Fences, written by August Wilson, is about the journey of a man, Troy Maxon. Troy, was once a great baseball player but because he lived in a time of extreme racism he was not accepted to play on any major league teams, after coming out of jail, Troy had completely given up on his baseball dream. In Troy’s eyes giving up his baseball dream was a major life setback, it gave him an angry and stale attitude towards the world. Troy’s attitude is sour and sarcastic but he felt as though he was justified in that; he felt he had every right to be angry, although he took his attitude out towards undeserving people such as his loving family. Troy has no patience or tolerance for his boys, Lyons and Cory, he is mad at the world. Troy doesn’t approve …show more content…
His dad, an very bad example, sets the basis for a tough, punishing upbringing. When his father beats him to the edge of severe injury, Troy decides it is time to leave. After hiking a considerably long way, he comprehends he cannot get work or a home to reside. Telling his upbringing to Bono and Lyons, Troy says, “…I was, a robber…Went to rob this fellow…pulled out my knife…and he pulled out a gun. Shot me in the chest…I jumped at him with my knife. They told me I killed him…they put me in the penitentiary for fifteen years” (Wilson 55). Troy, a black guy in the Deep South, goes to stealing to feed himself and is ultimately sent to prison for fifteen years after pledging an act of self-protection. That alone can make somebody hostile for his or her whole life. To top it off, Troy cannot chase his dream for baseball because the blacks were prohibited from it. Considering all the troubles of Troy’s life, Frank Rich creates a perfect assessment of Troy’s lingering rage. Rich writes, “the father takes us along every step of his long, tortuous migration to the North - a road that stretched from an impoverished Southern farm through the slums of post-World War I Mobile and a jail cell” (Rich). Many who read Fences may think Troy, a former homeless robber, is a pessimistic old man who needs to get over himself and start treating people better. This viewpoint is flawed because the overall struggle of Troy’s life cannot be easily