Fences Racism Essay

It is obvious to the audience that Troy and Cory simply do not get along. The two are constantly bickering, mostly about Cory's dream to play football at the college level. Since playing baseball did not get Troy anywhere, he feels that football will not benefit Cory and that Cory should "get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living" (8). Troy constantly denounces Cory's dream and pressures his son to quit the highschool football team so that he can work at the local grocery store. The verbal abuse of Cory by Troy is enough to make Cory question whether or not his own father even likes him, but it is not until after Troy's affair with Alberta is out in the open that Troy and Cory's unhealthy relationship reaches a whole new level.

This argument between Cory and Troy makes their relationship start to crumble because Troy does not allow Cory to do what makes him happy. In my own opinion, parents and their teenage children have very difficult relationships because teenagers seem to think they are the adult and are capable of making their own decisions. When Cory wants to be an adult and make his

Troy is entirely stubborn in his ways that he cannot see that times has changed. Since Troy was fenced out from playing professional baseball, he fences Cory out of playing college football. Troy and Cory’s relationship resembles the fence by its purpose and physical attribution. When it comes to sports, they are separated by the different generations, but they come together because of their love of sports. Like a fence that is meant to separate outsiders, but connected to bring together the fence. Troy and Cory’s relationship continues to get pushed apart throughout the play. In Act 2, Scene 4 Troy and Cory get into a fight which leads Troy to state to Cory that his things will “be on the other side of that fence.” When Troy kicks Cory out onto the streets, the fence becomes an actual division between both of them. The two spend a lot of time building the fence, only for it to create a literal and emotional barrier.

Almost everyone Troy encounters in the play, he betrays, for example taking away his son's dreams, and locking away his brother. One person Troy betrays is his son, Cory, out of spite and jealousy. Since Troy is Cory’s father he feels he can control his life even if it means hurting Cory, one way he does this is by taking away his dream, “Papa done went up to the school and told Coach Zellman I can’t play football no more.” (Act 1 Scene 4) Troy knows that this is what Cory wants to do, he wants to play professional football. Due to the fact that Troy’s baseball dream did not come true, he pulled Cory out of football, claiming that it was for his own good when in reality it was out of jealousy. Troy also betrays his brother by locking him in a mental hospital. In the beginning of the play, Troy claims he wants his brother to be free and explains that nobody should be locked up. Then towards the end of the play Rose tells Troy, “I said send him to the hospital, you said let him be free… now you done went down there and signed him to the hospital for half of his money.” Troy claims he wants his brother to be happy but truthfully he wanted half of Gabriel's money, and just did not want to admit it. In order to receive half of the money Troy took away Gabriel's happiness and betrayed

August Wilson is communicating the idea that Troy doesn’t want Cory to play sports because he cares about Cory’s future. One reason why Troy might not want Cory to play is because Troy wants to protect Cory from racism. This is shown in the text when Troy says to Cory, “White man aint gonna let you”. Through this phrase, Troy strongly believes that white people won’t ever give black people power because white people think they are superior to blacks in every way. In addition to this belief of Troy’s, in the past, Troy was a black baseball player and racism got in the way of his playing. Troy doesn’t want that to happen to Cory so that’s why he doesn’t want him to play football. Additionally, Troy’s way of being a good father is by using his

Growing up, most parents want what is best for their children with the hope that they will lead a better life than the one they had. On the surface, this does not seem to be the case in the relationship between Troy and Cory in August Wilson’s Fences. Troy was a hardworking man who did all he can to provide for his family. Cory worked equally as hard in his athletic career. Troy made a decision to end Cory’s football career out of protection but Cory viewed it as his father’s jealousy. Troy’s rough attitude and relationship towards Cory stems from multiple sources: Troy’s relationship with his own father, his jail time, the fact that he did not make the Major Leagues in baseball due to discrimination, and his reluctance to accept the idea that the times have changed. Each of these plays a distinct role in their relationship, ultimately cultivating in Troy losing Cory for good.

