Introduction
Fences is a play acted by Troy on the American stage of a modern-day tragic hero who destroyed his son’s dreams to pursue football and college as he chose his course of action in the family. His role in the household had a greater impact as his family members knew he is a man of great personality and his decision was final.
Troy’s inability to accept other people's decisions in life. An example, disagreeing with his friend Lyons’ decision to be a musician and also denying his son a chance to play football while in college. His last name Maxson is symbolic in the play in that it portrayed an imaginary that differentiates the slave states from the Free States. In his real life, his character depicted that he lived on a line between two opposing sides half full of disappointments and the other half full of hope ( Arnold 1).
Hypocrisy in another character he controls his loved ones and wants them to live a practice responsible lives under his authority. He also has the freedom to have an affair, rebel against discrimination practices of his employers to black workers who were assigned the duty of lifters only and not drivers of trash trucks. He perceives events in life in his own head and not how it is represented to him by other people. A tragic hero who was admired and loved by many people but in the end his secret affair led to many negative attributes between him and his family members making them separate from his after the death of their son.
A final character trait is that of irony. Being a strong, hardworking man, his philosophy at work and the ethics he played at the workplace he regularly reminds his family that he is the provider every time they discuss a career to do in the future. He used the same work ethics to his family members for example when his son Cory asked him why he doesn’t like him. Troy says to him, ‘Don’t you eat every day, got a roof over your heads, wear clothes, why do you think that is’ In this quotes it is clear that his job makes him believe that his position directly stands for his correspondence of self-worth (5).
Another example was his violation to his wife Rose who after preparing dinner meal to him he tells her to return to the house. He says, ‘Well, go back to the house and let me and Bono finish what we were talking about. This is men talk’. It is ironic that despite overcoming many trials in life as a father, he was always there for his sons to support them.
Rose, his wife, also says to Cory, Your dad wanted you to be everything he wasn’t, he meant to do more good than harm to you’. This statement is ironic because despite parents having dreams for their children, every child has a talent and he should not be denied the chance to do what is best for him apart from education.
Themes in the play.
The creation of order. In this story fence is used not as a barrier but as a way of managing ideas in the family. Troy is responsible for all the activities taking place in his family though his wife sees it from a different .perspective. He is caught up in a decision and having personal depression. He feels he doesn’t belong to the modern world due to his past experiences in his Southern childhood following the abuse of his father and the dictatorship he had.
Being a father of his own is currently affecting him as he is part of the advanced growing African American middle class. He receives a promotion at work, but he feels he is not worth doing the job and unable to accept his children idea fearing that they might end up having excess freedom later creating their lives without consulting him. For Troy, his desire to a fence is to have a place in the modern world about the world of his own (Shmoop University 2).
African American Difference
The point here is that the different races and culture are not equal creating social inequality between parents and their current children. Maintaining this kind of difference is a difficult task for Troy and his son Corey. Troy sees a generation that not only seeks to get the knowledge of modern culture but also aspires to have their success depending on their center of interest. An example is football sports that his son Corey wanted to play in college through a scholarship, but he denied him the chance later destroying their relationship. He feared that his son will lose concentration on his academic career and drive to a successful life (Nolan 3)
Ideal of Responsibility
Troy takes full responsibility of his family and handles their issues with a lot of seriousness this being his greatest liability virtue. He is caught in the middle of his desires and freedom for his children. His sense of responsibility arose from bitter care from his father in the past, and the loyalty made it poisonous to the family it was regarded as a betrayal.In turn, this made him abandon his brother and son in future for he needed freedom of his own.
Freedom vs. Protection
The play acts as a symbol of conflicting desires in the family. Rose desire for a fence symbolized that her plan is to protect her family from the dictatorship of her husband as she understands his past and he is very resistant to changes in the society. Her role is to keep her family in line and protect it from the dangerous world out.
Troy, on the other hand, tries to protect his family but under his authority and interests. He argues that he has spent his entire life providing for the family and protecting them. The fence here is that keeps Troy from achieving his self-actualization and individuality to cater for his family needs.
Dissatisfaction
It has caused trouble in Troy’s life as he is an unhappy man because he never achieved his pro baseball dreams that were stopped by racial discrimination at his workplace. He felt unfulfilled in his job as a garbage collector, on the other hand, his son regularly disappointed him by not considering his work as that of great value. Life dissatisfaction in fences story explains how behavioral change can change a person’s life and those around them.
Personal Apocalypse
His brother Gabriel is a symbol of personal revelation. In his family Troy struggles with a purpose of revealing to his brother the nature of death and importance of his life in the past and today. In as much as Troy’s mortality is not accepted in St. Peter’s book but it remained a concept that he cannot conceive. Troy’s life event is that of a death series abandonment by his father and later his son that brought to an end his life reminding him that he is not in full control of his life as far as he controls other people’s lives around him.
The American Dream and Plan
Troy in an African American person learning to adapt to both to the past and modern life. He is more successful than his father by paying all his wages and life to his family and buying them his land. In his dreams, he cannot achieve being an individualist person as he planned due to the growing generation and sociological changes. He could not believe his son is achieving a greater dream than him creating conflicts between them making him remain channeled to his future expectation and accomplishment in the world.
In conclusion, Troy being a father and the supporter in the family still had not changed from his youthful ways making him be a self-destructive parent in his family. Fathers despite being the head of the house should give proper care and attention to their children’s ideas and plans in pursuing their dreams. They should give them their civil rights and freedom to avoid conflicts within the family. Further exercising power is a definite advantage but as parents they should learn to control the code of ethics at the workplace and when back to the family a different approach to handling family matters should apply for equality in the house.
Works cited
Arnold Toni. The Struggle for Power by August Wilson’s Male Characters. April 14, 2009
Shmoop University. Fences Themes by August Wilson. 2016
Rashad Phylicia. August Wilson Fences. 2016. <https://www.mccarter.org/fences/3-explore/fathersandsons.html>
