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August Wilson Selfish Quotes

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In Fences, by August Wilson, Troy’s selfishness makes him a tragic hero because it causes him to make decisions that hurt not only himself but ultimately the people who he loves most. Troy’s inner selfishness is the sole reason for his affair with Alberta, and it is what eventually triggers the split in his family. When trying to stop the metaphorical bleeding caused by his affair, Troy characterizes himself with Rose as “we”, to which Rose responds with, “All of a sudden it’s ‘we.’ Where was ‘we’ at when you was down there rolling around with some godforsaken woman? ‘We’ should have come to an understanding before you started making a damn fool of yourself” (68). Rose is totally offended that he would even consider them together, and rightly …show more content…

After lots of arguing relating to the state of their relationship, Troy selfishly explains, “Rose, you’re not listening to me… It’s not easy to admit that I been standing in the same place for eighteen years” (70). In fury, Rose responds, “I got a life too. I gave eighteen years of my life to stand in the same spot with you. Don’t you think I ever wanted other things? Don’t you think I had dreams and hopes? What about my life? What about me” (70). Rose, rightly so, is enraged when Troy defends his actions by saying he has been stuck his whole life with her, when she has gone through the same thing. The only difference, however, is that Rose stays loyal to her family even when things are not going great, while on the other hand Troy looks out for himself for his own benefit, at the expense of his family. Troy puts himself above his family, as he was well aware that having an affair like he had would most certainly break up his family. Despite trying to defend his actions with the hardship he’s gone through, his whole family has gone through the same difficulties aswell– but he only looks out for himself. Troy’s selfish decision to make a baby with Alberta causes harm on his entire family because of the loyalty shown to him by Rose, despite not being happy at all

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