Relationships In Oedipus The King, And Fences

There are 7.4 billion people in the world today, and each person is so vastly different than the next. However, despite many cultural and social barriers, those 7.4 billion people experience the same thing: relationships. Unlike countless other divisions, such as language and social cues, relationships find a way to produce a common ground. Although they are the building block of society, they can affect people in many different ways. As seen in Hamlet, Oedipus the King, and Fences, relationships can be either a destructive force or one that creates a more positive outlook on life. In these plays written by William Shakespeare, Sophocles, and August Wilson, the protagonists’ interactions with family, death, and fate are examined to convey the varying effects

Constantly, Troy tells Cory that no one will let him play football because of his skin color, and he goes as so far as to remove Cory from his high school football team. By twisting a once innocent, loving desire to mimic his father into something unfavorable, Troy fills Cory with resentment. At their final encounter, Cory says to Troy, “You ain’t never gave me nothing! You ain’t never done anything but hold me back” (Wilson 1644). By declaring that Troy never gave him anything in life, Cory reveals how his father never aided him in pursuing his football career, rather he worked hard to make sure it never could prosper. After this, Cory leaves home at his father's demand and joins the Marine Corps, not returning until the news of Troy’s passing. Once home, Cory admits to Rose that he does not want to attend his father’s funeral, which demonstrates how their relationship, although Troy is gone, will always be bitter and tense. Troy’s lack of fatherly love for Cory leaves a wound so deep that even after seven years of being away does Cory not forgive his father for derailing his high school dreams. Unlike Hamlet and Fences, in Oedipus the King, Oedipus is