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Troy's Unsympathetic Character In Fences By August Wilson

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In the play Fences by August Wilson, Troy Maxson presents as the protagonist. He is an unsympathetic character who seems to hurt all those around him with his aggressive persona. Troy is a selfish man, with a one sided perception on life which made him unable to accept the choices others made. Due to his upbringing, Troy is unable to show love in a normal fashion. Instead, he blocks his family out by using a harsh exterior, emotionally excluding himself from his underlying love. This play was set in the 1950’s, an era when racism was indeed an issue. August Wilson used this play to show the struggles a black man had to endure while trying to make it in a white man’s world during this time. Troy Maxson was an African American who believes his …show more content…

Troy not only disapproves of his son Cory playing football, but he also disagrees with his oldest son Lyons aspirations of becoming a musician. We see this when Troy states “get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living”. Instead of focusing on sports, he believes Cory should pick up a trade that can provide an income for his future. Cory is a talented athlete just like his dad, but due to Troy’s dreams being shattered by the white man, his outlook is tainted. Although Troy is predominantly aggressive, he is attempting to protect Cory from the same disappointment he once endured. When Troy decides not to sign the recruitment papers it illustrates his insensitivity. Troy is a man surrounded by many loved ones but due to selfish ways he is unable to sustain a healthy …show more content…

His aggressive attitude steams from his past experiences. He had a rough upbringing, experiencing many hardships at a young age. Troy had an abusive father who he referred to as “evil” and an absent mother. This forced him to move out at the young age of fourteen, making him to grow into a man. When Troy’s past gets brought up, he states “sometimes I wish I hadn’t known my daddy…A kid wasn’t nothing. All he wanted was for you to learn to walk so he could start you to working. When it come time for eating…he ate first. If there was anything left over, that’s what you got”. With that being said, not only did this mold his character but it also impacted the relationship he has with his children. As a child, his father never showed him affection, therefore he is unable to replicate. Although Troy is a protective and loving father, he is unable to show these emotions due to his past experience. Troy never learned how to treat others, especially those close to him. Instead, his past hinders his present, destroying every loving relationship he has

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Sense of pride: As the breadwinner, Troy takes great pride in his earnings. When his oldest son, Lyons, comes around asking for ten dollars, Troy replies by saying,“ ‘I 'm just supposed to haul people 's rubbish and give my money to you cause you too lazy to work?’ ” (1, 19). Although he may come across as harsh, his intentions are good, as he wants his sons to be self-reliant like he has been since the age of fourteen, and know what it feels like to be proud an accomplishment. If he hasn’t taught his sons to live on their own, then he has failed as a

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Troy didn’t want his son to get caught up in sports because he felt like he would never have a chance, just like him back when he wanted to play professional sports. In the text, Cory says “Papa done went down to the school and told coach Zelllman I can’t play football no more. Wouldn’t even let me play the game. Told him to tell the recruiter not to come” (Goodwin el at. 314). Therefore, by troy going down to the school and ruining the chances of his son’s career, that showed a flaw of judgment and a selfish decision he made.

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In the play Fences by August Wilson, Troy Maxson, a middle-aged man who works as a garbage man, behaves in a way which helps define the play as a tragedy according to Arthur Miller’s essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man.” In order for a play to be classified as a tragedy according to Miller, it must have a character who has a tragic flaw- he actively advocates for himself when he believes he is receiving unfair treatment, a trait which Troy displays when he demands a job as a truck driver. Additionally, Miller states that a tragedy must have a character that strongly desires to be free, a feature that Troy exhibits when he tells his wife, Rose, about his affair with a woman named Alberta. According to Miller, a tragic character will also sacrifice

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Troy wanted to be better than his father but did not want either of his sons to be better than he

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Troy chose to escape his reality by having an affair that gives him some laughs and good time every now and then. However, despite the flaws in Troy’s character, he was a providing family man who wants to insure a better life of his sons than the one he had. Based on the play’s time period, which took place at the 50’s, apparently the main problem of Troy Maxson’s character was racism against African Americans at the time that had prevented him from achieving his dreams. Throughout the play, Troy expresses his dissatisfaction in several scenes with the other characters.

