Fences Father Son Relationships

Unlike Troy, Rose devoted her life to him, her life was a routine as well but she never cheated on her husband. She was tempted but her love for Troy was bigger than any temptation. Troy was honest about the affair after he found out he was going to be a father again. Troy ruined his relationship with his wife and son after they found out about the affair.

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

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

Throughout his childhood, Troy feared his father. Until one day, he grew up and learned how to stand up for himself. In Act One, scene four, he tells the story of how his daddy stole his girl from him. When Troy was fooling around with Joe Canewell’s daughter, his daddy walked in on them and started beating Troy with leather straps. “I was scared

Troy thought that he was a good husband to Rose because he provided her with food and a house. He wasn’t a good husband because he didn’t give her love and compassion. These two things are needed in a good marriage. She centered her whole life around him and he gave her almost nothing. When she had a problem, she couldn’t go to him. Troy also wasn’t faithful to Rose. He went off and had an affair with another woman. Rose was heart-broken by this. She couldn’t believe Troy could do this to her. She devoted her life to him and he goes and stabs her in the back. On top of that, Troy had a child with his mistress. The woman died giving birth. Troy asked Rose to take care of the baby. Rose did, what else could she have done? Troy was not a good husband.

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?

While George and I share same social aspects we also share some personal aspects with each other. Like George, I was left without a father figure in my life. George’s father and my father left around the same time in our lives, which I find particularly interesting. Our fathers left when we were between the ages of seven and ten years old. As our fathers left we were looked at as the “man of the house” in our household. This might seem like a big responsibility for young boys our age but, we established ways to make a positive result for ourselves and those affected by the situation.

Troy tries to subject Rose to his misogynist mentality in his belief that Rose should answer his every demand. A part in the play that exemplifies this is when Troy calls upon Rose, when she doesn’t answer him as soon as he intends her to. He says, “You’re suppose to come when I call you woman!”(Wilson 1.4.21). Troys response to Rose not being there immediately during his time of need verifies his expectation of his wife being of service to him.

Troy took care of his family as a man should. He took care of his sons with all that he had, but the love for his family was not evident in his character, especially with what he did to Rose. Cheating on Rose was a very selfish, and disrespectful act that showed no love towards his family. Troy’s behavior does not derive from racism, but stems from the relationship he had with his father when he was a teenager. Without him knowing, Troy was very similar to his father. His father “stayed right here with his family. But he was just as evil as he could be” (Wilson 905). Troy’s description of his father was the same person he was. In his conversation with Cory he says to him: “like you? I go out of here every morning…bust my butt…putting gup with them crackers

Troy?s relationship with his father was one, which produced much tension, and had a strong influence on Troy?s relationships with his loved ones as an

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

been through so much with his son Lyons, his disabled brother Gabriel, and the fact that

To illustrate, the role of a married man, they naturally dominate their household and tend to do whatever they please. Troy is a hard working man that provides for his family. He is a fifty-three year-old man that worked as a garbage collector. In the result of the evolving post-slavery time period, Troy actively fought against discrimination at his workplace. In result, Troy won the protest and was promoted to a driver, even though he was not issued a driver license nor he knew how to operate a vehicle. Being a dominant male figure

The role of a father could be a difficult task when raising a son. The ideal relationship between father and son perhaps may be; the father sets the rules and the son obeys them respectfully. However it is quite difficult to balance a healthy relationship between father and son, because of what a father expects from his son. For instance in the narratives, “Death of a Salesman,” and “Fences” both Willy and Troy are fathers who have a difficult time in earning respect from their sons, and being a role model for them. Between, “Death of a Salesman,” and “Fences,” both protagonists, Willy and Troy both depict the role of a father in distinctive ways; however, in their struggle, Willy is the more sympathetic of the two.

Fences by August Wilson shows the evolving African-American experience during the 1950’s to the 1960’s. The main character Troy Maxson makes his living as a sanitation worker to provide for his family. Throughout Fences the audience can see how Troy’s past played a strong role in his relation with his sons and wife. Troy would eventually meet his ultimate demise after an altercation with his second son, Cory Maxson. Through Troy’s actions and relationships with his family, Wilson shows that as the determination of individuals clash it can lead to the decline of family relationships.