Fences By August Wilson is a tale rooted in the gritty reality of potential not reached and a man struggling with his family and to find relevance after his prime. Troy Mason was a good baseball player in his hay day. He played for the negro league and found success there. Sadly he was never able to reach his true potential by playing in the major leagues because by the time the majors allowed African American players he was to old and past his prime. Its evident throughout this play that this still haunts Troy as he is constantly pushing himself and carries a chip on his shoulder. To him sports represents dreams differed and potential never reached. However Troy's son Corey is soon gradating from High school and has colleges recruiting him to play football. Troy is not happy with this.
For Corey Football represents hope, it does for Rose to. Corey received good grades in school and college would mean a brighter future for Corey. However Troy has experienced the disappointments of life and wants Corey to work and to earn his way by working. Because of this Troy refuses to allow his son to play Football and it causes severe tension between Troy and Corey.
Eventually Corey and Troy's relationship reaches its climax and Troy kicks Corey out of the house. Troy is bitter at the world and this leads to him making bad choices and causes rifts in his family. Because he had a baby with a another women his wife must be a mother to a child that is not here's something she did not want to do. This causes a major rift in Troy's relationship with his wife as well and can be traced back to his bitterness and resentment. He pushes people he should care about away.
Troy constantly feels like he is trapped in a preputial prison. Trapped in a life where he must constantly ask "what if" and this makes him not appreciate the things in his life such as his wife, his son, and his sons athletic talents. He is resentful of the fact that he lives in a home that he can only afford because of his brothers disability checks, he is resentful, he never got to play in the majors where he would have excelled, and he is resentful of his son and how he had a chance he never had. However Troy also might be trying to spare his son of the same hardships he had to endure and spare him of that terrible "what if" life. In the end though that is not for Troy to decide its for Corey to experience.
Ultimately Troy lives his life and pushes many people away because he can not get over his bitterness and Corey goes on the military and finds success in different ways then Troy. This is a play where dreams are differed but the characters move on in their lives living with that constant
'what if" lingering in their minds forever.
Thank you
I thought you had some very good things to say about the Maxson family and the resentment they all have. I think you had some very good observations of Troy as well!
ReplyDeleteYou wrote a very good summary and used very specific examples. It was easy to read and understand.
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