Describe The Opening Scene Of Act I. Who Enters What Is Happening?

Troy’s personality is very conservative. He is an angry man who has been a victim of racial violence and allowed his bitterness to become a barrier to new opportunities that opened at this time. As a child Troy wanted out of his abusive father’s relationship. His father barely looked after his 11 children and had always puts himself first before anyone else. Instead, young Troy escapes north to Pittsburg ending himself in jail due to theft, which is where he meets his ace

Moving forward to another conflict in this play, there are the generational clashes between Troy and both of his sons. Troy holds onto the past and clearly lets that influence how he raises his sons, with Lyon for example. Troy being in jail for fifteen years of Lyon’s life meant that he was not there in the very influential time for a young boy. It is safe to assume that this is a contributing fact as to why their relationship is so rocky. We can also see the generational clash between the two of them with how Troy reacts to the career path that Lyon has chosen for himself.

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.

1970. Choose a character from a novel or play of recognized literary merit and write an essay in which you (a) briefly describe the standards of the fictional society in which the character exists and (b) show how the character is affected by and responds to those standards. In your essay do not merely summarize the plot.

After understanding the protagonist’s heroic side, it is necessary to understand that he also had a tragic downfall and that he has certain weaknesses. Troy made sure to provide for his family materialistically, but unfortunately did not expose too much of his love to his children. He was able to reluctantly give Lyons ten dollars a week but that was not enough to help him make a living. Lyons states "I just stay with my music because that's the only way I can find to live in the world" (1.1.153). His dream is to be a musician. But maybe he needed more than ten dollars a week to conquer his dream? Maybe he needed some father to son affection?

Here August Wilson in the first part shows a little of the gender roles of the 1950s where men are the boss of the house and women are subservient to them. It also shows that Rose did not go in as told but remained there with them and Troy accepted that he could not tell her what to do. The image or action of Rose not leaving shows the changing of the times in other words the 1950s on the fence to between the old ways and the new ones. In the first part of what Bono says describes Troy with death and the other part describes Rose with her love for her family and desire to keep everyone close and happy.

Troy and Cory is all Rose has, she is afraid of losing them and although she does not say anything, she believes the fence will keep them close to her and the bad will stay on the other side of the fence. Rose is a strong black woman who loves and cares for her family and will do whatever it takes to keep them safe and close to her. Troy does not care for the fence, he believes it’s pointless to build the fence therefore, he slowly works on it.

            It is hard for Troy to live in the present having one foot in the past and one in the future.  Hence, the relationship between him, his wife and son becomes complicated.  He doesn?t realize that times have changed and black men have more rights than before.  Gradually, the relationship between Troy, Rose and Cory starts to deteriorate.  Troy starts to cheat on his wife.  His sexual infidelity and a subsequent child by another woman destroy his marriage with Rose.  Nonetheless, he doesn?t abandon his family, everyday he goes to work and at the end of the week he gives his pay to Rose.  Moreover, he doesn?t deny his daughter from another woman, and begs Rose to help him take care of her.  He says, ?? I?d appreciate it if you?d help me take care of her.?  The relationship between him and

The members of the family that makes the most effort to keep the family level is Troy?s wife, Rose. The narrator tells us that Rose is a gentle woman. She cares a great deal for her family and her husband, despite the challenge of making her home a positive environment under the strains of a man with such impossible qualities. The author explains her reasons for enduring Troy by saying that ? 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? (526; I, 1). In light of the fact that Troy is a good man and provides for their family in a way of his duty, Rose loves and supports him and ?either ignores or forgives his faults, only some of which she recognizes? (526; I, 1). Despite his love and respect for his wife, Troy acts extremely disrespectfully towards Rose. Due to the lack of love and respect that Troy was shown as a boy, he does not know feelings to his family. He talks down to his wife as if she were a child, while at the same time he declares his love for her to his friend, Bono. Troy?s fault, however, in declaring his love for his wife and family. He says, ?I love Rose? (555; II, 1), but when the time comes for him to show his love, he only disrespects her. When Rose asks Troy what he and Bono are talking about one

Troy's then made his life revolve around work and his family; he put his dreams of becoming a major league baseball player aside. He went into working and became a garbage man; he realized that he needed a steady income to provide for his family and to purchase the house that they live in. Even in the work place Troy wants to excel and make a stand for himself, talking to the commissioner about being a driver of one of the garbage trucks. Troy argued for blacks to drive the garbage trucks, but he doesn't know how to drive or even have a license. Troy acts out to try and better his black community and to try and break the barrier between whites and blacks. When Troy confronts Rose about his affair with Alberta, Rose becomes very angry with Troy. Rose is a stronger person than Troy, despite what she lets him think. She makes this extremely apparent when Troy tells her about the affair. "All of a sudden it's "we," where was "we" at when you was down there rolling around with some god forsaken woman? "We" should have come to an understanding before you started making a damn fool of yourself. You're a day late and a dollar short when it comes to an understanding with me." Troy realizes that the affair causes much disrespect to his wife and family. One day while visiting his wife Rose, they receive a call at the

Wilson also illustrates his theme by showing the impact Troy’s life has on his son,

8) If you had plotted the motion of the second hand on your watch instead of the clock that

1. Compare and contrast how, and for what dramatic purpose, the writers of The History Boys and Oleanna present characters who display both vulnerability and villainy.

3. Identify each of the following characters below by (1) their relationship to one another and (2) what can be inferred about their personalities thus far.

A life spent making mistakes is not only human, but expected when the life itself is seen as a mistake. While the main character, Troy, in Wilson’s play “Fences” elicits exclamations of disapproval from the readers, Troy’s background gives meaning to his poor decision making as a man, husband, and father in the 1950s. Troy’s thought process, loss of sense of self, and actions prove him to be a pure example of a black everyman. The black everyman bends under the pressure of having to be highly masculine while also living under the thumb of the white race. It is clear in every interaction Troy is in that he oozes sadness, while inwardly seething at the slightest implications of anyone around him reaching new heights. Thus making Troy’s character not only believable due to his hypocrisy, but also sympathetic as a result of the disadvantages he has lived through. I see a part of Troy in every black man I know, always wanting more, but never losing the awareness that it may be out of their grasp.