Troy, Rose, and the Maxson Family in Wilson’s Fences Troy Maxson is the main character in Fences and he thought he could control everyone that was close to him. As being read, it is easy to make the case that August Wilson's play Fences is a tragedy and that Troy Maxson is its tragic protagonist (Wessling). Troy is a poor black man who once had a dream of becoming a major league baseball player. He never became a major league baseball player, because he was an African American. He ended up becoming a hardworking Garbage Man to put food on the table for his family. In Fences, “Troy prides himself on tending to his responsibilities: he owns a home, he provides for his wife and son, and he even wins a promotion after enlisting the help of his …show more content…
Often in Fences, Troy Maxson used batting practice as a way describing how his life had turned out to be (Weales). He often talked about battling death, as if it was a person. In Fences, “Troy is so willing to confront death that he seems to make it a character, Death, with whom he can talk and wrestle” (“Overview”, Literature). Troy is a person that has to be in control of everything, and he seems to be hard on his family. For example, he wants to control his youngest son’s life and education. It turns out that he is jealous of Cory, because he has a chance to play football in college. He had no interest about Cory’s education; he wanted him to go straight to work. It seems that he thinks the same thing that happened to him would happen to Cory. Troy tried to be hard on Cory and his oldest son Lyons, because he wanted them to have a better life than he did. He ended up doing the opposite of what he was trying to do. Lyons and Cory had very different upbringings, though their development into men does not fall too far from the tree of their father's experience (SparkNotes). Troy likes to take his anger out on everyone but himself. No matter what, Troy always has something mean or negative to …show more content…
Troy ends up being interested in another woman by the name of Alberta. In the book, he ends up having an affair with Alberta. His wife Rose Maxson ends up noticing that he is being with another woman. During the confrontation, Troy and Cory gets into a fight about him cheating on Rose. Troy engages in an actual relationship with Alberta, even though he is married to Rose. Alberta became pregnant and Troy turns out to be the father of the baby. Troy got a phone call from the hospital saying that Alberta had the baby, but she did not live. Troy comes home with the baby, sitting on the porch begging Rose to take him back. Rose Maxson told Troy that she did not want to be with him, but she would raise Raynell (Metzger). Troy knew he was doing wrong when he started having an affair with Alberta. Bono tried to tell him no to get involved with her. Therefore, Troy has two sons and one daughter by the end of the book. He never wanted anyone doing better than he was doing. Troy always provided for his home and his family, but he never told each of his family members that he loves them. He used his own brother’s money to pay for the house that he was living in. At the end of Fences, Troy tries to bat and