Fences: Family and Troy S Son
Outlining Father/Son Relationships Based on the Play Fences by August Wilson August Wilson was an influential 20th-century playwright and the most prominent African American of that craft. Born on April 27, 1945, August Wilson grew up in the Hill district of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His childhood experiences in this black slum community would later become part of his dramatic writings. Though he lived much of his adult life in St. Paul, Minnesota, and in Seattle, the characters and plots of his plays were inspired by realities he experienced growing up in Pittsburgh 's Hill District and Oakland neighborhood. August Wilson’s, Fences set in the late 1950 's tells the story of Troy Maxson, an uneducated trash collector who has become resentful by a racist system that has deprived of him the baseball career he feels he deserves. This resentment has also caused turmoil in his relationship with his sons Cory and Lyons. Cory 's disobedience and Lyons insensible, irresponsible attitude were caused by their father’s indifferent attitude towards them. August Wilson writes about the black experience in Fences and the struggle that many African American men like Troy Maxson. Wilson paints the following picture to describe how different reality was for African Americans compared to their white counterparts:
They came from places called the Carolinas…Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. They came strong, eager, searching. The city rejected them ….They sold the use of their muscles and their bodies. They cleaned houses and washed clothes, they shined shoes, and in quiet desperation and vengeful pride, they stole and lived in pursuit of their own dream. (Wilson 1331)
Troy Maxson plays the part of the central character who has been disappointed throughout his life by everyone he has been close to. He was forced to leave home at an early age because his father beat him so dramatically and had to plunge himself into adulthood “And right there the world suddenly got big…”
They came from places called the Carolinas…Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. They came strong, eager, searching. The city rejected them ….They sold the use of their muscles and their bodies. They cleaned houses and washed clothes, they shined shoes, and in quiet desperation and vengeful pride, they stole and lived in pursuit of their own dream. (Wilson 1331)
Troy Maxson plays the part of the central character who has been disappointed throughout his life by everyone he has been close to. He was forced to leave home at an early age because his father beat him so dramatically and had to plunge himself into adulthood “And right there the world suddenly got big…”
Cited: Blumenthal, Anna D. "More stories Than the Devil Got Sinner ': Troys Stories in August Wilsons Fences." Www.sunyorange.edu/lrc. SUNY Orange, 2006. Web. 27 Nov. 2009. Brewer, Gayle. "Holy and Unholy Ghost: The Legacy of the Father in the Plays of August Wilson." Literature Resource Center. Gale Group, 2008. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. . Metzger, Sheri. "An Essay on Fences." Literature Resource Center. Gale Group. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. . Roberts, Edgar V., and Robert E. Zweig. "Fences." Literature An Introduction to Reading and Writing Compact (4th Edition). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2007. 1328-371. Print. Savran, David. In Their Own Words. New York: Theatre Communication Group, 1988. Print.