In the book Fences by August Wilson, Troy is a man who doesn’t believe that African Americans can have have the same opportunities as whites because of his past. He abelieves the way he thinks of life is the way life has to go. When Troy was young he dreamed of going professional in baseball but because of his racial appearance he was not able to go pro. Racism plays an important role in Troy’s life. Having the experience of not being accepted because of the color of his skin made him look at life differently causing him to make certain decisions which caused great conflicts with his family.
One of the impulsive decisions that Troy does has to do with his younger son Cory. Cory had many scouts looking at him and based on the college scholarship that was offered to him it looked like Cory had a bright future in playing football but Troy completely prohibits him from playing and says that Cory will not get “involved in no sports. Not after what they did to me in the sports” (Wilson 1159). Since Troy faced discrimination in his life, he assumed that his son Cory would face the same issues because of the color of his skin. Troy argued that because of his skin color, he was prevented from playing in the Major Leagues. Cory says later in the story that ‘Papa done went up to the school and told Coach Zellman I can’t play football no more. …Told him to tell the recruiter not to come….Just cause you didn’t have a chance! You just scared I’m gonna be better than you, that’s all.’ (Wilson 1171) Troy does not see that by not letting Cory play football he is doing exactly what society did to him, which is prohibiting him from achieving his dreams. Cory says, “You ain’t never gave me nothing! You ain’t never done nothing but hold me back.” (Wilson 1178) If Cory had got the chance to play football in college, he could have been able to get a college education while playing a sport he loved. It seems that Troy is still affected from the rejection he got when he was trying to play professional that it completely blinds him from seeing that Cory actually has better chance because like what Rose (Troy’s Wife) says “They got lots of colored boys playing ball now. Baseball and football” (Wilson 1159 ). Although he cares about Cory and he thinks by not allowing him to football is only for his own good so that he wouldn’t have to go through the same harsh experiences as he did, I believe that his stubborn decision wasn’t wise because it ended up causing multiple conflicts between Cory and himself.
Troy went through a lot in his past. Troy went to jail for 15 years. Situations like this is a path he does not want any of his sons to go down on. As a father he felt it was his job to protect his family from all of his past mistakes. Troy had an elder son from a previous relationship named Lyons. While Troy was in prison, Lyons did not have a dad growing up because of an impulsive decision Troy made when he was young. Lyons passion is to become musician. Lyons and Cory had the same mindset which was that they can do something with their lives in a society full of opportunities. Troy however does not see that being a musician is a serious thing. Troy says “You living the fast life, wanna be a musician, running around in them clubs and things.” (Wilson 1161). Troy sees Lyon’s dream as foolish because he is not getting any income from being a musician. Every time Troy gets paid, Lyon shows up and asks for a handout. Troy says “Only time I see this nigger is when he want something. That’s the only time I see him.” (Wilson 1161 )Troy does not feel comfortable giving out ten dollars because he feels like he is being taken advantage of. Troy sees Lyons as someone who is trying to take his hard-owned money which causes a conflict between their relationship.
Troy makes another impulsive decision by committing an affair with Alberta. Troy said he felt trapped in a marriage where he can not show his true self. He says “It’s not easy for me to admit that I’ve been standing in the same place for eighteen years!” (Wilson 1174) The reasoning behind his actions was that he felt like with all the responsibilities of being a father and provider for his family, he needed something to escape. Troy’s selfish act shows that he he was tired of being limited from baseball, his work and of his marriage. Rose was heart broken hearing that the man she gave her life to committed an affair with another woman. It seemed to have bothered her deeply when he said he needed an out from his priorities once in a while. Rose said “Don’t you think I ever wanted other things? Don’t you think I had dreams and hopes? What about my life? What about me. Don’t you think it ever crossed my mind to want to know other men? That I wanted to lay up somewhere and forget about my responsibilities? That I wanted someone to make me laugh so I could feel good? You not the only one who’s got wants and needs. But I held on to you, Troy. I took all my feelings, my wants and needs, my dreams…and I buried them inside you!” (Wilson 1174) She had committed her entire life to Troy and to her marriage and he ends up betraying her by not just having an affair but also having a baby with another woman. Because of his actions, Troy and Rose’s marriage is brutally jeopardized. Troy’s decisions in life has made himself distant away from his family.
Troy had went through a lot in his life. Troy had a very singular perspective on the world. He had a strict attitude because of how society viewed African Americans back in the 1950s. Troy cared a lot about his family even if he didn’t quite show it. Racism had been a struggle for him throughout his life and caused a lot of Troy’s bitterness towards life. When he went to jail he made sure that once he was out he would never go back. All of his rash decisions were influenced by his past. Whether it was denying Cory to play football, neglecting Lyons or breaking vows and promises in his marriage with Rose. Tension was caused in the family by the decisions he made that he thought was right.
“Fences” Literature Analysis
Despite discrimination in the 1950s, Troy, a hard-working African American, provides for his family within desperate times in unjustified conditions. August Wilson’s play, Fences, displays unjustified actions towards blacks, how the feeling of death always looms, and how love can be shown in the simplest items with vivid language and imagery. Throughout the family’s struggles, Fences provides vivid detail of imagery to assist the reader to understand the scenery of the play while symbolism manifests the hidden meaning for certain topics.
