Fences, a play by August Wilson Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fences, a play by August Wilson - Research Paper Example This huge disenchantment sets the tone of the play. Troy is a tragic figure beset with waves of bad fortune, a victim of his time but as much his own fault. Troy’s tragic life is made more poignant by the author painting him as a tragic hero. Troy’s myopic interpretation of things and his unwillingness to adapt to reality are his two biggest flaws, blinding him and leading to his ultimate undoing. Troy is presented with opportunities to make peace with the other characters and redeem himself at critical crossroads but sadly he chose to remain in his fabricated world and his tragedy. The onset of act one, scene one provides the context of the big disenchantment in Troy’s life, that of his thwarted dream, resulting in his leading a mundane existence as a garbage collector. Troy has once been a promising baseball player in his prime, but he has been stripped of his chance to make it big in the Major Leagues because of his color. Troy could not reconcile with the fac t that he is too old to play in the Leagues when it finally opened up to black players and this residual bitterness and resentment distorted most of Troy’s perspective on things and people and reinforced his belief that he is a victim of his time. Despite this, Troy has never let go of his identity as a ball player. He continues to use baseball jargons to reflect his world view as in act one, scene one where he says â€Å"Death ain’t nothing but as fastball on the outside corner.† To his credit, Troy has fought back to emerge as a literary hero at the beginning of the play, where the other characters seem to revere him as the sole provider for the family and a fighter for equality at work. Troy’s flaws, however work against him. His narrow-minded perception has evolved into a dual set of standards over time in judging himself and others. This can be seen in Troy carrying himself around with excessive importance as the breadwinner but belittles of the work and accomplishment of others as in act one, scene three, â€Å"I do the best I can do. I come in here every Friday, I carry a sack of potatoes†¦you all line up with your hands stretched out at the door†¦I give you my sweat and my blood I ain’t got no tears†. To Troy, elder son Lyons’ chosen vocation as a jazz musician is simply a stunt in playing â€Å"Chinese music† and not serious work. Troy deduces this as the reason Lyons returns home to borrow money from him. As for Cory, his break into professional football hits a raw nerve in Troy’s thwarted dream. Troy could not accept that times have changed for black sportsman and Cory could actually make a career out of it. Cory brings up the achievement of black players like Clemente and Aaron and Kouflax, but Troy deflates their contributions. When Troy is losing out his argument to Cory, he throws the punch line, â€Å"I ain’t no Sandy Kouflax† in act one, scene three.. Instea d, he wants Cory to stay at a job instead of pursuing football. Cory’s giving away his job at A&P supermarket is seen by Troy as an act of defiance against him. Troy therefore imposes his authoritative presence on Cory in act one, scene three where he sabotages Cory’s opportunity by telling Cory’s coach that he can no longer play on his team. Troy’s shortsightedness prevents him from seeing the further ramifications of his act. Troy reasons that by sabotaging Cory’s chance would teach his son to obey his wishes. Instead it has set the wheels to motion to