Fences by August Wilson - Essay Example

? s Fences by August Wilson The play Fences was written by August Wilson in the year 1983. Since then it has been very popular and has won a couple of awards including the Pulitzer Prize. The play revolves around the Maxson family the head of which is a 53 year old man called Troy, his partners, three children, a younger brother as well as his best friend. It is the choices that Troy makes throughout his life that represent to the reader the problems that the African Americans faced during the 1950s. This paper is about what difficulties Troy’s character had to go through due to the social changes that were occurring, the struggle for justice and the propensity of being treated unfairly due to his skin color, and what impact that had on his life. Troy is portrayed as a hard worker. He is aware of his position as the head of the family and all the responsibilities that result with it. He thinks that certain professions do not ensure a proper income and that should be kept in mind when choosing which line of work to get a job in. He takes his role as the breadwinner quite seriously and tries to instill the same work ethics in his children as well. His father had not done so during his childhood – he had been “an unloving and quick-tempered sharecropper” – so he had been determined to be otherwise with his family (Bogumil 34 - 35). He could have followed in his father’s footsteps but he was brave and determined enough to choose another path for himself so that his children would live a better life than he did. There is an argument that takes place between the father and son in the play in which Cory calls Troy out on his dislike of him. To this, Cory does not get a direct reply except an insinuation when Troy says “Don’t you eat everyday...Got a roof over your head...Clothes on your back...Why you think that is” (Wilson 1. 3. 1665). This shows how important Troy considers his job to be. He may not be doing anything fancy – he is, after all, just a person who collects trash – but he does earn enough to fulfill the needs of his family. That is what is most important for him and what makes him feel proud of what he has done with his life. Troy’s relationship with his younger brother Gabriel is not good either. He had been a war soldier who had been sent back home with some cash due to an injury on the battlefield. Troy had used the money to purchase a house in which Gabriel did not even reside at. Instead of being grateful, Troy acts in an indifferent manner around him because he cannot manage his emotions properly leading to Gabriel thinking that his older brother was angry with him. The play shows that even though Troy loves his wife Rose, he has a tendency of making foolish mistakes. He has a son called Lyon who he had with his first wife. He has another son Cory with Rose. He also has an affair during his marriage with a woman called Alberta who ends up conceiving his child. The woman dies during childbirth and Rose agrees to look after the child who is named Raynell even though the husband and wife have separated. The way Troy treats Rose shows the flaws of his character. He was not satisfied with his time with Rose so he went behind her back and had relations with another woman without even thinking twice about all the vows that he was breaking as well as the heart of the woman whom he loved. He is described as “an egocentric, tyrannical husband” and them having a “unilateral relationship” (Shannon 183). The reader may also notice “Troy’s sexism towards his wife Rose” (Shannon 184). He treats Rose as if she is below him just because she is a woman and that she cannot compare to his – or other men’s – greatness. There is a part in the play in which Troy and his friend are lounging around in the porch having a chat. When Rose passes by, he questions him about what she was making for dinner as if all that her life revolved around was the kitchen, her sole purpose being feeding the family. Once she is finished answering him, he puts the talk to an end by saying “Well, go on back in the house and let me and Bono finish what we was talking about. This is men talk” (Wilson 1. 1. 1645). This insinuates that women were not clever enough to have proper conversations with. He does not even give her a chance but just assumes her not to be equipped with the mind needed to understand the supposedly clever talks that men have. Troy had been a football athlete during his early days but nothing could come out of it because of the world then and their stance on people of color. World War II had “left indelible scars on the Maxson family” and the “jobs discrimination” had forced “them to settle for far less than the American Dream” (Bloom 41). He was not given a chance to showcase his talents to the world and the disappointment remained with him. So when his son Cory declares that he wanted to take the opportunity of a college football scholarship, Tory puts his foot down. He refuses to give him permission to try his luck stating that he would be discriminated against due to him being an African American and he wanted him not to get hurt. He gets interfering to the point that his anger overcomes him and he kicks his son out of the house. This shows his protective side, how stubborn he can be and also how unwilling he is to believe in the changes occurring in the social order for all of them. The depth of Troy’s character is highly appreciated by the many readers as he does not come off as the perfect protagonist. Instead, he has his flaws, some that the society and its ways has infused in him and some that are innate. Either way, he does try to overcome them even though he, inevitably, ends up giving in to committing other wrongdoings. He is an example of the kind of African Americans that were there during the 1950s and how their life was like then. It was very hard for them to take in all the changes that were occurring and they did end up following the wrong path. Bibliography Bloom, Harold. August Wilson. 1st. Chelsea House Pub (L), 2009. Print. Bogumil, Mary L. Understanding August Wilson. University of South Carolina Press, 1999. Print. Shannon, Sandra Garrett. August Wilson's Fences: A Reference Guide. Greenwood, 2003. Print. Wilson, August. Fences. 1983. Print. Read More