Troy Maxson As A Hero In August Wilson's Fences

A hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities (Hero). A Villain is a person who has evil actions or motives to harm people (Villain). In my opinion, a hero is usually the person in the story that everyone likes or looks to for help and the villain is the misunderstood or worst person in a situation. As humans we can be portrayed as a hero or villain when diverse situations occur. In August Wilson’s play, “Fences” Troy Maxson’s past, present and future caused significant traits of being called a hero and a villain in segments throughout the play. In summary, the play “Fences “setting was set during the 1950’s in Pittsburg, where many African Americans were fighting for their rights. Many of the minority population were getting treated poorly and unfairly. Troy Maxson, his wife and son lived off a small alley in a big-city. The main character Troy was a sanitation worker and former Negro League baseball player. His talented son Cory is being hindered by his dad Troy from being a professional football player. Troy Maxson disagrees with his career decisions because of his past life, causing him to not be able to enter the leagues once getting out of jail. As a result, Cory and his dad got into a fight and Troy kicked him out of the house and eventually had

His oldest son Lyons is thirty-four years old and has a wife, but constantly asks his father for money. In Act one, Troy mentions how it’s not pay day and doesn’t have enough money to loan him. I would think his father, saying that he doesn’t have enough money would stop his son from asking, so Troy gives his wife his whole check which is only seventy-six dollars and forty- two cents. Then he lets her distribute the money however. In Act One, Troy said “You see this Bono? Now, I ain't gonna get but six of that back” (page 19). His action portrayed him as a hero in this scene because of his giving