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

Troy ended up living life with a bittersweet taste due to his mistakes that he has taken throughout the years. The poem “Dreams Deferred” by Langston Hughes, describes Troy Maxson’s dreams. He was upset and unquiet. He was frustrated because of the fact that he could not accomplish his dreams he hankered for so long. For example, in the poems it states “ Or fester like a sore”(Hughes 617). Troy’s failed dreams are like a sore, hunting and scaring him, he is afraid of the reality. Moreover, He is always caviling everyone telling them that he could not make it into the major leagues, because he was colored. Troy is living in denial all of his life while risking his whole family’s dreams and goals they want to chase. Rose Maxson’s dreams were half- way accomplish. “I took all my feelings, my wants and needs, my dreams…and buried them inside you. I planted a seed and watched and prayed over it. I planted myself inside you and waited to bloom” (Wilson 1062). She was devoted to her husband, a worthy wife, and an extraordinary mother to Cory her son, stepson Lyons and stepdaughter Raynell. Rose did not asked for more than love from her beloved husband Troy and their children. Cory’s dreams were squashed, because of his father Troy Maxson. Cory wanted to play football, he asked his parents for permission, but Troy was the only one that opposed because he felt jealous towards his own son. Yet, Troy did not wanted his own son getting hurt as he did, when he tried to get into the major leagues. Even though, Cory could not make his dreams come true. He could find relief in the Marines Corps where he could finally be someone. Earning respect from his family members. The general theme was dreams deferred as the poem. Those dreams no one of the Maxson family achieved except for Rose, that despite the slip-up from her

As the two McCandless men go at it, Troy and Cory, who were already demeaning each other, began to talk to each other, as I sit there speechless. Cory says “you know, I wish I had played college ball. And, those years were the easiest yet the hardest of my life. You were a complete d*ck.”. Troy pretty much says that Cory acted spoiled and disrespected him.

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.

The portrayal between, Willie and Troy as fathers, has had an impact in the development of their sons differently. Firstly, Willie has always had high hopes in his older son, Biff. Willie believed that in raising Biff, he will one day be successful, and ambitious. However, it is a pity that it never turned out that way. In fact, throughout the story, Biff reveals that he is not ambitious. “Hap, the trouble is we weren’t brought up to grub for money. I don’t know how to do it.” (Gioia, 2010) It is a shame that Willie is a hardworking man who dreams in success and Biff was not born with equal desire. It would not be a surprise if Willie felt heartbreak; to be unable to set an example for his son Biff to follow. On the other hand, Troy could be described as a character that is selfish. Throughout the story, “Fences” Troy reveals his selfishness when interfering with Cory’s potential in football, and telling him that working is more important. “You go on down there to that A&P and see if you can get your job back. If you can’t do both…then you quit the football team.” (Gioia, 2010) Undoubtedly, Troy’s interest is more concentrated in ensuring that the bills get paid, than to agree with Cory playing football. Furthermore Troy wants Cory to maintain that job because

Racism can be “defined as the hatred of one person by another or the belief that another person is less than human because of skin color, language, customs, place of birth or any factor that supposedly reveals the basic nature of that person. It has influenced wars, slavery, the formation of nations, and legal codes” (“What”). The face of racism over the past 50 years has changed but yet, some still stay the same. People made laws against racism and it is not as blunt anymore. But opinions and stereotypes will remain which will cause others to still be treated differently.

    In Act I and some of Act II the audience sees many disagreements  between Cory and Troy about Cory playing sports. In Troy's past after he was released from jail he went to play baseball, but as Troy claims, he was not allowed to play due to skin color. Troy is then placing this stipulation onto Cory when he wants to play football. Troy made the statement, “I told that boy about that football stuff. The white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that football. I told him when he first come to me with it. Now you come telling me he done went and got more tied up in it. He ought to go and get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living.” (Act I  scene I ). Troy makes this statement to his wife, Rose, after she tells him of Cory getting recruited college football. In this Troy is thinking of his past when he went to play baseball and he was not accepted to play. In

Cory pleads with his father to allow him to quit his job at the grocery store to be fully involved in football. Nevertheless, his father does not accept which bars Cory from joining the high school team. This shows that Troy is not sensitive to Cory’s wish, but on the contrary, he has the will to fight for his rights which sees him rise to become a garbage truck driver in the city. It is sad that he denies his son the opportunity of becoming a sportsperson. To make matters worse, Troy cheats on his wife Rose but show compassion to his brother Gabriel who is mentally disturbed. Gabriel got a head wound when he took part in the World War II, and his friendship with Bono is firm.

He first talks about his opinion on the discrimination in sports when Rose tells him about his son, Cory, wanting to play college football. In his words, he said, “I told that boy about that football stuff. The white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that football” (Wilson 8). Due to his failure to achieve his dream, he disapproves when his son wants to play football. Because of Troy’s failure in sports, his pain reflected on his son who also had a similar dream. He doesn’t want his son to go through the same pain he went through when he tried to join major league baseball. He wanted his son to be successful at getting a job that would feed him and not rely on sports because Tory knew that Cory wouldn’t get a chance. Troy was also skeptical when his first son, Lyons wanted to play jazz music for a living. Troy didn’t want to even loan him any money to help him and tried to convince him take the job picking up trash. When Lyons finally got his chance as a musician, Troy refused to go see him play.