Throughout the play, August Wilson provides an uncommon usage of symbols in such a way the understanding of the usage unveils their meaning. Early within the play, Rose keeps reminding Cory about his father needing assistance with building a fence around the whole house. “Rose: He says you were supposed to help him with this fence (29).” Rose’s love for her family and the desire to keep them as close as possible to each other without losing them is symbolized by the fence. Later, Troy begins to ramble about how Mr. Death needs to stay on the opposite side of the fence unless he’s the top of his list. “Alright … Mr. Death. I’m gonna take and build me a fence around this yard. … around what belongs to me. And I want you to stay on the other side. See? You stay over there until you’re ready for me (77).” Troy’s conversation about Death symbolizes the ever-looming feeling of death that a father never wishes his family to meet until he is first off the list; Troy feels like he’s the only person keeping death at bay for his family. August Wilson uses a fair bit of baseball terms throughout the play to give a sense of fair play through justified actions and outcomes, freedom, and injustice through an outcome one might claim unfair; all which are similar to an actual game of ball. “(CORY comes up behind TROY and grabs him. TROY, surprised, is thrown off balance just as CORY throws a glancing blow that catches him on the chest and knocks him down. TROY is stunned, as is CORY)
TROY: (To CORY.) Alright. That’s strike two. (79)”
Despite the minuscule interaction within the settings, August Wilson provides enough scenery for the readers to paint an image of the setting with ease. The description of the setting allows readers to feel as if they are there which August Wilson brings his readers into the same emotional baggage his characters bare within certain locations. “The lights come up in the yard. A funeral plaque with a light hangs beside the door. There is a small garden plot off to the side. There is noise and activity in the house … (90).” August Wilson further expands on his descriptive surroundings by allowing the reader to paint the image of the characters as they read. “The men carry lunch buckets and wear or carry burlap aprons and are dressed in clothes suitable for their jobs as garbage collectors (1).” Having the readers understand the details of characters and their surroundings allows the reader to have a surreal sense of being able to feel as if they are there and able to interact with them from simply reaching a hand to touch them.
August Wilson provides characters with vivid descriptions allowing the readers to understand in full as to who they should be visioning within their mind as they venture further into the play. Within the first page of the play, August Wilson begins with a description of Troy and the setting around him and his friends. “TROY is fifty-three years old, a large man with thick, heavy hands; it is this largeness that he strives to fill out and make an accommodation with (1).” After a quick introduction to Troy and his personality, August Wilson brings another character, Rose, into the scene in such detail one could easily understand how her morals without even hearing a single word from her. “ROSE enters from the house. She is ten years younger than TROY, her devotion to him stems from her recognition of the possibilities of her life without him: a succession of abusive men and their babies, a life of partying and running the streets, the Church, or aloneness with its attendant pain and frustration (5).” Allowing the reader to know and understand a character’s backstory, August Wilson shows us how she came to be the way she is currently along with the morals we would have missed if he neglected to put it in the play.
Throughout the play, the reader is enticed by the mellow drama between the characters as imagery puts the reader there with the characters. Seeking and understanding the symbolism, the reader also can understand why August Wilson would use certain phrases and terms to breathe a form of life into each character. August Wilson’s deceptive use of symbolism and his minuscule usage of imagery gives his play charm with how the characters interact with each other as the setting around them begin to form and paints itself right in front of the reader.
Augus Wilson’s “Fences” Literature Analysis
August Wilson has received numerous awards and earned a reputation as a profound playwright for his gritty, authentic plays that tell black stories. Hailing from Pittsburgh, PA in the 1940s Wilson spent many days of his youth sitting in at a diner frequented by elders in a majority black neighborhood. These experiences he had and wrote about helped to form the basis for many of his stories. He is credited with writing extensively about the black experience covering aspects such as spirituality, family life, and coming of age tales. In Fences, he explores family themes through the life of Troy Maxson a garbage man with unrealized dreams of a professional sports career. Troy is revealed to have several vices in addition to being an agitator to his son Cory.
Wilson paints Troy in a human light, his flaws while glaring, still give the audience moments of empathy as he struggles to meet the responsibilities to his family. In a historical precedent this preserves a stereotype that has survived until the modern day. Black men struggling to meet the obligations that come with fatherhood. Troy’s main vice is adultery, he’s carried it with him since before his wife was pregnant with his first child. It’s a central point in the resolution of the play where it is revealed that Troy has gotten his mistress pregnant. This becomes an immense emotional burden for his wife, who ends up raising the child. Doubling the number of stereotypes this story has referenced with the inclusion of a single mother household.
A critical analysis of many of Wilson’s plays acknowledge the deeply painful history of black Americans in the United States. This analysis written by Harry J. Elam references artwork by an artist named Glen Ligon in order to describe the narrative of the earliest Africans brought in through the slave trade. “Entitling this exhibit that visually foregrounds the impact of slavery on a contemporary African American subject “To Disembark,” implies African Americans are still in the process of disembarking, still discharging historic baggage, always and already on the physical and psychological journey toward self-liberated definition” (Elam 10). Elam’s point being that Wilson’s work often illustrates the tumultuous journey required to reach self liberation.
For Troy Maxson this journey required him to show humility albeit in sparse amounts when confronting his wife about the deeds he carried out in secret. After reconciling to some extent with her he is able to embrace with his final meeting with death. Once Troy’s funeral concludes, his brother Gabriel arrives and he is given salvation once Gabriel plays his trumpet. Here Wilson shows that everyone has the capacity for redemption despite the many shortcomings we endure. From this point on that the daughter left in the care of Troy’s wife is shown to have a very compassionate and loving temperament. Demonstrating the second moral of Fences, even those among us who aren’t necessarily righteous can bless the lives of others.