The play Fences by August Wilson revolves around Troy Maxson, an African American who works in the sanitation department during the late 1950s through to 1965, a period best known for the Struggle for Civil Rights and fight to end racism for the African-Americans. Troy in order to escape his abusive father made his way north where the black lived in poverty and had hard time finding jobs. Troy is sent to prison for stealing and killing, where he learns how to play baseball. His baseball dream is shattered when he is not accepted to the Negro Leagues. His anger over racism for denying him rights over the years creates a home environment filled with resentment and negativity, which begins to deteriorate his relationship with his wife, Rose, …show more content…
The play is true to the historical events like the Civil Rights Movement and the Negro leagues. In the play, there is a baseball bat leaning on a tree that has a ball made of rags hanging from it, amongst other things (Wilson 964). The ball is made of rags could be seen as representing Troy's poverty, and his shattered dream. Baseball is used metaphorically when Troy sees death as a “Fastball to the outside corner”. Which means that he is not scared of death rather he is ready for it so that he can hit it away. In many other instances, baseball is used on many occasions by Troy to explain himself, for example when Troy ruins Cory’s opportunity to play football at the end of the argument Troy tells Cory that he has one strike, and he better not strike out (Wilson 995). Which meant that he made once which he better not make again. Even though Troy is a good baseball player, he learns that even in the land of equal opportunity, chances for a black man are not always equal, and the same country that deprived him from his right, did rightfully take the sacrifice of his brother in World War …show more content…
The author intends to shed light on how racism can affect the mental and physical lives of the people living at that time through the characters of Troy Maxson and his family. The trials of Troy’s life are filled with racial discrimination. His usage of the symbol of death in his fictional stories can represent the oppression of the white man during that time or the struggles he undertook to survive the trials of life. His painful memories provide a context in which we can understand the similarities and differences of the generations separating Troy and his sons. Troy’s fails to recognize the good change for African-Americans in the new world. When Rose mentioned that the white baseball leagues accepted black players such as Jackie Robison he replied: “I done seen a hundred niggers play baseball better that Jackie Robison…Jackie Robison wasn’t nobody”. Jackie Robison was the first African American professional baseball player and was awarded the Rookie of the year for his performance.(1) Troy’s inability to come out of his experiences blinded him to see any change, he believed that things were still bad for the people of color. The funeral of Troy brings his family together, Cory who joined the army after the argument with Troy, returns after 8 years, Gabriel is released from the mental institution, the half made fence surrounding the Maxson’s
August Wilson’s Fences was centered on the life of Troy Maxson, an African American man full of bitterness towards the world because of the cards he was dealt in life amidst the 1950’s. In the play Troy was raised by an unloving and abusive father, when he wanted to become a Major League Baseball player he was rejected because of his race. Troy even served time in prison because he was impoverished and needed money so he robbed a bank and ended up killing a man. Troy’s life was anything but easy. In the play Troy and his son Cory were told to build a fence around their home by Rose. It is common knowledge that fences are used in one of two ways: to keep things outside or to keep things inside. In the same way that fences are used to keep things inside or outside Troy used the fence he was building to keep out death, his family, and his disappointments in life while Rose used the fence to keep those she cared about inside and help them bond.
After reading Fences, it is clear that there is much conflict between Troy and his son Cory due to Troy’s failed aspirations and jealousy of Cory’s success, as well as a significant generational gap.
Should a neglected, discriminated, and misplaced black man living in the mid 1900s possessing a spectacular, yet unfulfilled talent for baseball be satisfied or miserable? The play Fences, written by August Wilson, answers this question by depicting the challenging journey of the main character, Troy Maxon. Troy, an exceptional baseball player during his youth, cannot break the color barrier and is kept from playing in the big leagues. That being his major life setback, Troy has a pessimistic view on the world. His attitude is unpleasant, but not without justification. Troy has a right to be angry, but to whom he takes out 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 displeasures. 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 in 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.
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.
In the play Fences by August Wilson, Troy is shown as a man who has hurt the people who are closest to him without even realizing it. He has acted in an insensitive and uncaring manner towards his wife, Rose, his brother, Gabriel and his son, Cory. At the beginning of the story, Troy feels he has done right by them. He feels this throughout the story. He doesn’t realize how much he has hurt them.
In August Wilson’s play Fences, the Maxson family is faced with many trials that could tear them apart. Troy Maxson, the main character of the play, causes an abundance of turmoil for his family. However, Troy believes he is doing the best for his family by providing them with the necessities. Despite this effort, he does not provide them with what they wish to receive from him; love and support. Consequently, Troy’s actions push his family away from him causing both his wife and son to be disappointed and upset with him. In the end, his family reunites for his funeral and realize that in pushing the ones he loved away from him, he provided them with strength to grow and affected everyone positively. Troy’s death not only aided his family in
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
Fences was published in 1983 but the setting was the 1950s in August Wilsons home town. Wilson’s main purpose of this play is to show how the separation of humans into racial groups can create social and finance instability and can have a huge effect on African Americans and whites. The 1950s was the middle of the civil rights era. The Maxsons Family is African American, In the 1950s there was not many jobs for African Americans; most people believed that this is what pushed Troy to steal things in order to provide for his family. Troy went to prison for murder and when he got out he was determined to do good deeds and to turn his life around; shortly after he got out of prison he got a job as a Garbage man. Troy is a tragic figure and a villain; he is a tragic figure because he made great effort to do good deeds for his family, but he allowed his imperfections to get in his way which led to a horrible death. Troy is a villain because of what he did to his wife Rose. (Shmoop; Editorial Team)
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
August Wilson’s play, Fences, centers around the life of Troy Maxson, an African American who was never able to realize the American dream. He lived in the 1950s just prior to the Civil Rights movement and the emergence of the acceptance of black society. Troy’s point of view dominates the play, focusing on life’s consequences and decisions that create personal fences in all his relationships. He accepts no regard for the opinion of others in his life and passes judgement on their choices. Troy has many good things in life, but he harbors a life of misery and extends his defeat onto everyone around him. “Troy struggles for fairness in a society which seems to offer none. In his struggle, he builds fences between
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...
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
The trials of Troy’s life are filled with racial discrimination which mentally scars him. His attitude and behavior towards others are governed by experiences and in most cases he uses the symbol of death in his fictional stories to represent the oppression of the white man. The play Fences, which is largely about Troy, begins with Troy entertaining Bono and Rose with an epic tale of his struggle with death or in other word...
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