Troy Maxson Character Analysis in August Wilson's Fences Essay Example

People with a traumatic past often think about how the past affected them and others. In the play Fences, written by August Wilson, the main character is named Troy Maxson is a 53-year-old African American man that loves baseball, loves his beautiful wife, Rose, and even has a child, Cory. The genre for this play is Drama. Troy experienced a lot of trauma when he was growing up. Troy has a lot of past trauma that triggers him for all of the play. Troy, unfortunately, struggles to move on from the traumas of his past, which damaged his relationship with his family. 

Troy struggles with money and does not want Cory to struggle as well, so Troy prevents Cory from playing football. Wilson wanted Troy to show passion when having the thought of Cory staying far away, by saying this quote in which Troy expresses his feelings. “I don’t want him to be like me! I want him to move as far away from me” (Act One Scene 3, Page 896). This quote shows how Troy is controlling and does not want to be like him. This phrase shows the main point of a son trying to be like his father. Wilson created the character of Cory to love sports like his father. Do something that Troy did. Troy used manipulation, guilt, an adult figure, and even used his loud voice to control Cory to do whatever he wanted to do. Troy found out that Cory step down from his job. Troy is calling the shots on Cory by calling the school not allowing Cory to play football. Cory was so angry at Troy for taking away something that he loves. When Cory got mad and was yelling at Troy. Troy used aggressive voices to put Cory in this place. Wilson wanted to show Troy controlling side when showing Cory who has the power in the house. Cory is afraid of Troy because of the control. Wilson wanted to show the relationship between father and son to show the tension between Troy and Cory. Also, Wilson wanted Troy to respect money due to the low income that Troy would get from working at the dumpster. Troy thinks money is the main source of supporting families. Troy is the only one working in his family, which means he brings in money. So Troy does feel like he has the power because of the money he brings in. 

Troy is drifting away from his relationship with Rose, which he was in for 18 years. Often Troy uses baseball terms to explain relationships: “Then when I saw that girl…she firmed up my backbone. And I got to thinking that if I tried---I just might be able to steal second” (Act Two, Scene 2 917). In this quote, Wilson created a point in the play where there is a conflict between Troy and Rose. Troy has been married to Rose for 18 years. After Troy got out of jail that is when he met Rose. Troy felt like it was the same thing every day for the last 18 years of his life. What Wilson meant when Troy said steal second play, Troy experiences stealing from random guys to get money but then kills the owner of the place., Troy got 15 years in jail time. During his time in jail, he changed but at the same time, Troy is stuck. During this time Rose found out that Troy got another woman pregnant. Wilson wanted the readers to see Troy was not feeling himself, so Troy needed to find himself. Because when someone is not moving it can make a person sad and depressed which is what Troy is feeling when he is with Rose. The goal for Wilson was to express the feeling of Troy being stuck in the same place which in the play was depression, and loneliness when in the relationship. Which Troy felt like for most of his life.

 Troy talks a lot about death in the play, and Wilson may be using death as a metaphor for Troy’s struggle. Most people would run away from death, but Troy goes in and fights death. Troy is willing to fight death and not run away from his problems. Troy found out that Alberta died from giving childbirth. Wilson wanted the readers to want Alberta's death to repeat Troy losing, or failing at finding happiness. Troy is a man that does not get a lot of happiness. Troy loses Alberta, and Troy loses something that makes him happy. “All right…Mr. Death. See now… I’m going to build me a fence around what belongs to me” (Act 2 Scene 2 Page 919). In other words, Troy is distracting himself from reality about his girlfriend's death. Wilson wants the reader to see Troy fighting the past pain, and struggles and denying the pain of death. 

Like Troy said in the play that he wants to fight death to the fight and not run away like other people. Troy does not want to make all his problems override him. Wilson wanted to show the readers that even though Troy is ready to fight this pain, he still thinks about it. In Troy’s past life his mother left him as a child. Troy's mother left at night when everyone was sleepy. Then Troy’s father raped a girl that Troy had a crush on, and had a younger brother. After that Troy left his father. In the play, Troy was given his past to show readers the reasons why Troy was hard on his children. Troy does not want his children to make the same mistake as he did. Like getting a job, having a family, and even having a successful life. Is so that they do not have to follow the pain. See the author even as Troy is an adult with a lot of trauma. With the effect of his childhood. When the pain starts and starts to build up there are a lot of thoughts that could be stuck in Troy’s mind. “Death ain’t nothing. I did see him. Done wrassled with him. You can’t tell me anything about death. Death ain’t nothing but a fastball on the outside corner.” (Act one Scene 1 Page 881). Wilson wants Troy to have a mental breakdown from all the pain that Troy has been feeling for years and years. Wilson wanted Troy to replace the words with pain. An example of a way of someone taking death down which would be all the pain that Troy goes through. (as an ending point in his Troy, like a breakdown point. Wilson has used death as a way to understand Troy's problems. 

Wilson shows readers that Troy can not accept his struggles and can not move on from them, which affects his family, as well as himself. Wilson goes through the relationships with Cory and Rose. From controlling his son by calling Cory’s high school, saying that he can not play football, and not being satisfied with his marriage by cheating on Rose with Alberta. Troy felt he was stuck in the same place for most of his adult life because he felt trapped in his marriage, and with his thoughts. Troy talks about death as a metaphor for his pain. Death is an explanation of Troy’s past which affects him in a trama way. Wilson wants the readers to understand from the play that being stuck in the past can affect not only them but other people in their life.