Fences Lenny Henry's Towering Performance Further Proves His Status as a Serious Actor - Movie Review Example

Villain characters usually fail to overcome a certain challenge or show responsibility while being a tragic figure points at the actions of the characters that cause harm, pain, or anguish either to themselves or to others. Troy the main character had numerous relationships with his family over the eight years that the story is covered. Troy is depicted as the head of the house. He is 53 years old and is a father, husband, and brother in the play. The pressure is on him to fulfill his diverse responsibilities.

Despite his strong-mindedness and aggressiveness, his life is complicated as the relationships he establishes are often constrained (Taylor, 2013). Equally, his tragic figure is captured in the way his actions amount to hate which makes it complex to strain his relationship with others. His relationships with his wife, two sons, and a brother are complicated. It is apparent that the relation between Troy and his son Troy is constrained. They are ever in conflict. Troy's trait as a tragic figure can be understood based on the way he handled Cory as he was about to join college.

Troy does not want his son to face racial discrimination at the college. He tends to be overprotective not knowing that he was blocking the dreams of his son. Cory wanted to play football at the college but Troy uses his experiences as an excuse since he never benefited from the football he played. Ideally, he is pessimistic and sees his mistakes through his son thinking that Cory will be unlucky as he was. He wants Cory to focus on something else, "get recruited in how to fix cars or something where he can make a living" (Wilson, 1987, p. 8). The constant pressure of Troy on his son to quit football at school and join them at the grocer makes Cory wonder if his father cares for him.

This includes numerous verbal abuses Cory receives daily from his father. The unhealthy behavior of Troy and Cory helps reveal the other side of Troy as his affair with Alberta is open to the public. Cory's attempt to salvage his mother from his father’s infidelity heightens their rough relation, Troy was about to beat his son but he restrains himself, "You better stay away from me, boy" (Wilson, 1987, p. 72). Troy's character as a tragic figure also insinuates how he is the villain in the story.

He is depicted as a man who does not respect his wife as he had an affair with another woman is revealed. Additionally, instead of being a good role model for his children, he develops a bad relationship with them and fails to support their dreams (Taylor, 2013). The illicit affair also shows troy as a villain as tragedy befell his mistress as Alberta died at childbirth. Troy is scolded by his wife rose concerning the affair as she accepted to be the mother of the estranged child, "from right now . . .

this child got a mother, but you a womanless man.”(Wilson, 1987, p. 79) Additionally, Rose never accepted Troy as her husband because of the infidelity issues. Cory was recruited into the military when Troy died seven years later; he was hesitant to attend his father’s funeral. He, however, attended after her mother convinced him and offered their forgiveness that Troy never deserved. Throughout the play, a reader can feel anger and pity towards Troy because of his actions. The relationship that is tainted with his son is linked to a bad relationship with his father.

Troy despised his father as he was mean and never showed him love. Troy is a rigid character which illustrates him as a loser. He fails to acknowledge that times have changed concerning racial issues. Ideally, he is an antagonist of his life as he opposes what he believes. Instead, he follows a misguided path that is delusional as he blocks Cory's dreams. As the topic of the play adopts “Fence”, Troy builds a fence; however, it is the impenetrable wall surrounding him since he was never open to his family.

It is only at the funeral that the family gets a clear picture of Troy’s motives. Lyons his other son says, “You got to take the crooked with straights. That’s what Papa used to say” (Wilson, 1987, 82). This indicates how Troy was crooked as he was trying to straighten things but instead, the crooked one was trying to control a straight man. The tragic scenario destroyed a chance for Cory to have a happy life. In conclusion, it can be deduced that Troy the main character in the play was a tragic figure and a villain.

His actions towards the characters in the play also help develop various themes of the play.