The husband of Rose, and father to Cory and Lyons, Troy is the central character of Fences. Shaped by the effects racism has had on his life—by the struggles it created in his youth and the career ambitions that it thwarted, including his desire to be a baseball player—Troy lives in the shadow of what could, and what should, have been. The play can largely be described as charting how Troy’s actions, as they’re informed by his past, affect those around him: how his own shattered sense of hope ripples into and distorts the aspirations and dreams of those around him—how the racism of his world growing-up continues to express itself through Troy’s actions, indirectly shaping those of a new generation.
As a result of Troy’s experiences, he has become a man who at once espouses and insists on rigid practicality in order to protect himself and his family from the world, even as he indulges (or can’t stop himself from indulging) in a kind of wild impracticality of his own as a way to escape or redress the unfairness he perceives as having thwarted his own life. This inner contrast – which to those around him can feel like hypocrisy – is evident in a variety of ways. For instance, Troy can’t see anything practical, or therefore worthwhile, in the professions (music and baseball, respectively) to which his sons Lyons and Cory each aspire. But at the same time, Troy’s affair with Alberta suggests that he’s perfectly willing to engage in something not grounded in practicality, but rather in pure pleasure divorced from the needs of his family. Similarly, Troy’s willingness to protest the unfair treatment of blacks in his workplace (they’re only hired to carry garbage, while whites are exclusively hired to drive the trucks), embodies a progressive view on the possibilities of race which mirrors the possibilities that his sons see for the future of race relations.
But, in Cory’s particular case, he sees such possibilities as unrealistic (i.e., his belief that Cory will never succeed in professional football because black players aren’t given a chance). Troy’s inner conflict seems also to play out in the way he puts a fantastical spin on the reality of his past, such as telling fanciful tales about encounters he’s had with a personified form (the grim reaper or the devil) of death. These fantasies of Troy’s suggest that his past failures and suffering have pushed his mind, perhaps as a kind of involuntary self-defense, to favor imagination and fictional constructions over any consistent, constant consideration of his real past. Yet, while August
Wilson seems concerned with highlighting this conflict and hypocrisy at the core of Troy’s character, he’s perhaps not condemning Troy personally. Rather, Wilson shows how Troy is the product of historical, racist forces beyond his control; he shows how Troy is a vehicle for these forces, for their reproduction and reinforcement on a new generation.
Cory Maxson – The teenage son of Troy and Rose Maxson. A senior in high school, Cory gets good grades and college recruiters are coming to see him play football. Cory is a respectful son, compassionate nephew to his disabled Uncle Gabriel, and generally, a giving and enthusiastic person. An ambitious young man who has the talent and determination to realize his dreams, Cory comes of age during the course of the play when he challenges and confronts Troy and leaves home. Cory comes home from the Marines in the final scene of the play, attempting to defy Troy by refusing to go to his funeral, but Cory changes his mind after sharing memories of his father with Rose and Raynell.
Rose Maxson – Troy’s wife and mother of his second child, Cory. Rose is a forty-three year-old African American housewife who volunteers at her church regularly and loves her family. Rose’s request that Troy and Cory build a fence in their small, dirt backyard comes to represent her desire to keep her loved-ones close to her love. Unlike Troy, Rose is a realist, not a romantic longing for the by- gone days of yore. She has high hopes for her son, Cory and sides with him in his wish to play football. Rose’s acceptance of Troy’s illegitimate daughter, Raynell, as her own child, exemplifies her compassion.
Gabriel Maxson – Troy’s brother. Gabriel was a soldier in the Second World War, during which he received a head injury that required a metal plate to be surgically implanted into his head. Because of the physical damage and his service, Gabriel receives checks from the government that Troy used in part to buy the Maxson’s home where the play takes place. Gabriel wanders around the Maxson family’s neighborhood carrying a basket and singing. He often thinks he is not a person, but the angel Gabriel who opens the gates of heaven with his trumpet for Saint Peter on Judgment Day. Gabriel exudes a child-like exuberance and a need to please.
Jim Bono – Troy’s best friend of over thirty years. Jim Bono is usually called “Bono” or “Mr. Bono” by the characters in Fences. Bono and Troy met in jail, where Troy learned to play baseball. Troy is a role model to Bono. Bono is the only character in Fences who remembers, first-hand, Troy’s glory days of hitting homeruns in the Negro Leagues. Less controversial than Troy, Bono admires Troy’s leadership and responsibility at work. Bono spends every Friday after work drinking beers and telling stories with Troy in the Maxson family’s backyard. He is married to a woman named Lucille, who is friends with Rose. Bono is a devoted husband and friend. Bono’s concern for Troy’s marriage takes precedent over his loyalty to their friendship.
Lyons Maxson – Troy’s son, fathered before Troy’s time in jail with a woman Troy met before Troy became a baseball player and before he met Rose. Lyons is an ambitious and talented jazz musician. He grew up without Troy for much of his childhood because Troy was in prison. Lyons, like most musicians, has a hard time making a living. For income, Lyons mostly depends on his girlfriend, Bonnie whom we never see on stage. Lyons does not live with Troy, Rose and Cory, but comes by the Maxson house frequently on Troy’s payday to ask for money. Lyons, like Rose, plays the numbers, or local lottery. Their activity in the numbers game represents Rose and Lyons’ belief in gambling for a better future. Lyons’ jazz playing appears to Troy as an unconventional and foolish occupation. Troy calls jazz, “Chinese music,” because he perceives the music as foreign and impractical. Lyons’ humanity and belief in himself garners respect from others.
RaynellMaxson – Troy’s illegitimate child, mothered by Alberta, his lover. August Wilson introduces Raynell to the play as an infant. Her innocent need for care and support convinces Rose to take Troy back into the house. Later, Raynell plants seeds in the once barren dirt yard. Raynell is the only Maxson child that will live with few scars from Troy and is emblematic of new hope for the future and the positive values parents and older generations pass on to their young.
Alberta – Troy’s buxom lover from Tallahassee and Raynell’s mother. Alberta dies while giving birth. She symbolizes the exotic dream of Troy’s to escape his real life problems and live in an illusion with no time.
Bonnie – Lyons’ girlfriend who works in the laundry at Mercy Hospital.
Mr.Stawicki – Cory’s boss at the A&P.
Coach Zellman – Cory’s high school football coach who encourages recruiters to come to see Cory play football.
Mr.Rand – Bono and Troy’s boss at the Sanitation Department who doubted that Troy would win his discrimination case.
Miss Pearl – Gabe’s landlady at his new apartment.
EVALUATION QUESTIONS
- Describe the main character in the work.
- Contrast any two characters in the work.
GENERAL EVALUATION/REVISION QUESTIONS
- Describe the main character in the work.
- Describe two minor characters in the work.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Read the play and examine the use of irony.
WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
- “The star blinked and the wind wailed” is an example of _ A. antithesis
B. euphemism C. metaphor D. parody E. personification - Pick out the odd item from the following_______ A. comedy B. octave C. Quatrain
D. sonnet E. sestet - “United we stand, divided we fall”, illustrates the use of __________A. anti-climax
B. antithesis C. climax B. irony E. sarcasm - The writer’s freedom to use words to suit his own purpose is called_____ A. author’s freedom B. author’s license C. poetic freedom D. poetic license E. writer’s license
- The expression, “Before Idi Amin breathed his last he admonished his children to shun violence” is a/an __ A. anecdote B. metaphor C. euphemism D. onomatopoeia
E. paradox
THEORY
Analyse Cory as a character in the work.
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