Essay about Relationships, Racism, and Drama in August Wilson's Fences

    In Act I and some of Act II the audience sees many disagreements  between Cory and Troy about Cory playing sports. In Troy's past after he was released from jail he went to play baseball, but as Troy claims, he was not allowed to play due to skin color. Troy is then placing this stipulation onto Cory when he wants to play football. Troy made the statement, “I told that boy about that football stuff. The white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that football. I told him when he first come to me with it. Now you come telling me he done went and got more tied up in it. He ought to go and get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living.” (Act I  scene I ). Troy makes this statement to his wife, Rose, after she tells him of Cory getting recruited college football. In this Troy is thinking of his past when he went to play baseball and he was not accepted to play. In

The marriage between Troy and Rose was shown differently in Denzel Washington’s production of Fences and the 1985 original play by American playwright, August Wilson. August Wilson’s play centered around the Maxson family, the life of Troy Maxson and the decisions he made that affected his marriage and family. The Maxson marriage was depicted on the 1950’s era whereby a woman’s place was in the home. While Rose was home tending to the house and children, Troy provided for the family. Throughout the movie and play, we see how Troy’s actions and decisions affected the relationships with his friends and family. The primary relationship highlighted in both the play and movie is that of Troy and Rose and how it completely disintegrates towards the end of the story. In August Wilson’s portrayal of Rose, she is described as one that has been challenged throughout her life, but still manages to be a strong centerpiece for the family. Denzel Washington’s movie conveys the

August Wilson is communicating the idea that Troy doesn’t want Cory to play sports because he cares about Cory’s future. One reason why Troy might not want Cory to play is because Troy wants to protect Cory from racism. This is shown in the text when Troy says to Cory, “White man aint gonna let you”. Through this phrase, Troy strongly believes that white people won’t ever give black people power because white people think they are superior to blacks in every way. In addition to this belief of Troy’s, in the past, Troy was a black baseball player and racism got in the way of his playing. Troy doesn’t want that to happen to Cory so that’s why he doesn’t want him to play football. Additionally, Troy’s way of being a good father is by using his

Troy’s relationship with his youngest son, Cory, was a prime example or his controlling nature. One major conflict between them was Troy Forbidding Cory from playing football. As said in the quote, “ If you go on down there to that A&P and see if you can get your job back. if you can’t do both...then you quit the football team you’ve got to take the crookeds with the straights ”(Act 1, Scene 3, Line 192) Troy is not happy with the fact that Croy quit his quit because of football practice. Troy is so against it because he was denied acceptance into a baseball team because of his race in his past. In a way troy thinks he his looking out for cory but deep down, as rose brings out in the next scene, he is haunted by his own

In the beginning of the play, Troy’s brother Gabriel, who was injured and left disabled from the war, comes and goes from the yard easily, but after the fence is completed, Troy blocks him away from his life. Cory helps Troy build the fence around the yard but also gets distracted by his football dreams, which gets in the way of his responsibilities. When Troy finds out that a recruiter is coming to see Cory about playing football in college, Troy tells the recruiter not to come to save Cory from the same disappointment he faced when he played baseball. When Cory finds out that the recruiter is not coming, he is devastated, but Troy genuinely thinks he has done the right thing for his son’s future. Troy and Cory continue to have conflict throughout the play, and in their last interaction Cory’s anger peaks and he threatens Troy with his own baseball bat.

His strained relationship with his son, Cory, reflects his personal struggles with authority and society’s limitations. Troy's desire to assert his independence conflicts with Cory’s desire to establish his career in football, leading to conflict between father and son. Troy's inability to see beyond his own experiences and expectations of society blinds him to Cory’s dreams and ambitions, resulting in a wedge between them. As the play progresses, Troy's super-objective changes as he copes with the consequences of his actions and the impact they have on those around him.

