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Fences: Troy's Impact On The People Around Him

1074 Words5 Pages

Libby Williams
Mrs. Griggs
Honors English 9
4 April 2023
Troy’s Impact on the People Around Him Every decision we make can have an impact on the people in our life. The play Fences by August Wilson shows how one person can change the people around him through a story about a black family living in the 1950’s and the struggles that the main character, Troy, faces. Troy affected the people around him with his actions, causing them to change and grow. Rose, his wife, was loving and kind towards Troy in the beginning of the play, but after Troy cheats on her, she becomes distant and hateful. His son, Cory, starts out as distrusting towards Troy, but eventually learns how to accept who his father was after his death. In the play Fences, the characters …show more content…

Throughout the play, Rose became more distant and emotionally independent from Troy because he hurt Rose when he cheated on her. Originally, Rose was trusting and loving towards Troy. Early on in the play, she says to Troy, "'Morning. You ready for breakfast? I can fix it soon as I finish hanging up these clothes?" (1.2). Rose makes breakfast for Troy and takes care of him before he goes to work. Rose and Troy's relationship is built on acts of service to show that they love each other. Troy works and pays for the house, and Rose takes care of Troy by cooking and cleaning. When Rose makes breakfast for Troy, she is showing that she cares about him. Then, Rose begins to change when Troy cheats on her with a woman named Alberta and gets her pregnant. This choice by Troy causes Rose to become more distant and hateful towards him. In an argument, she says to him, "Where was 'we' at when you was down there rolling around with some god-forsaken woman?" (2.1). Rose feels betrayed when learning that Troy …show more content…

Troy's treatment of Cory causes him to grow apart from him, but eventually Cory learns how to accept who he was and how he acted after his death. Cory had always had an unstable relationship with his father, because Troy was often harsh to him. Cory comes home from football practice one day and complains to Rose about Troy, saying, "He done went up to the school and told Coach I can't play football no more…Told the recruiter not to come” (1.4). Troy doesn't support Cory's passion for football because he thinks that Cory will struggle trying to find a career in football. He bases his opinion on his own personal experience, but he doesn't consider that the world may have changed since he was Cory's age. Since he doesn't listen or respect what Cory wants, Troy's relationship with his son is tense. After Troy's death, Cory wants to remove his father's presence from his life completely. He talks to Rose about this after revealing that he doesn't want to go to Troy's funeral: "Everywhere I looked, Troy Maxson was staring back at me . . . hiding under the bed ... in the closet. I'm just saying I've got to find a way to get rid of that shadow, Mama" (2.5). Troy was a burden on Cory for his whole childhood, so he has a hard time revisiting his memory at his funeral. This shows the negative impact Troy had on Cory, and how that has stuck with him for his whole life. Cory says how he felt like Troy was always hiding in

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