Baseball Quotes In Fences

In the book Fences by August Wilson, the author chooses baseball to compare many of the struggles everyday people deal with in everyday society. August Wilson created some very relatable characters to portray the message of life and love Fences attempts to display. It is ultimately displayed in a quote by the main character Troy Maxson. Troy said “That’s all death is to me. A fastball on the outside corner” (10). In this quote, Troy even compares the end of life to a dangerous pitch that is hard to hit. It would seem as though Troy’s entire life revolves around baseball. This conclusion is displayed in the way Troy talks and in the way, Troy lives his life. One example of this is in the setting of this story. From the very first scene, we

Troy tries to use baseball metaphors to explain why he cheated on her. He said “I just might be able to steal second. Eighteen years I’ve been wanting to steal second” (70). In order to try to explain himself, Troy uses baseball analogies. This doesn’t do much for Troy’s defense, but it shows us what Troy does when he’s put in a corner. Troy turns to the one thing he does know, baseball. What he was trying to explain in this quote is how he has been safe and comfortable for the last eighteen years of his marriage and he was given a chance to do something thrilling and he took it. Troy is trying to compare the thrill of cheating to stealing second base after being safe at first. Troy and Cory in the story are not the loving father-son couple, they hardly see eye to eye on anything. Another theme of baseball this story follows is the idea of three strikes your out. But we see three different times that they fought, each argument worse than the last. The first argument was brought about by Cory wanting to play football, and Troy wanting him to get a job and work. By the end of this argument Troy angers Cory to the point where he storms out of the yard in anger when he losses the chance to play the sport he loves by the hand of his