The Responsibility Of Guilt In August Wilson's Fences

In the play “Fences” by August Wilson, Troy is first seen as a responsible husband who cares for his family. He makes the duty of being a “providing” husband his whole persona. Being the head of the household has made him sensitive to criticism and open-minded. He is egoistic, making others feel little and scared to question his rights for wrongdoing. His son and wife live more in the present than him. He feels that they are against him and questioning his authority. However, Troy faced many obstacles in his past where racism and segregation played a role—making him have certain ideals and beliefs that he thinks are best for him and his family. Troy’s past is like a foundation of what he doesn’t want his family to go through, but ironically he does the same. He creates a symbolic “wall”

Now see if you can understand that!”(Wilson, 1.2.24). This guilt that Troy has is what makes him feel like he has to prove that he is capable of handling the responsibility of having a house and providing for his family. Therefore, Troy's past trauma is what shaped his mindset of having to fulfill the role of being a husband. Throughout the play, Troy’s tone is mostly demanding and angry. Having this tone makes Troy seem certain that he knows what is best for his family. Even though he acts this way, he creates a barrier between himself and his family by not being able to understand their perspective of life. This can be seen when Troy states,” I don't care where he comes from. The white man ain't gonna let you get nowhere with that football anyway. You go on and get your book- learning so you can work yourself up in that A&P or learn how to fix cars or build houses or something, get you a trade. That way you have something nobody can take away from you. You go on and learn how to put your hands to good use. Besides hauling people's garbage.”(Wilson, 1.3.30). Troy believes that chasing after a dream isn’t going to get his son anywhere but having a