Fences, a play by August Wilson - Research Paper Example

? Write a paper on “Fences”, a play by August Wilson discuss whether Troy is a tragic figure, a hero, villain, or a combination of these types. Is hea sympathetic character? How do his interactions with the other characters affect your opinion? “Fences” by August Wilson, is a play that evolves and revolves around the main character Troy Maxon. Set in Pittsburgh in 1950’s Troy is amongst a generation of blacks who have fled the South in search of a better future in the North, but end up disillusioned and mired in an environment of impoverishment, deprived of opportunities and resources. This huge disenchantment sets the tone of the play. Troy is a tragic figure beset with waves of bad fortune, a victim of his time but as much his own fault. Troy’s tragic life is made more poignant by the author painting him as a tragic hero. Troy’s myopic interpretation of things and his unwillingness to adapt to reality are his two biggest flaws, blinding him and leading to his ultimate undoing. Troy is presented with opportunities to make peace with the other characters and redeem himself at critical crossroads but sadly he chose to remain in his fabricated world and his tragedy. The onset of act one, scene one provides the context of the big disenchantment in Troy’s life, that of his thwarted dream, resulting in his leading a mundane existence as a garbage collector. Troy has once been a promising baseball player in his prime, but he has been stripped of his chance to make it big in the Major Leagues because of his color. Troy could not reconcile with the fact that he is too old to play in the Leagues when it finally opened up to black players and this residual bitterness and resentment distorted most of Troy’s perspective on things and people and reinforced his belief that he is a victim of his time. Despite this, Troy has never let go of his identity as a ball player. He continues to use baseball jargons to reflect his world view as in act one, scene one where he says “Death ain’t nothing but as fastball on the outside corner.” To his credit, Troy has fought back to emerge as a literary hero at the beginning of the play, where the other characters seem to revere him as the sole provider for the family and a fighter for equality at work. Troy’s flaws, however work against him. His narrow-minded perception has evolved into a dual set of standards over time in judging himself and others. This can be seen in Troy carrying himself around with excessive importance as the breadwinner but belittles of the work and accomplishment of others as in act one, scene three, “I do the best I can do. I come in here every Friday, I carry a sack of potatoes…you all line up with your hands stretched out at the door…I give you my sweat and my blood I ain’t got no tears”. To Troy, elder son Lyons’ chosen vocation as a jazz musician is simply a stunt in playing “Chinese music” and not serious work. Troy deduces this as the reason Lyons returns home to borrow money from him. As for Cory, his break into professional football hits a raw nerve in Troy’s thwarted dream. Troy could not accept that times have changed for black sportsman and Cory could actually make a career out of it. Cory brings up the achievement of black players like Clemente and Aaron and Kouflax, but Troy deflates their contributions. When Troy is losing out his argument to Cory, he throws the punch line, “I ain’t no Sandy Kouflax” in act one, scene three.. Instead, he wants Cory to stay at a job instead of pursuing football. Cory’s giving away his job at A&P supermarket is seen by Troy as an act of defiance against him. Troy therefore imposes his authoritative presence on Cory in act one, scene three where he sabotages Cory’s opportunity by telling Cory’s coach that he can no longer play on his team. Troy’s shortsightedness prevents him from seeing the further ramifications of his act. Troy reasons that by sabotaging Cory’s chance would teach his son to obey his wishes. Instead it has set the wheels to motion to Cory standing up for himself and confronting Troy man to man. Troy’s limited reasoning is further complicated by his other flaw, in his unwillingness to accept and adapt to reality, which led to the demise of his marriage to Rose. Rose is as trapped as Troy is in their mundane lives. Rose, by nature of her personality accepts her fate and tries to make the most out of her circumstances. Troy on the hand rejects his fate. He chose to escape instead by carrying on an affair with a woman named Alberta. When Troy blurts out his infidelity to Rose in act two, scene one, he is all righteous about the affair and referring it as “stealing the second” in act two, scene one. It is his escape from the staleness of his life. Rose is so fed up by Troy’s hypocrisy she tells him in the same scene that “We’re not talking about baseball! We’re talking about you going off to lay in bed with another woman!” Troy’s hypocrisy is highlighted in his criticism of Rose “playing the numbers” as being fanciful. It is Troy who is enamored with his fancies. Troy has many opportunities to change his course of actions, especially his affair with Alberta. Rose has insisted a fence be built. Troy works at it with Cory but