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A Tragic Figure But A Hero At Heart Troy is a tragic figure but, also a hero at heart. Why? You may ask, because. He has high expectations for Cory about quitting the football team and getting a job. Troy takes the responsibility of his family and home, has an everlasting love for Raynell.

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Troy Maxson has done it all. He has wrestled with Death, rose a family, played a sport he loved, and became one of the first African-American drivers. At first glance, he seems happy and content in his life. Though, in August Wilson’s book Fences, Troy’s self-centeredness, which can be tied into his past, causes him and many others near him trouble as his adventure through life progresses. These are all traits of a tragic hero, and Troy is a great example of one.

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He persistently criticizes and neglects his two sons, which thus draws them away from him. Troy pushes Lyons away by refusing to hear him play his "Chinese music". He also scars hisrelationship with his other son, Cory, by preventing him from playing football and rejecting his onlychance to get recruited by a college football team. Also, Troy states that Cory's things will "be on theother side of that fence" when he kicks Cory to the street. Through this scene Troyacknowledges the fence as an actual, physical divide between him and his son.

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Troy wants to control his family. When the Scene 1 Troy’s elder son Lyon’s has come to borrow some money as a loan, but troy criticizes him badly, but his sons rememorized him that in his childhood, his father is not there to complete his needs in his youth now he is too old. He wants him to get a good job, but Lyon’s think that nothing wrong with his music and he doesn’t want to get any jobs. ‘’ Troy offers Lyon’s sound advice, but Lyon response reminds Troy and witnessing the exchange that, as Lyons said ‘’ You and I are two different people, Pop,’ and that Troy’s prescription about life and work are a ‘’day late and the dollar short’ (119)(Wilson 19).

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In the play Fences, by August Wilson, the symbol of the fence is used to characterize the internal conflicts of the central character, Troy Maxson, in his relationships and stature in society. More than just a backdrop into the setting, this unfinished fence holds greater symbolic significance into the lives of Troy and his family. After Troy and his wife, Rose, had just finished arguing about Troy’s brother Gabriel, and as he began to leave Rose questioned him, “You been running out of here every Saturday for weeks. I thought you was gonna work on this fence?” where Troy responds with “I’m gonna walk down to Taylor’s.

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Student’s Name: Professor’s Name: Course: Date: Fences Playwrights pass relevant information to their viewers through the plays which they create. Viewers must be keen to acquire valuable lessons. Otherwise, they may miss some critical components which would have a positive impact on their development. August Wilson’s “Fences” is an example of a play which passes vital awareness on some of the critical issues which affect the society.

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Troy’s outlook on life is more narrow minded however, his family is more optimistic for a better future. Troy was raised by a very dominate male figure who was abusive. His father would be little him and made him like he would not be able to overcome racism. Troy despised his father who was mean and never showed him any love.

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He has a softer tone in the dialogue with Rose which shows that he does care about Cory. He is tough on Cory because he doesn’t want his son to experience the same things as he, as a black male in the mid-century, endured. He believes that a sturdy hand will lead his son in the right direction and prepare him for a harsh world. Troy tells Rose, “He’s got to make his own way. I made mine.

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Troy maxson is the main character of the play, and the overall theme of the book revolves around his struggles he faced growing up, and how his past experiences have impacted not only his own life, but those around him. August Wilson had written women to be portrayed as the powerless social group compared to the dominant males. The

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Troy 's hatred of his father acts as a catalyst for many moments in Troy 's life, in negative and positive ways alike. Unlike most fathers, Troy 's father didn 't leave him with a material possession such as a house but instead left him with emotional baggage that crippled the earlier and later parts of Troy 's life. From the beginning, Troy 's father was abusive to his mother and all of his siblings. Troy and his family worked hard on their father 's farm and endured his bitterness towards being a sharecropper. Troy states that his father was greedy and would put his own personal needs above the needs of the family.

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