The Importance Of Pride In Fences By Agust Wilson

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

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.

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?

Matthew Jones declares that black masculinity is defined in three overarching categories: perception, expectation, and representation (Jones). The stories, Fences, by August Wilson and A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest Gains, the main characters are forced to live with many hardships. Yet only a few of them can declare value of their lives, and redeem themselves, despite these hardships. The stories both of the main characters are unhappy angry men the only difference is that one of the characters progressed while the other stays the same. This paper will compare and contrast them both.

Returning to his childhood home as an adult, Cory tries to explain to his mom why he can’t go to Troy’s funeral, that he has to “find a way to get rid of that shadow.” Rose responds that he’s “Troy Maxson all over again.” (96) Many of the characters in Fences have had a troubled relationship with their parents and their resentment causes them to act in a similar manner. However, as the epigraph says, the only way to banish the sins of our fathers is with forgiveness. Rose, Troy and Cory all struggle with the faults of their fathers and eventually must either forgive them or play host to their sins. Ultimately none of them are able to completely forgive their fathers and end the cycle.

Troy refuses to let him have his chance, stating, “The white man ain’t gonna let you

In the play fences,Troy has a difficulty relations with family including physically, emotionally and also social abuse. ’’FENCES’’,written by August Wilson,he takes this title as a metaphorically to each and everyone in the play. Troy was Gabriel Brother,he also had a disability the thing about it he wanted to be normal like everyone else and not be treated different in no sense or form. Gabe really just wanted his own space and respect.gabriel was scared to be put in a mental hospital .

One of Troy’s major flaws is his obsession with having a practical career and a steady income. He claims that, although he does not “like” his son, he will always work hard to provide for him because “It’s my job. It’s my responsibility… A man got to take care of his family.” (Wilson 38). He cares very deeply that his sons are also able to guarantee income, even if it costs them their passion. Troy disapproves of his son Lyons decision to pursue

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

He breaks this convention by showing Troy looking inward on himself and being spiteful at what life has given to him either through not being able to play professional baseball or his guilt of using his brother’s money due to his mental incapability from war. When Troy looks inward, he doesn’t feel positive but instead has a negative outlook on the outside world. George-Graves also shows an incorporation of spirituality which Wilson uses with Troy’s brother Gabriel. Wilson gives Gabe the ability the open up the gates of heaven for Troy in the end of the show allowing Troy to be redeemed and seen as a good man. This shows that Troy’s life is valued and that he deserves to go to heaven in the end.

“When the sins of our fathers visit us we do not have to play host. We can banish them with forgiveness as God, in His Largeness and Laws”. (Intro) In the book Fences, Troy plays “host” to his father’s sins while Cory banishes them and tries pushing his father and his grandfather’s sins out of his life. Cory tries bettering himself and becoming something, but his father acts as a “fence” by limiting all of his sons opportunities for football and to become successful. Troy spends his days reminiscing on what could have been by being an obstacle to Cory’s ambitions and motivation for a better life. “Papa done went up to the school and told coach Zellman I can’t play football no more. Wouldn’t even let me play the game. Told him to tell the

Responsibilities can cause people to be a responsible person, but sometimes it could be scary and people might experience more pressure on it. In the play, fences, by August Wilson, the main character Troy has also felt in the same way about the responsibilities. Which cause him to be unable to find or separate between love and responsibility. In this play, it gives the reader the vibe that he is a greedy, responsible, funny, sad, lonely, impotent, and caring person but also an affectless person. All he does is hurt people and their feelings. Is that who he is? Or what’s the reason behind this? What make him to do or be like who he is today?

In addition to these negative feelings, Troy also had another side; he was a responsible man. However, his responsibility as a family man will conduct him to