Fences, by August Wilson, is a drama that focuses on the characteristics of black life in the mid to late twentieth century and the strains of society on African Americans. Set in a small neighborhood of a big city, this play holds much conflict between a father, Troy Maxson, and his two sons, Lyons and Cory. By analyzing the sources of this conflict, one can better appreciate and understand the way the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work. The first conflict in this play develops between Troy and his 34-year old son Lyons. This conflict is introduced when Lyons appears at the house on Troy?s payday to borrow 10 dollars, an occurrence that is common at the Maxson household. Although Troy knows that he will let Lyons have the money, he harasses Lyons over the issue saying, ?...The only time I see this nigger is when he wants something. That?s the only time I see him.? The source of this conflict lies in Troy?s experiences and attitude toward the black cause. Troy is the victim of a generation with limited opportunities in the industrial world and toils everyday to support his family and stay on top of his struggle for survival. Troy has come to believe, from his experiences, that blacks cannot get something for nothing and that life does not owe blacks anything. Due to this, Toy ?fences in? everything that he loves to protect his possessions from the monster of society. Thus there is a symbolization of Troy building a physical fence in the yard but building an emotional fence of protection around his family and friends. He believes that blacks owe it to themselves to make an honest, hard-earned living and that is the only way to survive. Troy states sarcastically that Lyans is blowing his... ... middle of paper ... ... and Rosa will do regarding their relationship. The couple face each other here and admit truths that they have seldom ever talked about and Rosa stands up to Troy realizing that he is imperfect and full of flaws. This conflict jeopardizes Troy and Rosa?s relationship and digs a whole in which they never truly overcome. This conflict emphasizes Troy?s weakness and Rosa?s strength and dignity. In the drama Fences ,by August Wilson, Their is much conflict entangling a black family living in the twentieth century. This conflict involves Troy trying to live his life through his sons, Lyans and Cory, while trying to keep them from making the same mistakes in life that he did. Also, there is conflict including Troy and his young daughter Raynell. By looking at the root of this conflict, one can better grasp the contribution it makes to the drama.
Troy lose his mistress and his wife, and his best friend, Bono. It seems like Bono is really disappointed in Troy for having the affair. Troy has also had Gabriel put away in a mental hospital.
this way by every time him asking his father for a favor or just for anything, Troys actions
Everytime Troy Maxson gets the chance to avoid his son, he takes it. It does not matter if he hurts his son. Troy is always putting walls up between him and his son. Making Cory feel like he means nothing to him. As evidence from the play, proofs that Troy never gets along with his son. He lives in the past that can’t be changed by anything. And that’s affecting his relationship with his younger son. His wife, Rose, tells him that the only thing their son wants is “... to be like you with the sports” ( I.iii.39) and make his father proud that he did it because of him. “I don’t want him to be like me! I want him to move as far away from my life as he can get” (I.iii.39). Troy is keeping himself away from building a connection between him and
The play begins with an epigraph by Wilson, explaining that the sins of the father can be forgiven. Fences manages to prove that although the sins may be forgiven, they are still passed on. Sons strive to be the best father they can, and have a choice to base their lifestyle after their own father. Ideally, they take the good and leave the bad. However, Wilson believes that even the bad are taken up. Wilson portrays this belief by revealing the poor qualities in each father within their respective son. Troy explains that his father was very selfish when raising his children. This revelation provides context and reasoning behind Troy’s selfish values about his money and desires, such as not wanting Cory to play football. Cory’s fight with his father towards the end of the novel acts as a direct result of Troy telling about his fight with his father. Even Troy’s stubbornness is present in his daughter Raynell. She complains at one point that her shoes are hurting her feet. She claims that it is not her fault her, but her feet getting bigger. Troy made many arguments like these blaming his faults on things that were out of his control. Wilson is stating that, unfortunately, the sins of our father become the sins of our children. Although many may think they can escape this fate, Fences acts as a warning of the
In the play it aim attention toards the Mason’s family. Troy Maxon, who is the man of the house, is fifty years young and still can not verbally recognize that things change, he cannot come terms with life. Troy’s son , Cory, was guarreteed a scholarship for his skills in football for college, Troy just had to sign papers so he can play. Instead of allowing his son to pursue his dreams with football, Troy crushes them. Troy’s past life was very difficult,
Troy Maxson is portrayed as a big man with a very big personality and a lot of dignity. He is a bitter guy who believes that he owes his family absolutely everything, from his money down to even his own soul. He is the type of man who wants more than what he can get and that is what drives him but it is also that very “want” that leads him into a very tragic life. Writing on the idea of Troy being a tragic hero, Martin says “Troy’s strengths are found in his willingness to fulfill his duty at all times. He also speaks directly to his dignity regarding his position of work and his career in baseball) Martin, 2) “Fences” Troy has many
In conclusion, Troy joke that baseball would always come first in his life; ironically, this comes true after considering, he tears his family apart being selfish, naïve and bitter due to the racial discrimination act done upon him. He puts baseball before his family, especially his wife and son. Troy is inconsiderate of his wife and kids when he thinks he is trying to help them by avoiding certain outcomes. However, death did take a toll of Troy, but did not go out without a fight; Troy actually struck out
