Analysis of Parent and Child Relationship in August Wilson's Fences - Essay Example

Analysis of parent/child relationship in August Wilsons Fences Set in the 1950’s, Fences is a 1983 award-winning play by the American playwright August Wilson; the play is the sixth one in the writers ten-part Pittsburgh Cycle, and just like the rest of them, Fences explores the shifting African-American experience and tackles race relations among other crucial themes in the Black American history. The play revolves around a 53-year-old Troy, the play’s protagonist, who struggles to provide for his family that entails his wife Rose, his son Cory and Troy’s younger brother Gabriel, in an unspecified location, though reference to some notable institutions hint that it could be Pittsburgh. Beginning in 1957, the play drags on to 1965, though its themes fall in the pre-civil-rights-movement, which was still a latent time, where the protagonist­­-- a tragic character, paves way for other blacks to have access to opportunities under conditions they were never free to experience, but still, they do not reap from all their sacrifices and talents themselves. This paper analyses the parent/child relationship in the play using the sociological approach, which proposes the existence of a sort of reciprocal relationship between the self and society (Powell 394). Overall, the struggles in the relationships between parents and their children in the play revolve around conflicting visions, aspirations, as well as values, as each one of them has their own worldviews because of emasculating sociological impediments. The play puts a lot of emphasis on the parent/child relationship, especially because family as well as upbringing plays a fundamental role in development an individual’s values; under normal circumstances, children look to their parents for love, guidance, as well as approval since they occupy a very significant position of security, ensuring their children’s providence and protection accordingly. However, the parent/child relationships in the play are constrained with conflicts that result from their sociological conditions; for instance, Cory clearly disrespects his father, even though he looks up to him as a father figure (Reneey). In the play, parents seem to have the best intentions for their children, but they end up alienating them, thereby causing tensions that frustrate the parent/child bonds. Troy’s tainted morality due to his infidelity affects his relationship with Cory negatively, and the son is confused as to why his mother would tolerate his father’s mannerisms. Cory does not trust his father, and instead of respecting him, he fears him; for instance, he says, “all you ever did was try to make me scared of you…” (August 75). Generally, the play highlights that rebellion of the blacks against the White domination resulted to their own suffering and frustration majorly because of lack of opportunities and high economic insecurity; the power relations that emerged in the Post War era pitted the Whites against the Blacks in a disproportionate social order (Koprince 349). The older generation represented by the likes of Troy have internalized oppression as a fact of life since they have been socialized in a highly stratified social order that deprived them upwards social mobility while the young generation represented by Cory, Troy’s son sees life in a totally new perspective. The implication of this is that the parent/child relationship in the play is thoroughly constrained by the generational gap between parents and their children respectively; the social conflict perspective highlights that power differentials such as class, gender, as well as race conflict, which result to social inequalities, further propagate conflicts thereby generating social change. However, in as much as Cory believes that times have changed since the baseball rejected a professional football player on the colour basis, Troy remains adamant that his son Cory will more likely suffer the same hardships and disappointment he suffered in his attempt to become a baseball player. For Troy, to accept the changing situation is to accept his own misfortune, thus, father and son draw apart by clinging to divergent perspectives of history, which only tend to support their opposite individual worldviews. Troy works so hard to advance himself and his family by joining the Negro Leagues where he achieves massive recognition, something that was unheard of before, but his rise in the sport is curtailed by his colour, which deprives him the opportunity to play baseball at the highest level. This deprivation causes him to become embittered and frustrated, and this pits him against his son Cory, who plays football; Cory’s pursuit of self-advancement through the game is a source of conflict rather than of connection with his father. Troy’s experience of historical injustice and oppression under a highly stratified hierarchical social system has affected him to the extent that he does not want to acknowledge the changing situation; in Troy’s perspective, nothing of value to the black could ever come out of the dominant white world. In this respect, Troy prevents Cory’s success by declining to approve his son’s scholarship, thereby acting as a psychological barrier that kept Cory from growing into a man; Cory tells the father, “you are in my way…” (August 6). The segregated social order denies Troy the opportunity to prove his superiority to his contemporary players, which further denies him a sense of personal worth and identity. In his defeat, Troy becomes a bully and denies status to others, perceiving himself as the only hero worth of praise, Troy seeks to defeat, and to humiliate Cory since he has the strength and ability to do so; in this respect, Troy exploits his parental authority to dominate his son, which raises conflict in their father/son relationship. Troy insistence that his son pursues something that is stable within the context of the American Dream, projecting a sense of honorability simply highlights his own disappointment in his personal failures which he seeks to pass on to his son. Troy’s worldview is limited on being successful and responsible, which implies going to work, making lots of money, and paying bills; he dismisses emotional relationships telling Cory that it did not matter whether people liked him, so long as they gave him what he deserved. Ironically, all Cory needs from Troy as a talented, hardworking youth is a signature but he does not get it, which means that Troy exercises domination on his son, perhaps because he