The Importance Of The Father In August Wilson's Fences

Although, Wilson emphasizes this journey with Troy who believe that racial boundaries prevented him from being a major in baseball. He wanted to show that education is more valuable than sports. Troy felt that Corry could reach his true potential of becoming someone educated. He believes that his role as father to keep a roof over his family head. Troy doesn't realize how he became a bully pushing his family and friends around.

As a father he doesn't want his kids to be pushed out of the nest like he was so he protects them and even though it's the opposite of what his kids want. August Wilson characterizes Troy as a serious straight edge guy. Troy only provides for his family and doesn't give much in return. He seems to only be there as there father because it's

Rose says, “You supposed to be putting up this fence.” and Troy replies with, “I’ll put it up when I finish with what is at hand.” (pg. 30) It is obvious here that Troy is avoiding putting up the fence. To Troy the fence symbolizes his marriage, when the fence is finished then he is trapped in his marriage.

Troy’s attitude towards others is very condescending, and he rarely cares about the people around him. Troy has been so forbidding about Cory playing football, because he is jealous that he has a chance in sports, but he is too old and will never make it. Troy shows many sins of his father,

This is an instance of an unfatherly figure or villain. Troy’s cruel action caused his son

Contrarily, in the novel “Fences”, Troy’s view of fatherhood conveyed to the reader is quite different from Atticus’s. Although it is different, we do have to consider what Troy has been through, especially with his own relationship with his father which will be explained further on. Firstly, from this following quote, we can understand that unlike Atticus’s view of fatherhood, fatherhood in Fences is portrayed as a responsibility, rather than an affectionate role, and Troy feels that his role as a father is to provide his son with discipline. Though, To Kill A Mockingbird also portrays the concept of fatherhood as a responsibility and duty but still incorporating affection. In this conversation between father and son, Cory reveals Troy’s deep rooted emotions towards his family; he does not love his family yet he believes that responsibility is the most important calling of a father.

Austin Wilson's Fences focuses on an African-American family in the 1950s in Pittsburg, and their troubles. They experienced racism, problems with money and parenting. I believe that Troy is both a good and bad parent, because he financially takes care of his children, doesn't use them for his own benefit, and doesn't listen to what they say. Instead, he does what he thinks is best for them without their input.

In Fences, by August Wilson, the protagonist is constantly doing wrong to the people around him, betraying them constantly, and yet they continue to love him. “Sometimes when he touched he bruised. And sometimes when he took me in his arms he cut.” Troy’s wife is the one who is saying this, she is admitting that he did harm to her. Throughout the novel, he consistently betrays Rose by not giving her the love she deserves and by cheating on her.

According to Toni Arnold, “Troy struggles with how similar he is to his father, and the ways in which he tries to be different. Troy refuses to be like many of the men of his father’s generation who were “searching out the New Land …woman to woman” with a bad case of the “walking blues”(Arnold,Struggle). Though Troy excruciatingly tried to avoid being like his father,fate had its way and he died

Parenting is crucial to the development of a child. In the play “Fences”, it is evident that Rose is a more capable parent than Troy. When Lyons, Troy 's oldest son from his previous marriage, comes to visit, he 's immediately greeted with a motherly kiss and is offered supper by Rose. On the other hand, Troy states, “You was in the neighborhood cause it 's my payday.” He believes Lyons only comes around for money and treats him with hostility.

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.

Troy is controlling and often verbally abusive to his family members because he lacks a sense of control in other areas of his life, he is unable to achieve his dream of becoming a pro-baseball player or advance in his career and this makes him feel inadequate. Troy’s wife Rose represents a stereotypical mother and dutiful wife role. Rose has two disadvantages in her life because she is not only African American, she is also a woman and in some ways she is the wife you would expect during the 1950s era. Rose however, is not weak minded because she recognizes how times have changed and this what makes Troy and Rose so drastically different throughout the play. Their contrasting ideologies represent two different aspects of the “African American Experience” by showing a major question many African Americans faced during the 1950s and that is: “are times really changing?.”

Throughout the film it was mentioned that Troy was a former baseball player that lost the chance to play in the Major Leagues. It was segregated at the time he was a young player which didn't give him the opportunity but after time African American players were able to be recruited but in spite of that, he wasn't capable of playing due to his elderliness. This left Troy with the bitterness of the thought of a dream that could've been. The experience Troy went through had a big impact on the relationship he had with his son since Cory's dreams was to play college football and Troy stated, "I decided seventeen years ago that boy wasn't getting involved in no sports. Not after what they did to me."

In August Wilson’s Fences, Troy is the main character, or protagonist, and demonstrates his life and how he treats the people in it. Troy is an older man, who can not accept how times and people are changing, impulsive, and shows tough love to his children. Troy once tried to play professional baseball, but they rejected him due to his skin color.

Brother, Gabriel. He shows the father and son complex in the relationship between Troy and Troy’s son, Cory. And finally he shows true friendship in the relationship between Troy and Troy’s best friend, Bono. Wilson masterfully crafts the novel to show many different types of relationships in a short three acts.