In his case the white people did not let him play to his full potential. Troy fears the same will happen for Cory so he doesn't want to let him play so it's not even a possibility. In Cory’s eyes Troy is being a bad parent.

dreams as Major League baseball player, we see his son, Cory, taking that path instead,

Troy uses this experience to build up a new fence, and that fence ultimately ends up affecting Lyons and Cory tremendously because Troy refuses to see the world any other way. Rose attempts to talk him out of this point of view, telling him “the world’s changing around [him] and [he] can’t even see it,” and all he does is try to justify why he persists in holding these fences up. Although before baseball, Troy had been incarcerated after he committed crimes of robbery and murder. Even though he is “ashamed of it today,” Troy still has undertones of blaming his arrest on others because he explains to Lyons how “colored folks” were not able to “get a job,” nor find a “place to live” (Wilson 54). Troy knows that what he did was wrong, yet still tries to justify why he did it again because of the multitude of factors affecting his “freedom” (Wilson 54).

Troy is not willing to let Corey live the life he dreams of, causing a very tense relationship. Corey and Troy's relationship is very bitter and tense, caused primarily by the past experiences of Troy's life. Troy blames racism for crushing his dreams and He cannot seem to let go of the past. So, when Corey follows Troy's footsteps in sports, Troy is unwilling to let Corey do what he could not. It is easy to see that Troy is both jealous and protective of Corey, not wanting him to get let down that his race gets in the way

Cory is very aware that his father is envious of his athletic accomplishments. Troy also has no respect for Lyons and he does not support his dream to be a musician.

Through Troy’s perspective, he sees the fence as a barrier between his enemy known as; death. If death gets through the fence, it would have to come through Troy himself, since he believes that instead of loving his family; protecting them has more worth. It is clear Troy starts to build the fence to keep those who are mistreating his family out; although he himself grows distant. We can infer that Rose and Troy’s perspective of the fence had started to collide. Rose had viewed the fence to keep those she values and cherishes within the fence; while after Troy confesses he is cheating on her with Alberta a division with his family is shown. Division with their family occured due to Troy mistreating Rose and not realizing his mistake sooner. This is to show that Troy’s trait of responsibility reinforces the main symbol. Troy had acknowledged his mistakes resulting in a mental and emotional separation between the couple. “[...] A motherless child had got a hard time…. From right now this child got a mother. But you a womanless man. [...]” (Wilson,122) This confirms that even with the presence of Raynell; Rose will not acknowledge Troy for what he used to mean to her. Further into the play it is revealed that even with this rift, Rose continues to communicate with him to keep order within the house, although emotionally her ties have been severed with Troy.

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This situation makes me wonder if he is actually scared that Cory will be an amazing athlete and will be better than him. Troy maybe jealous that his son has opportunities to succeed that he never had, no matter how great of an athlete he was, he could have never made it to the pros because of his skin color. Now his son is being recruited by professional teams to play for them. Troy may be against this because he doesn't want his son to be able to live the dream that he was never able to live. This makes their father son relationship very interesting. It is said that fathers typically want their sons to be better off then they are, especially not very wealthy people. You would think in this situation Troy would support Cory in what he wants to do and be happy for him that he has such wonderful opportunities. Troy maybe be acting like this because Troy still lives in a dream world and still thinks he a great base ball player. He has trouble accepting that his

The portrayal between, Willie and Troy as fathers, has had an impact in the development of their sons differently. Firstly, Willie has always had high hopes in his older son, Biff. Willie believed that in raising Biff, he will one day be successful, and ambitious. However, it is a pity that it never turned out that way. In fact, throughout the story, Biff reveals that he is not ambitious. “Hap, the trouble is we weren’t brought up to grub for money. I don’t know how to do it.” (Gioia, 2010) It is a shame that Willie is a hardworking man who dreams in success and Biff was not born with equal desire. It would not be a surprise if Willie felt heartbreak; to be unable to set an example for his son Biff to follow. On the other hand, Troy could be described as a character that is selfish. Throughout the story, “Fences” Troy reveals his selfishness when interfering with Cory’s potential in football, and telling him that working is more important. “You go on down there to that A&P and see if you can get your job back. If you can’t do both…then you quit the football team.” (Gioia, 2010) Undoubtedly, Troy’s interest is more concentrated in ensuring that the bills get paid, than to agree with Cory playing football. Furthermore Troy wants Cory to maintain that job because