Troy because his family is his everything they are what he “fights” for he works day end and day out to put food on the table and try to give them a life he thinks the deserve. August Wilson in “fences” Troy says, “ I love this woman, so much it hurts. I love her so much… I done run out of ways to love her.”(1.1) Wilson uses to show how much Troy actually cares for his wife, to Troy Rose is his everything, she is the light in his darkness, she try’s to guide him back to a sane man. Another Way Wilson shows how much Troy loves his family is when Troy is talking to his family and says that “ You all line up at the door, with your hands out. I give you the lint from my pockets. I give you my sweat and my blood…”(1.3) Troy is saying that he will give them everything until he has absolutely nothing but the lint from his pockets. He will go out of his way to make
... does tell the truth. He talks truthfully about his father and how he is a lot like him. He also admits that the only difference with him and his father is that he does not beat his children. Troy provided for his family. Additionally, even though he was very tough on Cory, he admitted that he was responsible for taking care of him and the rest of the family. In Act One, scene three, Troy explains to Cory why he treats him the way he does. Cory asks, “How come you ain’t never liked me?” (1346). Troy can’t admit to like his own son, so points out that he doesn’t have to like him in order to provide for him. “[…] ‘Cause it’s my duty to take care of you. I owe a responsibility to you! […] I ain’t got to like you” (1347). Deep down, somewhere in the dark abyss that is Troy’s heart, he sincerely cares about his family. He just has a very different way of articulating it.
time I see him.? The source of this conflict lies in Troy?s experiences and attitude
Perhaps the most important and fulfilling relationship a man can be involved in is one with his own flesh and blood. At the beginning of the play, we learn that Troy has two sons, Lyons and Cory. Lyons is Troy's son by a previous marriage and Cory is Troy's son by his current marriage. Neither Lyons nor Cory share a close relationship with their father and Troy is mostly to blame for that.
In the end Troy died living behind a trail of animosity between him and his family. In my opinion his story is that of a tragic hero. He began being loved and praised by his family but eventually and gradually, he began to succumb to the weight of racism. It can be said that the effects of racism finally took the better of Troy, and consequentially it ruled his life. Like his fictional stories, death finally took him.
Troy denies Cory the opportunity to go to college to play football leaving Cory feeling like a prisoner of Troy. Metzger states that, “The fence Troy completes, however, will fail to keep Cory [home]” (2). Cory strengthens the fence between him and his father even more after they have a physical altercation. After the dispute, Troy says to Cory, “All right. That’s strike two. You stay away from around me, boy. Don’t you strike out. You living with a full count. Don’t you strike out” (Wilson 2.2). This clearly exhibits the barrier and tension building between the father and son. Ultimately, the fences Troy and Cory build between one another leads to Cory leaving the house and joining the Marines (Metzger 2-3). The fence built between Cory and his father hinders them from having a loving father-son
August Wilson created many themes throughout his famous play, Fences, but the most prominent one is the relationship between fathers and sons. The three father-son relationships introduced in this play seem to be complicated or difficult to understand. However, it is clear that the relationships built between Troy Maxson and his son Cory, Troy and his other son Lyons, and Troy and his own father are not love-driven. The parallelism of actions, events, and tension amongst each of the father-son relationships in the play illustrate how the sons try to break free from the constraints the father has set, yet in the end, these attempts seem to be pointless as the father leaves an everlasting effect on the sons, ultimately creating a cycle of actions