preview

August Wilson's Character In The Play Fences

Decent Essays
Open Document

In this play by August Wilson “fences” reflects on our lives in so many different ways. August Wilson uses characters for us to reflect into, in this play he wanted us to focus on Troy, a 53 year old black man who struggles with providing for his wife Rose, his son Cory finically. His youngest brother Gabriel, an ex soldier who got injured in a war and received $3000 from the government, Troy used that money to purchase a home for his family. Troy is really good baseball player in Negro league baseball in his younger days, because of his color, Troy was unable to get into the Major baseball league and make good money. He become a garbage collector and lives in his own little world and views the people in his life as revolving around him. When he ruins Cory's chance of gaining a football scholarship, he did it because he believed whites wouldn't let his son play, however the world had changed and Troy …show more content…

He is without any doubt responsible in his duty towards his family as a head and a provider. When he put an end to Cory’s football dream trying to protect him, it shows that the complexity of Troy also manifests from the good and admirable qualities of his personality. Even though Troy pursues the wrong direction in trying to help his son, it's still clear that he cares for him. He may seem to be too harsh to his wife and son but deep beneath his tough exterior he truly cares about his family but has trouble showing it. His family only learns about it until his death and after the negative actions he did that tore his family apart. At the end of the play Troy is made as a tragic hero, he showed us the perspective and experience of living life as a black man, faced with lost opportunities due to color discrimination, we can learn a lesson from his failure instead of painting him as the

Get Access