Troy is very stern with his sons. He doesn’t always support them, especially with the actions they want to take in their lives. Not being a supportive father causes his sons to turn against Troy, and they lose the connection with him. Lyons, Troys eldest son from his previous marriage, is a talented Jazz musician. Troy wasn't apart of Lyons life the entire time, he was in jail. When released from jail he met Rose while pursuing a baseball career. Lyons often comes over to ask his father for money because he isn't making much money while being a musician. Cory, a teenage boy, is the son of Troy, and his wife Rose. Cory is a high school boy, who is a talented football player. Troy doesn't support his son in football, he continues to push Corey away until he enters the Marines. While away in the service Troy dies, Cory comes home to attend his fathers funeral. Throughout “Fences,” we about the relationship Troy didn’t have with his father. The relationship that he had with his father is very similar to the relationship with his
The trials of Troy’s life are loaded with racial segregation which mentally hurts him. His state of mind and behavior towards others are administered by encounters and in most cases, the employment the image of passing in his anecdotal stories to speak to the persecution of the white man. The play Wall, which is around Troy, starts with Troy engaging Bono and Rose with an epic story of his battle with passing or in other words the Fallen angel. Troy continuously casts passing as the fundamental character of his stories, passing for Troy is a representation of the battles he embraced to outlive the trials of life. Troy’s frequently utilize of overstated stories that engage, befuddle and baffle his family and companions is an illustration of Troy’s capacity to live in an invented world. The whole play is around Troy’s interaction with all other characters, who all share complicated connections with him. He is the center of both little and expansive clashes. His capacity to accept in self-created dreams and his failure to acknowledge the choices of others in life that contrast from his claim logic is what causes him to affected
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 any one a chance to prove themselves because he was selfish. This makes Troy the antagonist in the story because he is not only hitting up against everyone in the play, but he is also hitting up against himself and ultimately making his life more complicated. The discrimination that Troy faced while playing baseball and the torment he endures as a child shape him into one of the most dynamic characters in literary history. The central conflict is the relationship between Troy and Cory. The two of them have conflicting views about Cory’s future and, as the play goes on, this rocky relationship crumbles because Troy will not let Cory play collegiate football. The relationship becomes even more destructive when Troy admits to his relationship with Alberta and he admits Gabriel to a mental institution by accident. The complication begins in Troy’s youth, when his father beat him unconscious. At that moment, Troy leaves home and begins a troubled life on his own, and gaining a self-destructive outlook on life. “Fences” has many instances that can be considered the climax, but the one point in the story where the highest point of tension occurs, insight is gained and...
In the beginning of the play, readers are charmed by Troy and his vivacious storytelling and genuine personality but, as the story progresses, become aware of the striking deficiencies in his character which ultimately lead to his being unfaithful to his dedicated wife, Rose. In August Wilson’s play, Fences, although she is pitted against immensely emotionally taxing circumstances, Rose’s character shows an insurmountable courage and compassion; this is evident in her dedication to her family, even in the face of Troy’s actions, her selfless care for the illegitimate daughter, and her ability to continue on regardless of these
From the start he had a struggle with poverty and racism. Racism had been a struggle for himself and his family before. Since he is a black man in a “white man's world”, work would not be the easiest thing to find. “‘Why you got white man's driving and the colored lifting?” Told him, “what's the matter, don't I count? You think only white fillies got sense enough drive a truck.’” (1.1). This shows the segregation between the whites and blacks because the black men have to do the manual labor whereas the white men just have to drive a truck. Poverty was also preventing Troy for being a hero. “What the hell you looking at me for? I ain't got no ten dollars…” (1.1). Troy says this when Lyons asks him for money, he points out that he does not have money and that is he gives him the money he would have to eat rice for dinner then next week. Poverty and racism was bad enough for Troy but nothing could compare to his
He loses his faith in society, and becomes a tragic hero, a person who used to do good deeds in the light of others but allows for his flaws or inner struggles to overcome him. Instead of striving to succeed, Troy views his life as a job or responsibility, and only makes an effort to achieve stability, not success. He says to Rose, “I get up Monday morning…Make my way. Find my strength to carry me through to the next Friday. That’s all I got, Rose. That’s all I got to give. I can’t give nothing else”. Troy is in fact living the American dream of having his own house, a family, and a job. However, part of the American dream is a drive to succeed and determination, and Troy has lost his. Troy became very emotionally invested in baseball, and when he was never able to make it to the major’s leagues due to the color of his skin, he was permanently scarred. He did not wish this agony on Cory, his second son, and tried to protect Cory from the treatment he received by forbidding sports in his life, however it had the opposite of the intended intent. When Troy ruins Cory’s chance of gaining a football scholarship, he did it because he believed whites wouldn’t let his son play, but the world had changed and Troy stubbornly refused to believe it. Troy’s wife Rose tries to explain that, “They got lots of colored boys playing ball now. Baseball and football.” Even Bono, Troy best friend tries to convey the same thing to him, “Times have changed, Troy, you just come along too early.” Troy’s flaws prevent him from acknowledging that times have changed. Instead of believing what everyone around him is saying, he follows his own misguided path of delusion, ruining his sons dream to play football and go to college. Because of his actions, he builds not just a fence, but also an impenetrable wall around himself, never opening up to his family. Only at his funeral do his family attain knowledge of
We see in the play that his relationship with his son isn’t great and that’s mostly because Troy’s own dream of being a professional baseball player is “killed” because of racial discrimination. However instead of allowing himself to grow past that, he takes it out on his own by ruining
Troy feels obligated to take care of his family physically and financially. For example, he says, “It’s my job. It’s my responsibility! You understand that? A man got to take care of his family” when Cory asks Troy why he never liked him (38). To Troy, this hits a rough spot in him because he sacrifices everything for his family. He stood up for himself to receive a promotion from trash collector to garbage truck driver, he pays all