Elusive Perfection in Wilson's Fences Essay

Using the law to aid Troy’s argument strips his claim of anything personal or emotional. Laws are rules that have nothing to do with love or family and they are made by complete strangers. Troy is saying that there is nothing personal about him liking or disliking his own son because there is not a law that forces him to “like” his son. This part of the speech is an important piece of support for Troy’s claim because it begins to challenge the largest, yet simplest and least questionable piece of evidence that Cory may have to counter argue his father’s objective. This also gives the reader insight into Troy’s views because he values the law over the fundamental caring that is expected of a father. Toward the end of this section of the speech, Troy mentions that he puts in hard work for his family that is in no way a token of how much he likes them and it would be foolish to think otherwise.

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.

The play, “Fences” by August Wilson describes the life of an African-American family that is por. Troy Maxson, the father of the family, was a baseball player in the

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

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.

     We all lead lives filled with anxiety over certain issues, and with dread of the inevitable day of our death. In this play, Fences which was written by the well known playwright, August Wilson, we have the story of Troy Maxson and his family. Fences is about Troy Maxson, an aggressive man who has on going, imaginary battle with death. His life is based on supporting his family well and making sure they have the comforts that he did not have in his own childhood. Also, influenced by his own abusive childhood, he becomes an abusive father who rules his younger son, Cory?s life based on his own past experiences. When the issue comes up of Cory having a bright future ahead of him if he joins the football team,

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

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.

Racism is everywhere; it is all around us and at most times it resides within us. Racism basically refers to the characterization of people (ethnicity based) with certain distinct traits. It is a tool with which people use to distinguish themselves between each other, where some use it to purposely inflict verbal, physical or mental attacks on others while some use it to simply distinguish or differentiate from one another. It all depends on the context in which it is used. The play Fences by August Wilson, takes place during the late 1950’s through to 1965, a period of time when the fights against segregation are barely blossoming results. The main protagonist, Troy Maxson is an African American who works in the sanitation department; he

The first time I read August Wilson's Fences for english class, I was angry. I was angry at Troy Maxson, angry at him for having an affair, angry at him for denying his son, Cory, the opportunity for a football scholarship.I kept waiting for Troy to redeem himself in the end of the play, to change his mind about Cory, or to make up with Ruth somehow. I wanted to know why, and I didn't, couldn't understand. I had no intention of writing my research paper on this play, but as the semester continued, and I immersed myself in more literature, Fences was always in the back of my mind, and, more specifically, the character of Troy Maxson. What was Wilson trying to say with this piece? The more that

I think it’s a perfect example of women in the 1950s because after the war, women still found themselves in traditional roles but were slowly breaking out of them. When the men returned from the war, many women wished to keep their jobs but instead became stay at home mothers who were expected to care for the children as well as cook and clean. Many ads and TV shows portrayed the perfect “wife and mother” that women in the 1950s were expected to be. Rose deals with Troy 's nonsense mostly because she feels she has too, and even after Troy cheated on her and had a baby by another woman she took care of the baby. An example of this is when Rose said “I told him if he was not the marrying kind, then move out the way so the marrying kind could find me.” This shows that Troy is unloyal, and Rose was always subject to his wild ways. Especially when Rose insisted on marrying him instead of

having come along ‘too early’ to build a career in baseball as a black man keeps Troy

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.

In the play “fences”, Wilson makes a clear introduction to an African American family setting that base its life on the face. Various relationships come to blossom and wither in the dirt yard of the maxsons house (Charles).Troy Maxson who is the main character, stops anything from making any intrusion into his dear life through circling himself around a metaphorical and lateral fence which affects his mortality and overall relationships with his family more specifically his son and wife. In Wilsons play, it is clear that Troy is being defined as one who was found of hurting all individuals close to him. Something in most cases he effectively never realized. His behavior towards his wife was horrific and an acceptable since in most cases he was uncaring and insensitive (Susan). At the start of the story, it is clear that Troy has a feeling that he has done well to his family. In the play, it is clear that Troy is being regarded as one born to an abusive father who subjected him to all kind of misery and suffering (Giles). More often Troy was beaten for failing to do some chores. In the play, the dreams of troy being baseball player professional were affected by the pre-concealed opinion that the whites had on the African American people. Therefore this made troy to begin looking at life from a much different perspective (August). It is also evident that self-illusions were created in troy life due to the kind of discrimination he

Upon relaying the information of his recruitment, Cory faces his father’s opposition. Completely against the idea of Cory’s participation, Troy states, “He ought to go and get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living.” (Wilson 1159). Troy has found many difficulties prospering in life. One of these trials includes being rejected by a baseball league based on his skin color. Consequently, he holds an immense amount of bitter resentment towards athletic leagues. The negative and hateful person Troy has become reflects the challenges he faced when he was younger. The outcome of his life led to working for a garbage company, which in his eyes is not an ideal living. His hope for Cory is that he will have a better outcome and according to Troy, “the white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that football” (Wilson 1159). The greater issue falls with Troy’s perspective. He refuses to acknowledge that because of changing times, being recruited is a huge accomplishment for Cory and this will be for his benefit. Cory argues that being recruited will help him afford school, setting up the path for a stronger future. Troy, however, remains