neither understands why Rose wanted it. Bono is seen building the fence with Troy and Cory in act two, scene one and he explains to father and son that the fence is symbolic of Rose’s love “Some people build fences to keep people out and other people build fences to keep people in. Rose wants to hold on to you all. She loves you.” This could be interpreted as Bono urging Troy to go back to Rose and the consequences if he continues his ways. Troy ignores Bono and continues his dalliance with Alberta. Troy’s fabricated world comes to an end with the arrival of baby Raynell and the death of Alberta during childbirth. For the first time, Troy is forced to see and accept reality up close. His affair has not given him the escape he seeks but in the greatest irony, a reality he cannot escape from, a baby daughter. Troy is reduced from the once arrogant and overbearing man to “beggar” as seen in act two, scene three when he brings the baby home, sitting at the porch singing a blues song, not knowing if Rose would take him back. Rose’s taking in baby Raynell and turning out Troy from her life marks Troy’s fall from her grace, saying “you can’t visit the sins of the father upon the child this child got a mother, but you’re a womanless man.” Troy’s fall can be seen in act two, scene four. Rose no longer pays any attention to Troy. He is a stranger at his own house. Bono drops by and Troy invites him for a drink, like the old days but Bono declines as he has moved on to a new group of friends. Troy is more alone than ever. Troy’s unraveling is complete in act two, scene four, when Cory steps over him without saying “excuse me”. Troy reverts to his old self taunting Cory to respect him as he has provided for him all these years. Cory tells Troy that this means little to him as he has lost all respect for Troy by this time. Troy’s pride is deeply wounded because his ability to provide for his family is his major accomplishment in life. He throws Cory out, dismissing him as son by lashing out, “You just another nigger on the street to me!” Troy passes away between act two, scenes four and five. All the characters gather one last time to make peace with Troy’s memory. Troy is infuriating as a husband, father and friend, his blaring mistakes making him unforgivable but we do feel a twinge of sadness when he passes away, at this point lonely and alienated. Cory is the most bitter and refuses to attend Troy’s funeral but after spending time singing with Raynell, Cory realizes that Troy has indeed done his best given his limitations and forgives him. He agrees with Lyons when they reflect on Troy’s take on the good and bad that life throws at you, “You gotta take the crooked with the straights. That’s what Papa used to say”. Troy through his many failures has finally won our sympathy because he really is not that bad, he just doesn’t know better. We are left with a “what-if” question at the end. What if Troy lives in a different time, would he have made the same choices? Troy has always believed that if he were white in his prime or if the Major Leagues accepted colored players, he would make it big. The latter is highly probable if Troy lives today, as evidenced in Walter Leavy’s article on “50 years of blacks in sports” chronicling the integration of white and black players in various sports. The achievement of distinguished black sportsman are highlighted and the verdict is that in the fifty years since 1945, “Black players bringing new dimensions to the games and redefining the limits of what could be accomplished in the sports world.” (Leavy,1995) If Troy lives today, he would be in a much more enriching environment with more opportunities and resources available to him. Troy lived in an era where despite being free from bondage, is still enslaved in segregation and discrimination, as seen in his menial job as a garbage collector who cannot graduate to a “grander” post as a driver because of his color. If Troy lives today, he could get a proper education to lift him from illiteracy and provide him with a broader cultural reference to correct his myopic perceptions as “the assimilation of blacks into American life, though incomplete, has been clear enough in its positive trajectory to rely on the normal processes of democracy and capitalism to overcome past prejudices.” (Norell, 2001) The civil rights movement has “mobilized the black community” and “the achievements were impressive and far-reaching, with striking gains in educational achievement, in clerical and professional positions, in skilled labor, in political representation, and in the entertainment and sports industries.” (Litwack, 2009) Given the changes above, if Troy lives today and truly has the potential, he could pursue his dream to play in the Major Leagues. He might also get his wish to provide a carefree life for himself and his family as “Blacks have steadily become more prosperous, more powerful, and more integrated”. (Norell, 2001) If only. Text and References Leavy, Walter. (1995). 50 years of blacks in sports. Ebony. Litwack, Leon F. (2009). “Fight the Power!” The Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. Journal of Southern History. Norrell, Robert J. (2001). RACE DOES MATTER. Virginia Quarterly Review. Read More