`` Developing Character : Fences, By Sandra Shannon

To begin, in the play Fences the author reveals the impact that race has towards Troy by reminiscing on Troy’s past as a baseball player and his experience with racial discrimination.  Towards the beginning of the play, Troy starts to talk about how his son Cory wants to play football in high school and pursuit it

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.

August Wilson’s Fences is a play about Troy Maxson, and how his values influence his family’s. The play takes place in 1950’s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Troy Maxson is a black, middle aged man working for a garbage company. Each member of the Maxson family has a special relationship with Troy, that affects their behavior throughout the play. In life you learn the most from your parents. They teach you how to walk, speak, and respect one another. Your parents also give you a set of values for life. As you grow up as your own individual, your values will change from your parents. There will be things that are much more important to you, and not as important to them. In the play Fences Troy Maxson has a very strong set of values that he believes are true in how you should live life. Troy imposes these values on everyone in his family to the best of his ability. Each character in Fences is at a different stage in their life, so Troy can’t push his values onto characters that already have their own beliefs. The character that Troy has the most influence on in the play is Cory. Troy is in Cory’s life throughout his childhood, and as his father Cory must respect Troy. Troy is very firm with Cory, because he wants Cory to be successful. Cory has a dream of becoming a football player, and this does not follow Troy’s values. Troy influences Cory so much that Cory will always be like Troy whether he realizes it or not. “Your daddy wanted you to be everything he wasn’t … and at

August Wilson uses baseball ideology to construct the mindset of his protagonist, Troy Maxson, in “Fences”; however, Wilson also uses Troy to embody black America in the 50s. The metaphorical and literal significance of baseball is the driving force Troy’s subjectivity and ideology. Whether it be comparing death to baseball pitch, warning his son to not strikeout, or complaining about being stuck on first base, Troy uses baseball to explain life to those around him. Ironically, it is baseball that actually leads to Troy’s psychic castration. Although Troy was older when he was released from prison and playing in the Negro leagues, racism held younger players from competing with white Americans and there is no doubt that Troy saw this as what held him back as well. Unable to play in the major leagues bitters Troy’s attitude towards life and affects his relationship with his son, Cory, and wife, Rose. While on a micro level, the rules and mechanics of baseball have a negative impact on Troy’s mentality, on a macro level Troy’s loyalty to the game can be seen as an empowering force for black America in the 50s. The idea of not striking out, and the fetish of the home-run is meant to represent the black community’s resistance against society’s racism during this time. Although the ideology of baseball consumes Troy to the point of his own personal strikeouts, the ideology itself, and who Troy represents, is suppose to represent black America’s fight against a racist

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,

In the play Fences by August Wilson, Troy is shown as a man who has hurt the people who are closest to him without even realizing it. He has acted in an insensitive and uncaring manner towards his wife, Rose, his brother, Gabriel and his son, Cory. At the beginning of the story, Troy feels he has done right by them. He feels this throughout the story. He doesn’t realize how much he has hurt them.

Troy is constantly exposed to racism and attempts to overcome it in everyday life. There are many instances throughout the book of black people, often working very hard to try and get an opportunity to make something of their lives. This opportunity that is searched for is constantly dismissed because of the underlining theme of racism. Troy isn’t one to stand up for himself, but does when he speaks to his boss about inequality in the work area “I went to Mr. Rad and asked him ‘why? Why you got white men’s driving and the colored man lifting?’” (Wilson 19) Troy’s frustration in dealing with racism and inequality everyday reflects his frustrations from being denied a career in baseball. Despite Troy’s efforts to work hard, he along with many others is not given a chance to change the lives of their families. Troy says that he works as hard as possible and receives nothing for it

August Wilson’s play Fences gives a glimpse back in time into the life of Troy Maxson during the 1950s. Troy Maxson is an African-American living in Pittsburgh working as a garbage collector. However, he is bitter and feels as if he has been cheated out of a good life because of his past, race, and age. This behavior drives a wedge between him and the people who care about him. Wilson uses the theatre life themes of generation and love to tell how Troy Maxson displays self-destructive characteristics.

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.

Individuals and society often rely on the trait of responsibility in order to have their daily activities run smoothly. Troy Maxson has incorporated the key ideas of responsibility; to secure his family, friendships and job. Troy had stated multiple times within Fences that his actions are based off of his responsibilities; instead of love. “[...]Liked you? Who the hell say I got to like you?[...]” (Wilson,37). This quote displays that although Troy loves his family, his sense of responsibility is stronger. The sense of responsibility shows he is concerned for what is to come to the family; although this shadowed his emotions to forget to show affection. “[...]Some people build fences to keep people out…and

We will first discuss the play “Fences” this is a story in which the main character is a hard working African American Man. He is a good provider for his family. His wife is able to be a great homemaker and mother to his children, one of which is from another woman. Troy, who is the main character, has to make decisions not only for his family but also for his brother who is handicapped from the war. This places a lot of responsibility and pressure on Troy. Troy feels discrimination from many areas

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.

Troy, when he was younger, played baseball and in the play he touts he was better than some of the “greats” playing now. The integrated baseball leagues didn’t come about until after Troy was out of his prime so he could never make a career out of it like he had wanted. Throughout “Fences” Troy brings up his past glory days in baseball mostly to draw attention back to the discrimination in the world that still exists after the integrated leagues. He doesn’t directly mention he’s upset about not being able to follow his dream, or even that baseball was his dream, but Wilson has Troy reflect back onto those days so the reader knows that was his hidden passion. Since the baseball leagues allowed blacks to play only after his prime, Troy begins to believe the world is against him so he grows to become a rude, self-righteous man (Wilcots).

Throughout the play “Fences” by August Wilson, the character of Troy is constantly trying to shape Cory into the person he wants Cory to be, rather than permit Cory to explore possibilities and make his own decisions. These dynamics compel Cory to take drastic measures in an attempt to create the change that he wants to experience and to become the person that he envisions. The drastic measures Cory employs involve verbal and physical violence against his father. Each episode of violence changes the dynamic between father and son, but also changes Cory himself. He begins to think that aggression is the only means of creating meaningful change. While he may be correct in thinking that violence changes situations and people, he does not fully understand the implications of change for everyone touched by the conflict and this shapes his character

Living his home, in Southern America, Troy was looking for a secluded town at the age of fourteen. Certainly, he narrated the reason why he left home to Bono and Lyons. By coincidence, his father found Troy with “Joe Canewell’s daughter”, sitting enjoying themselves and Troy had not done his father’s work. His father reacted aggressively to Troy and he whipped him. Now Troy realized he was a man. Surprisingly, he tried to fight back, but his father became furious and beat Troy harshly. Troy could not image living in the same house with his father anymore and decided to leave home and he never returned (Wilson 1214). Troy, from August Wilson’s Fences, is deeply affected in his adult life by his experiences as a young man. As a young man, Troy did not think about any other alternative except for running away from his aggressive father (Letzler 307). He was miserable since he did not have a place to live nor was he able to get his basic needs. In the article “Democracies and Dilemmas: August Wilson’s Fences and Datta Bhagat’s Routes and Escape Routes” the author states that “Unskilled and unwanted, he searches the streets of distant cities until the day he kills a man to stay alive” (Rani 50). In the article “Walking around the Fences” it says that he killed a man during a robbery. Having no job and money, Troy started stealing from the citizens in the streets and towns. Instead of stealing he could have gone around begging for something that would support his living.