does not want him to succeed while he was not. Troy insists that Cory should go back and take his job at the store because playing football is a fruitless and success in life can only come out of hard work at the store, thereby holding his son back while advancing himself at the workplace. It is highly hypocritical for Troy to tell Cory that he would not succeed because of his race while Troy himself was in fact making advances in his career in spite of his race, moving from a mere barrel lifter to a driver. Cory’s half-brother Lyons also happens to share his equal share of frustration from Troy their father who does not approve of his love for Jazz music, which he dubs an inconsequential ‘Chinese music’ (August 48). Lyon, just like Cory grows to resent his father because he tries to dictate to him what he his dreams and aspirations in life should be in a domineering manner; Troy resorts to bullying his sons at home since it is the only place he can exercise control. The sociological conditions of his upbringing have rendered Troy powerless to change his situation in society, thus he can only but project his disappointment onto others; as a young person, Troy had also been a victim of his father’s domination and abuse. Troy’s relationship with his father was also embattled with conflicts since Troy’s father often abused him physically, probably punishing him for his failure as an indentured servant; Troy had ran away as a young boy because he had to struggle for his own survival without his father’s interference. Troy tried his best but was unfortunate to land in prison for crime, after which he resigned to living a life of unsatisfying comfort since he felt powerless to change his situation, which was inevitably dictated by the inhibiting sociological conditions that favoured the whites against the blacks. The father/son relationships highlighted in this play underscore the psychological argument that fathers will always seek to correct their failings through their sons, by dictating to them the goals, dreams, and aspirations they should pursue in life. In most cases, these conflicts motivate rebellion and the absence of an active father figure model eventually makes the sons to gravitate towards comfort and stability rather than towards self-identification and risk-taking. Unfortunately, on the realization that they are not happy in their comfortable and stable situations, the sons are also bound to internalize their conditions and to project the same unto others like in the case of Troy whose internalized sociological ineptness is the sole source of conflict in his relationships with the sons. The stepparent relationship between Rose and Raynell, Troy’s illegitimate child who is mothered by his mistress Alberta is perhaps the only promising parent/child relationship, especially because the child will not be affected by Troy’s domination. Evidently, the child symbolizes a brand new hope for the future, as well as the positive values parents and the older generation needs to pass on to their young ones. On the other hand, Raynell’s mother Alberta, who dies during childbirth symbolizes Troy’s fantastic dream to run away from his inescapable yet constraining sociological realities and challenges to live an illusion with no time. By having an affair with Alberta and squandering his son’s dreams, Troy desperately attempts to regain his long lost self-esteem as a man, especially since the emasculating nature of the oppressive and hierarchical social order has robbed him off all sense of power. In essence, the struggles in the relationships between fathers and their sons in the play revolve around conflicting visions, aspirations, as well as values, as they each have their own worldviews that are sharply divided. Troy literally demands respect from his sons and feels perfectly great about it instead of simply commanding it as all fathers should do, and all the while remains insensitive to the hurt he causes in the process. Both Cory’s and Troy’s revolts against their fathers is a sign of freedom since they are breaking away from their fathers’ domineering influence and stranglehold that hold them back from achieving their optimum potential as social individuals. Cory expresses deep resentment for his father when he says that his father was like a shadow that followed him everywhere, weighing him down, and sinking into his flesh (August 96). This underscores the fact that Troy was domineering and overly intimidating, and this reflects Troy’s internalized and inescapable sociological conditions, of an imperfect and often oppressive society. Troy is very infuriated when Cory challenges him that he issues marching orders for his son to get out of his home; Cory’s lament as he walks out highlights his anguished relationship with Troy that was everything else but of love, caring, and accommodation. Nonetheless, the conflicted father/son relationships indicated in the play notwithstanding, Troy did love his sons and he could have made a great parent had his rage and illusions not gotten in the way. For instance, Troy shades a tear when Cory eventually leaves him, and he reminds Lyon to take charge of his life by acting responsibly, primarily because he cared. Ultimately, the struggles in the relationships between parents and their children in the play exist simply because of their conflicting visions, aspirations, as well as values, since each one of them has their own worldviews because of the sociological impediments. Due to sociological pressures, Troy becomes powerless to change his situation in society, thus, he projects his disappointment onto his sons, and this creates conflicts in their relationships; his sons lack fatherly love, care, and accommodation. Evidently, the father/son relationships highlighted in this play reflect the psychological argument that fathers always seek to regain their lives through their sons, by domineering and dictating to them the goals, dreams, and aspirations they should pursue in life. Works Cited August, Wilson. Fences. NY: Penguine Group. 1986. Koprince, Susan. “Baseball as history and myth in august Wilsons fences.” African American Review 40.2 (2006): 349-358.  Powell, Jason. “Social theory and emotion: Sociological excursions.” The International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 28.9 (2008): 394-407. Reneey, Kimberly. “The Broken Bonds of Parenthood: The Parent/Child Relationship in Normans Night Mother and Wilson’s Fences.” Voices.yahoo.com. 2006. Web. 6th Feb, 2014. http://voices.yahoo.com/the-broken-bonds-parenthood-108897.html?cat=41 Read More