Analysis Of The Movie ' The Lights Come Up '

It is obvious to the audience that Troy and Cory simply do not get along. The two are constantly bickering, mostly about Cory's dream to play football at the college level. Since playing baseball did not get Troy anywhere, he feels that football will not benefit Cory and that Cory should "get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living" (8). Troy constantly denounces Cory's dream and pressures his son to quit the highschool football team so that he can work at the local grocery store. The verbal abuse of Cory by Troy is enough to make Cory question whether or not his own father even likes him, but it is not until after Troy's affair with Alberta is out in the open that Troy and Cory's unhealthy relationship reaches a whole new level.

Finally, Troy continues to talk about his work and attributions to their family unit. He starts to use short, concise sentences again to make it very clear what he does and why he does it. He says “It’s my job. It’s my responsibility!...You my flesh and blood...I owe a responsibility to you!” He is talking to his son in the simplest terms he can so his son knows that this is his point. Troy mentions his boss, Mr. Rand. He says that Mr. Rand does not pay him because he likes him but

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.

Troy: I don’t care what nobody else say. I’m the boss . . . you understand? I’m the boss around here. I do the only saying what counts.

Where Cory has aspirations of playing football, Troy says that he must continue with his more practical job at the A&P.

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

As the two McCandless men go at it, Troy and Cory, who were already demeaning each other, began to talk to each other, as I sit there speechless. Cory says “you know, I wish I had played college ball. And, those years were the easiest yet the hardest of my life. You were a complete d*ck.”. Troy pretty much says that Cory acted spoiled and disrespected him.

Troy refuses to let him have his chance, stating, “The white man ain’t gonna let you

When Troy is talking to Cory he says, “See...you swung at the ball and you didn't hit it. That’s strike one. See, you in the batters box. You swung and missed. That's strike one. Don’t you strike out!” Troy is creating new tension by adding more pressure to Troy and is doing it by saying don't strike out and baseball is a good way to explain it. Cory plays football and Troy is against it and Cory wants to do it in his future but because he is black he has different rights. Most days Cory would use the excuse of “ Yeah, I had to go to football practice.”(31) This is saying that yea I have other things to do rather than work and I wanna do something better with my life and he is conveying that through football. When Cory is talking to Troy that he wants to continue with football and not get a job that causes more tension through conflict.

educated boy that he was, Troy would have no one to be jealous of, not evens Lyons, and

Troy’s first response is very sarcastic and rude. He uses very strong and threatening words that sets the mood as very hostile. Troy says to Cory “What the hell you wanna

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

Towards the beginning of the play he told Cory's football coach that he couldn't play anymore because he found out that Cory wasn’t working anymore. Even though Cory told him that he couldn’t work and play football at the same time and his boss said that he'd keep his job for him when the season was over. Cory and Troy got into a fight and kicked Cory out of the house and Troy said, "you just

One of the biggest disagreement points in the story revolved around Cory wanting to pursue his dream in college football due to the scholarship he had been offered. “The white man ain't gonna let him get nowhere with that football,” said troy, again this quote shows a lack of trust in white people as he believes that one of the white recruiters won’t really take Cory and that Cory will never make a living out of it. What Troy does not understand is that times

    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