Fences Troy Character Analysis

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.

By definition tragic heroes can be considered one who is held up high by society for the good deeds they bring, but is then slowly or quickly taken away from that grace and placed in a world far below what they were originally. An example of this is the excerpt and the tragedy of Oedipus the king. The play shows that the faults humanity can fall through when put into a very stressful situation. Oedipus is a tragic hero because he wants to improve the lives of his citizens, he has a major human flaw of being impulsive and easily irritable, Oedipus takes more punishment than what the play told, his life and fate was not fully under his control, and he makes a vast realization with an equal amount of change.

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.

A tragic hero is a person who has qualities of a hero such as intelligence and strength but makes choices that lead to their self-destruction. The tragic hero is usually from a noble family or high position. Oedipus from The Sophocles is a tragic hero because he possesses tragic flaws such as hubris, hamartia, and too much curiosity. Marcus Brutus, a Roman politician, also serves to be a tragic hero since he is too naive, honest, and sometimes impulsive. Both Oedipus and Brutus have certain characteristics that determine them to be a tragic hero.

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?

When Troy sheepishly says, “...we can figure it out” (Wilson, Fences, 68) when it comes to him impregnating another woman, she boldly fires back, “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.” (Wilson, Fences, 68) Rose is a strong woman whose definition of a Good Life is one dedicated to protecting her family so even though she can boldly tell Troy everything he has done wrong she still puts family first and helps raise Troy’s baby and lets Troy live in the house.

A tragic figure is someone who is noble or wholesome that does something that leads to their inevitable demise. Troy fits this profile. He especially shows this when he tries to show off to his wife by talking about how great he is at baseball. “Selkirk! That’s it! Man batting .269, understand? .269. What kind of sense that make? I was hitting .432 with thirty-seven home runs! Man batting .269 and playing right field for the Yankees!”(1159). Clearly Troy feels as if he was cheated out of his chance to play in the major leagues. He’s talking about how he’s much better than the players now and you can tell that he’s upset about it. Troy lets the fact that

Othello is a hero due to being a hardened and vicious warrior on the battlefield but he is also a tragic hero in this play. A tragic hero by definition is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. For example Othello is the husband of Desdemona whom he murders because he has been misled by the villainous Iago. Allowing himself to be manipulated instead following his heart, he attempts to redeem himself then he realizes he put his trust in the wrong people and it is too late to save his beloved Desdemona who he smothered

According to Aristotle, “A tragic hero is a character who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty…” The classic tragic hero has some type of tragic character flaw which creates an inner struggle, leads to his making a serious error in judgment, and leads to his eventual downfall and death.

Through Troy’s perspective, he sees the fence as a barrier between his enemy known as; death. If death gets through the fence, it would have to come through Troy himself, since he believes that instead of loving his family; protecting them has more worth. It is clear Troy starts to build the fence to keep those who are mistreating his family out; although he himself grows distant. We can infer that Rose and Troy’s perspective of the fence had started to collide. Rose had viewed the fence to keep those she values and cherishes within the fence; while after Troy confesses he is cheating on her with Alberta a division with his family is shown. Division with their family occured due to Troy mistreating Rose and not realizing his mistake sooner. This is to show that Troy’s trait of responsibility reinforces the main symbol. Troy had acknowledged his mistakes resulting in a mental and emotional separation between the couple. “[...] A motherless child had got a hard time…. From right now this child got a mother. But you a womanless man. [...]” (Wilson,122) This confirms that even with the presence of Raynell; Rose will not acknowledge Troy for what he used to mean to her. Further into the play it is revealed that even with this rift, Rose continues to communicate with him to keep order within the house, although emotionally her ties have been severed with Troy.

Even though Troy wasn’t fair to his wife, he 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 stems from the relationship he had with his father when he was a teenager. Without him knowing, Troy was very similar to his father, which was depicted very well in the film. Troy’s father “stayed right there 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 up with them crackers everyday…’cause I like you? You about the biggest fool I ever saw. It’s my job. It’s my responsibility! You understand that? A man got to take care of his family” (898). This scene in the movie showed more passion. A reader can read this scene in the play with whichever tone they choose, but in the movie, we are able to see the and feel the passion from what Troy was

According to Aristotle, “A tragic hero is a character who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty…” The classic tragic hero has some type of tragic character flaw which creates an inner struggle, leads to his making a serious error in judgment, and leads to his eventual downfall and death.

A tragic hero in literature is a type of character who has fallen from grace, where the downfall suggests feelings of misfortune and distress among the audience. The tragic flaw of the hero leads to their demise or downfall that in turn brings a tragic end. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as “a person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience. He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through error of judgment.” The characteristics of a tragic hero described by Aristotle are hamartia, hubris, peripeteia, anagnorisis, nemesis and catharsis which allows the audience to have a catharsis of arousing feelings.

The Iliad, the Greek epic documented by Homer that describes the battles and events of the ten year siege on Troy by the Greek army. Both Trojans and Greeks had their fair share of heroes and warriors, but none could match the skill and strength of the swift runner, Achilles. Achilles had the attributes of a perfect warrior with his god-like speed and combat abilities. However, even though he was Greek’s greatest warrior, he still possessed several flaws that made him fit the role of the Tragic Hero impeccably. Defined by Aristotle, a Tragic Hero is someone who possesses a high status of nobility and greatness, but must have imperfections so that mere mortals cannot relate to the hero. Lastly, the Tragic Hero’s downfall must be partially

A Tragic Hero is a common figure in many of Shakespeare’s works. A Tragic Hero is usually a figure of royalty, fame or greatness. This person is predominately good, but falls from prominence due to personality flaws that eventually lead to self-destruction.