The book Fences by August Wilson is an American novel that was written to describe the work and hardships that African Americans had to endure during the 1930's and 1940's. Many characters throughout the story had important roles in the story but the most important was the protagonist, Troy. Most of the story that is being told in fences mainly belongs to Troy and his life. Most of the characters have in comparison with Troy is a complicated relationship with him. Troy's character creates major and minor conflicts throughout the story dealing with the other characters. Troy has a very aggressive attitude towards his son Cory and his decision to play football in college. In hid mind all that he can remember about playing sports is the hardships he had to go through playing baseball back when he was young. Troy doesn't realize that the times have changed and are much different than when he had played. …show more content…
What is very significant about this time and Troy is his last name. Troys last name is Maxson is a combination of Mason and Dixon, after the Mason-Dixon Line, was the name that was given to the imaginary line that separated the slave states from the free states. This name is significant to Troy because it symbolically shows Troy's character as a man who lives on a thin line of two opposing beliefs. Troys past is both rooted in the north and the south, one half is full with hope and the other half is filled with disappointment. Troy once had an excelled career in baseball but that dream had fell off the table into a more depressing life in a dead-end
A literary strategy often used by the greatest of writers to make their work feel more real to life is creating a morally ambiguous character. August Wilson is among those writers in how he portrays Troy in Fences. In the play, some ways August Wilson portrays Troy as a morally ambiguous character is through Troy’s treatment and care for his family. August Wilson also depicts Troy as a morally ambiguous character in the way of his interactions with Cory, how Troy holds Cory back from playing a sport that Cory really loves, yet he says that he wants the best for his family. Finally, August Wilson portrays Troy as a morally ambiguous character in how Troy always wants to be better than his father, but then he falls right back into the pattern his father set by not taking his family seriously. This moral ambiguity of Troy is significant to the play because it makes the reader connect more with the play and keeps the reader entertained by having such a static character. It also makes the work feel alive and fluid as the reader goes through the play, not knowing what to expect next from Troy.
Lives are lead with anxiety over certain issues and with apprehension towards certain events. This play, Fences written by the playwright August Wilson deals with the progression of a family through the struggles of oppression and the inability to obtain the American Dream. The characters in the play develop throughout the story and can be viewed or interpreted in many different ways, but one man remains constant during the play and that is Troy. Due to certain events that transpired as he was growing up, Troy is shaped into a very stubborn yet proud man. To be a man who was black and proud ran the risk of getting destroyed, both physically and mentally. The world of the 1950s and 60s was rapidly changing and
August Wilson’s Fences depicts life in the 1950s for a typical African American family. The play touches upon racism, shifting family dynamics, and the politics of war. While racism plays an important and vital role in the play, instead of lamenting the issue, Wilson uses the characters as a weapon against the rampant racism of the time. In the same fashion, the relationship between Troy, Rose, and Cory demonstrates the shifting cultural and family dynamics of the decade. Likewise, Wilson’s depiction of Gabriel as a wounded veteran who is not fully supported by the government that sent him off to war offers an enlightening commentary on the politics of the era. Wilson uses the
Conflicts and tensions between family members and friends are key elements in August Wilson's play, Fences. The main character, Troy Maxon, has struggled his whole life to be a responsible person and fulfill his duties in any role that he is meant to play. In turn, however, he has created conflict through his forbidding manner. The author illustrates how the effects of Troy's stern upbringing cause him to pass along a legacy of bitterness and anger which creates tension and conflict in his relationships with his family.
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
Troy Maxon. Troy is a bitter man, withering away in his own hatred for the way things
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,
The play Fences by August Wilson centers around the character of Troy, a middle-aged African-American man. Troy struggles to keep his family together, mostly as the result of mistakes he has made as a husband and parent. These mistakes reflect certain personality traits that make up Troy’s complex character, including his obsession with providing financially, his inability to love his family, and his stubborn insistence on others following the paths he decides for them. These character traits can be explained by the social, racial, and economic climate of the time. Fences takes place in late 1950’s Pennsylvania during the beginning of the Civil Rights Era, and Troy’s character is shaped by the disappointments that have come along with racism and economic difficulty, along with not being up to date on the changes happening in the Civil Rights movement. Although Troy and his character traits are responsible for the tragic decisions he has made, it is possible that the social context of the time has shaped him into the person he is.
the beginning, Troy is a tough character defined by his foul mouth and healthy disposition
Wilson uses the character of Troy, his family, and his friends in Fences to pour out his life, his
In Fences, August Wilson introduces an African American family whose life is based around a fence. In the dirt yard of the Maxson’s house, many relationships come to blossom and wither here. The main character, Troy Maxson, prevents anyone from intruding into his life by surrounding himself around a literal and metaphorical fence that affects his relationships with his wife, son, and mortality.
Fences written by August Wilson is an award winning drama that depicts an African-America family who lives in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania during the 1950’s. During this time, the Mason’s reveal the struggles working as a garbage man, providing for his family and excepting life as is. The end of segregation began, more opportunities for African American people were accessible. Troy, who’s the father the Cory and husband of Rose has shoes fill as a working African America man. He is the family breadwinner and plays the dominant role in the play. Troy’s childhood was pretty rough growing up on a farm of 11 children. Overtime, he realizes the change of society. He builds a friendship fellow sanitation worker, Jim Bono while in the penitentiary. Troy planned to build a fence around his house to control the number of people on his property. The fence also plays a symbolic role throughout the drama. These motives and characteristics control is what makes Troy the friend, father, worker, and husband he is today.
August Wilson’s play Fences brings an introspective view of the world and of Troy Maxson’s family and friends. The title Fences displays many revelations on what the meaning and significance of the impending building of the fence in the Maxson yard represents. Wilson shows how the family and friends of Troy survive in a day to day scenario through good times and bad. Wilson utilizes his main characters as the interpreters of Fences, both literally and figuratively. Racism, confinement, and protection show what Wilson was conveying when he chose the title Fences.
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
In the play Fences, by August Wilson, the main character, Troy Maxson is involved in numerous relationships with family members throughout the entire eight years that the story takes place. Troy is a father, husband, and brother to other characters in the play. Unfortunately for Troy, a strong-minded and aggressive man, he constantly complicates the relationships with his family members. Troy's hurtful actions and words make it nearly impossible for him to sustain healthy relationships with not only his two sons, but also his wife and brother.