Troy: A Modern Tragic Hero

In the Tragedy and the Common Man, Arthur Miller describes many key aspects that contributes to a tragedy, including the characteristics of a modern tragic hero. Miller describes a modern tragic hero as someone who struggles to obtain what they perceive as their rightful position in their life. Miller writes, “The flaw, or crack in the characters, 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” (Miller 2). In other words, the tragic hero’s flaw is that he or she cannot accept any actions that challenges his or her position. Troy Maxson from the book Fences is an example of a modern tragic hero. Troy wants to be dominant in his life, he want to be authoritative and make things go the way he likes. Thus, his desire for control ultimately led him to a tragedy. Troy does not accept other people’s ideas and as a consequence, he makes a lot of problematic judgements. His denial to Cory’s dream of becoming a Major League football player was his first step to assert his dominance. In Troy’s younger days, he was superb at baseball, hitting tons of home runs. However, because of his skin color, he was never recruited into the Major Leagues. Scarred by his past experience, Troy doesn’t want Corey to tryout for

Using Arthur Miller’s Tragedy and the Common Man as a guide, Troy possess the flaw where he is willing to stand up to anything that challenges his rightful position. This flaw led him to make the wrong decision that end up turning his life into a tragedy. We can relate Troy with many people in the world right now. They have their own perspectives and opinions on things. However, many of them are like Troy, who only listens to their own voice. If you are one of them, perhaps you should start opening up your mind and take in some advices so you won’t end up as tragically as